Thanksgiving In Our Home ~ Ponderings Throughout the Day ~

9:00 a.m. Notes ~ The day after Thanksgiving



We love the traditional foods and warm memories of the only "traditional" holiday we do celebrate  ~ but we celebrate it a day late ~ on purpose.



We love YHVH's Shabbat and since it is so close, we put our focus on Shabbat and just have traditional Thanksgiving fare for our Erev Shabbat meal ~ with plenty of leftovers for Shabbat itself!



Luke had Thanksgiving day off, so I cooked the turkey and did some meal preps while he was home, snacked all day and enjoyed having an easy day with his help. (He had a tea party with Elli then played duck, duck goose with her and a circle of stuffed animals and dolls, then played Risk with Mali).



The boys spent Thanksgiving day at their Grandma and Papa's house (on their dad's side) so it was a quiet day!

Turkey Stock ~ Sue Gregg style

I made turkey stock in the crock pot overnight. Note to self: don't do this again. I love the smell of stock cooking, just not at night when I am up every hour. 



Luke's Thanksgiving favorites:

• Turkey


• Mashed potatoes and gravy


• Corn


• Rolls/cinnamon rolls

Cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting.

My favorites:

• Stuffing (My #1 fav. Luke likes it, but he never grew up eating this!)


• Cranberry orange relish


• Olives


• Sticky buns ~ the stickier the better with extra pecans, please.

Drinks:

• Orange juice soda floats (Concentrated orange juice, club soda and vanilla ice cream)

Dessert: 

• Raspberry pie with vanilla ice cream

Right now, I am sitting at the table helping the boys check out of school for the week (we got 2 days in this week), answering questions, grading work. . . and making a list of things I need to do today!



Done:

• Turkey is cooked, carved and in a pan with some broth (to keep it moist) in the fridge waiting to be warmed up.


• Cornbread is cubed and dried out waiting to be made into Cornbread Stuffing.


• Celery/onion is chopped for the stuffing.


• Cheeseball and crackers for snacking


• Black olives chilling in the fridge


• OJ thawing in the fridge

To make/bake today:

• Stuffing


• Mashed potatoes and gravy ~ I use butter/flour to make a roux and add turkey stock for the gravy.


• Dinner rolls/cinnamon rolls ~ I use the same challah recipe for both


• bake the raspberry pie


• If I am super motivated (and have the energy), I'll make a pumpkin pie.

Luke has an easy day at work and will be popping in to help.



. . . or popping in to talk me into going to the store with him (on the day after Thanksgiving?!).



1:00 p.m. Notes

• Survived a trip to Walmart ~ I think waiting until after the door busters ended was a good idea.


• Picked up the vanilla ice cream and extra paper products (plates, forks, spoons) to make clean up easier


• Picked up a new game to surprise the kids tonight


• Rolls are started and raising in the oven


• Relish made

Cranberry Relish

I used 1 bag fresh cranberries, 1 cup sugar, and enough Cuteies to get the blender spinning (I left out the zested rind and like it).



Jordan and Luke should be home from noon ball soon. Kids are playing with balloons that I just filled up.  Note to self: hide the rest of the balloons that I bought for science experiments. 



It's not too late to buy potatoes for "real" mashed potatoes. . . nah. Luke actually likes the instant ones and they are easy. And I'm 8 months pregnant. But, I like real mashed potatoes. 



Thinking I'll skip the pumpkin pie.



Luke wants to pick up another game and some books to read to the boys ~ wondering if I should shower and brush my teeth before going to the store this time.



One of my favorite things ~ not showering until evening and then taking a nice hot bath after all my preps are done.



House is clean, except for my desk. It doesn't stay clean.



Wondering if it is too early to sauté the onion and celery for the stuffing. Probably not since I have to bake it anyways.



2:00 p.m. Notes



Rolls are almost ready to be rolled. I will make 2 dozen dinner rolls, a small pan of cinnamon rolls and a pan of sticky buns (7 - 8 in each pan).

Hot buttered dinner rolls.

Stuffing is ready to be put together.



Kids are getting bored. Time to have them do some extra cleaning like wash walls, doors, bathroom mirrors, stuff like that. (I spoke that aloud as I typed it, and kids scattered to occupy themselves, lol). Except Nathan, who has already been helping me do dishes in the kitchen and feeding the youngest two snacks (fruit and crackers). He knew I wasn't talking to him.



Jordan just walked in from noon ball ~ went longer today since no one is working.



I'd like to make a quick run to Safeway for Hansen's Natural Creamy Root Beer (my favorite soda). . .



I quit taking notes there.



Sometimes I expect too much from myself. All went well . . . I even made homemade mashed potatoes. . . until just before sunset. I needed some help in the kitchen and the person I asked thought it would be more important to clean upstairs and start a load of laundry . . . which of course, left me with no water pressure to do the dishes I had asked for help with. After being on my feet most of the day (which is not unusual on prep day), I was very discouraged, tired and weak. I was reminded recently that in any given situation, it is more important to act rather than re-act . . . why is this so hard?



Food was good. . . but,

"Better is a dry morsel and quietness with it than a house full of feasting with strife." Proverbs 17:1

I took a hot bath and went to bed early. The boys stayed up with Luke and watched Marmaduke and had cinnamon rolls.

Leftover turkey, mayo, salt/pepper, cranberry relish and stuffing sandwiches are one of my favorites.

The house has been quiet this morning. The boys went to the park to play football and just barreled in the door from the chilly air. . . gonna rebound with some raspberry pie, ice cream, a Bible study and a family game. . . I'm thankful today is Shabbat.