Thanksgiving!
Oy vey. We have had a busy Thanksgiving!
For about two months now, hubs has been having trouble with his back. He has a large herniated disc, and pressure from said disc has been tampering with his sciatic nerve and giving him all sorts of pain. After physical therapy, pain meds, wait-and-see, etc., his doc finally recommended back surgery, which we rolled into on Tuesday. (The Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Aaack!)
At any rate, it was an out-patient procedure, and he has been recovering very well. It's just been one more ball to juggle as the holiday season begins. (And on the up side, I addressed all of our Christmas cards in the hospital waiting room. Expect your glad tidings early this year!)
So, for Thanksgiving, I spread my work load out over the week, which served me very well on Thursday. Tuesday night, I made hubs' favorite cranberry sauce. (I thought for half a minute about switching to a recipe with port and oranges in it this year, but hubs begged me not to. Ah, me. NEXT year then!) I also went ahead and made my pie dough on Tuesday night.
On Wednesday night, I made a delicious pumpkin almond amaretto pie. Found the recipe at epicurious.com. I whipped up some amaretto vanilla whipped cream to top it with (which was VERY well received).
Then, on Thursday, I just had turkey and gravy duty. I chose another epicurious.com recipe, with an herb butter and lots of shallots. The gravy had a delicious cup of white wine in it, and I pureed the shallots in, too, so the gravy would be smooth. OMG. Delish. The gravy? Good on everything. Dressing, turkey, rolls split in half. I've even ladled it over some plain brown rice. Dear Lord, it's good.
My sweet sister made some amazing savory sweet potatoes, sliced into rounds and baked with bits of red onion and bacon on top, as well as some roated asparagus with red bell pepper and a lemony dressing and some yummy green beans. (And let's not forget the traditional cornbread stuffing! Yum!) Mom handled rolls, appetizers (Her spinach dip was soooo good.), and drinks. (Ballatore Gran Spumante, anyone?)
Booger and my sweet nephew sat at the "kids' table," which we decorated with a HUGE turkey Clay, hubs, and I made. (See little man above, putting the finishing touches on the brown body with craft paint.) I also bought little silk autumn leaves and wrote each person's name on them to use as place cards. Festive, without being the least bit fussy. I've tucked them away for next year!
Hope you and yours had a happy Thanksgiving!
For about two months now, hubs has been having trouble with his back. He has a large herniated disc, and pressure from said disc has been tampering with his sciatic nerve and giving him all sorts of pain. After physical therapy, pain meds, wait-and-see, etc., his doc finally recommended back surgery, which we rolled into on Tuesday. (The Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Aaack!)
At any rate, it was an out-patient procedure, and he has been recovering very well. It's just been one more ball to juggle as the holiday season begins. (And on the up side, I addressed all of our Christmas cards in the hospital waiting room. Expect your glad tidings early this year!)
So, for Thanksgiving, I spread my work load out over the week, which served me very well on Thursday. Tuesday night, I made hubs' favorite cranberry sauce. (I thought for half a minute about switching to a recipe with port and oranges in it this year, but hubs begged me not to. Ah, me. NEXT year then!) I also went ahead and made my pie dough on Tuesday night.
On Wednesday night, I made a delicious pumpkin almond amaretto pie. Found the recipe at epicurious.com. I whipped up some amaretto vanilla whipped cream to top it with (which was VERY well received).
Then, on Thursday, I just had turkey and gravy duty. I chose another epicurious.com recipe, with an herb butter and lots of shallots. The gravy had a delicious cup of white wine in it, and I pureed the shallots in, too, so the gravy would be smooth. OMG. Delish. The gravy? Good on everything. Dressing, turkey, rolls split in half. I've even ladled it over some plain brown rice. Dear Lord, it's good.
My sweet sister made some amazing savory sweet potatoes, sliced into rounds and baked with bits of red onion and bacon on top, as well as some roated asparagus with red bell pepper and a lemony dressing and some yummy green beans. (And let's not forget the traditional cornbread stuffing! Yum!) Mom handled rolls, appetizers (Her spinach dip was soooo good.), and drinks. (Ballatore Gran Spumante, anyone?)
Booger and my sweet nephew sat at the "kids' table," which we decorated with a HUGE turkey Clay, hubs, and I made. (See little man above, putting the finishing touches on the brown body with craft paint.) I also bought little silk autumn leaves and wrote each person's name on them to use as place cards. Festive, without being the least bit fussy. I've tucked them away for next year!
Hope you and yours had a happy Thanksgiving!
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