Thanksgiving 2016

On Wednesday, the 23rd, Ben took Reid and Nell down to the airport to pick up my parents. While they were away I made a couple of yummy pies, threw the turkey in the brine, and prepped side dishes as best I could (I had to cook up two packs of bacon and toast some pretzel bread). We all went to bed pretty excited on Thanksgiving Eve. It is so fun to have Grandma and Grandpa Bassett stay with us! And it's a treat that doesn't happen often enough. 

Thanksgiving morning was pretty low key. Coraline (who was asleep by the time Grandma and Grandpa arrived the night before) took to Grandma and Grandpa right away. She and Reid were snuggling G&G all morning long and Nell was eager to play and be silly -- all true to character. 

I continued to do the prep work I had outlined on a google document. I don't know why I didn't think to have the table set before the final hour, because things got real crazy in those last 45 minutes before dinner. I think though, that I was using the table as extra counter space -- so I don't know that I could have set it anyway. Plus, that was a good chore for the kids to do while I was trying to get all the dishes together. 

Reid had been so excited to eat Thanksgiving dinner. They'd been learning all about it in Kindergarten and he'd even made a turkey hat, a pilgrim costume, and a poster decoration. They'd talked about the history of Thanksgiving and even discussed what kinds of food it eaten. He was so looking forward to it. Then, when he sat down to eat he said his tummy hurt, and sure enough he was running a low fever. Poor boy. He ate his roll, and we wrapped up the rest of his plate so he could have it when he felt better. Luckily, a little medicine did the trick and he was able to eat it a few hours later (before pie, of course). 

But lets get a better look at what is on that plate! Remember my October post where I explain how food is one of the ways I show love? Well, having my parents in town for the foodiest holiday sure had me excited! I was going to show them lots and lots of love! We did our usual Alton Brown turkey brine, and I made gravy from a recipe my mom gave me that her own mother used.  For the sides I scoured my favorite food site -- Mel's Kitchen Cafe -- for the yummiest dishes: confetti corn, (a savory) sweet potato casserole, garlic and parmesean mashed potatoes, pretzel bread stuffing, and spinach salad! The green bean casserole was just the one listed on the French's onion box, the rolls were simply Rhodes brand, and I also bought a pumpkin pie from the store. I wanted to focus my pie energy on making a chocolate pecan pie I also got from Mel's Kitchen cafe. 

It was all so yummy, even if things were a little crazy during the final hour before dinner. And of course, the moment we all sat down to eat, this little Turkey woke up looking for her own dinner. 

I'd actually forgotten to put her in that little onsie, but I had to throw it on before bedtime because I have a picture of both Reid and Nell in it and I wanted to compare them all.  

Before bed, we did the truest photo comparison:

Christmas Eve 2014:

Thanksgiving 2016: 

Reid and Nell were both a little snug in jammies that were 2 years old! During the post Christmas sales of 2014 I tried to guess what size Lou might be in by 2015 and I was wrong, they were way too big for her last year (when I'd hoped I could do a "compare" picture), but it turned out perfect because we got to do it this year instead. Even better, right?