Let the holiday eating commence!

[tulip]

Mmmmm...I had a very nice Thanksgiving dinner with some of my family--my father, stepmother and my youngest brother. Small but very nice. I had a bit of turkey, some delicious asparagus, a bite of stuffing (I don't like it very much), some cranberry sauce, and a big heapin mound of homeade mashed potatoes (with butter and cream!). Dessert is later.

And yes, I did go for a bike ride this morning to partially make up for those potatoes!

[mudmucker]

I had a wonderful warm Thanksgiving with my parents. I made lots of food and I give it to them to take home every year so they can enjoy leftovers for days, which is one of the best parts of Thanksgiving of course. I still have lots of pie left, some really great meat stuffing (I will never do a bread stuffing after having this recipe), about 5 lbs of leftover turkey after I gave lbs. to my parents, bones to make soup, homegrown parsnips, yum, and had delicious mashed potatoes with potatoes grown from my garden. I used to think a potato was a potato. Not so. They are a totally flavorful and a whole different vegetable when you grow them yourself. And also homemade mead (honey wine).

My house got robbed this week. Sigh. That part is over in the "Thankful" thread.

But I will describe the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, yesterday, which is not my typical Wed. Usually I leave work early and then come home and start preparing for the big meal. Except this year the police came by at 10 am, the day after the break-in and they spent the next 4 hours processing the crime scene after instructing me not to touch anything. Two other houses in the neighborhood got hit as well. They were here a while, a great bunch of guys, and it was a whirlwind of activity. They spent a lot of time dusting for fingerprints. I made some fresh ground shade grown coffee for them and gave them snacks and they were totally psyched. They found a footprint around the back of the house that didn't match mine. They found a tire track on the lawn that wasn't mine. It was entirely fascinating and they were very diligent for police that have to patrol 4 towns at once because none of the separate towns can't afford to hire more. I live in a real small town, pop around 1500 and the 3 others are small too.

So then I said I was going to make pie dough to get things rolling (pun intended), "hope you don't mind". Then I said I'd like to get started on baking the pies and making some meat stuffing (start by cooking the pork chops). Should I hold off? Yes. They were bringing out a dog in the event it could lead them to a house in the neighborhood. Don't want to confound the dog. So then the Worcester County sheriff shows up and my driveway is full of police cars. The sheriff had a bloodhound. What a beautiful animal! He put gauze in the area where the perps were. The dog sniffs the gauze (and obviously is able to eliminate myself and the other guys) and gets to work. He is trained to sit immediately when the dog discovers it is a car pick up. It didn't take long and the dog sat. Which means the trail ended there. The scumbags got dropped off and then the pick up guy must have quickly raced up the drive and the guy with the goods jumped in. The dog circumvented the periphery but didn't get excited about anything, as well at the end of the driveway. The dog was amazing.

Anyway, after they left I continued with my Thanksgiving prep and baked two pies, made meat stuffing, prepped some veggies which saved alot of time this morning. I had a farm fresh unadulterated uninjected turkey, like from the next town over. I like them.

So on Friday I will be busy with a visit from my insurance agent, going out and replacing a stolen flat screen, making up time for work, getting the locksmith here.

The last 2 days I've been a bit down and didn't want to ride my bike. Not down because of stolen property but because of the intrusion. My spirits have lifted a bit and I will probably feel inclined to go out for a ride tomorrow. They didn't steal the bike !

[Miranda]

Mmm...deviled eggs. I swear I could eat a whole plate of them by myself. We add mayo, tabasco and dry mustard to ours (topped with the obligatory sprinkle of paprika).

My contribution to the meal. Gawd, I love pecan pie.

omg! That pie is beautiful! I took a pic of my eggs for someone else but wow, they sure are not pretty like that pie. I love that pie too. None of it today where I went. The SIL tried a new pumpkin cake. It had pecans on top of it like the pie. It was good, don't get me wrong... but I had to close my eyes for a minute and imagine it was just the pie.

Ooooo, tabasco... my DH would love that. He's all about the hot and spicy.

[Zen]

They didn't steal the bike !

..........I love happy endings.

The Aftermath

[wackyjacky1]

Food coma!

Miranda, thanks for the compliment. I tried a new recipe for my pecan pie this year, and I'm really pleased with how it came out. I just wish I could make the crust prettier -- I've never been good at doing those fancy fluted edges. Ah, well.