An Impressive Thanksgiving Feast!

Anyone that knows me well knows that cooking is not in my blood. It seems to be in the blood of many siblings and even my husband, so taking on our very first solo Thanksgiving dinner was quite a challenge. But, I have to admit, I was very excited about it. For some reason, I felt like if I could pull this off I could officially say I am a good cook. This meant the stakes were high for me. I talked to my Mom quite possibly a million times to get all of her tips, took notes, made several trips to the grocery store, and then settled in to make our feast.

Bart and I discussed the menu beforehand (well, really I talked and Bart said whatever you want). We settled on Turkey that we stuffed, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Corn, and homemade Rolls. I had never done the turkey or rolls before. Then came the dessert discussion and this is where Bart and I started our own tradition: no pie. I know that sounds so alarming, but relax, we didn't go without dessert. Instead, we made an old family favorite, Apple Dumplings and then put our twist on it by serving it with ice-cream and caramel topping. This turned out to be a stroke of genius.

Wednesday was my prep day and I enlisted Anna's help in the roll making. It was fun to share that experience with her and she loved helping me out. I remember watching and helping my Mom and I know she helped her Mom, which made me feel like I was part of passing down this cool tradition. I must say, our rolls came out pretty darn good for a first try, but I am convinced that no matter how many times I do it they will never quite be Moms. However, they were more than perfect for us. Jacob has not stopped eating them to prove my point (and he is quite the food snob) That night we also made the Apple Dumplings together. This time Jake was interested and we had fun getting them together. This is where my only mishap occurred. While making dumplings, you have to put the finished dough stuff into a pan of sugar water. Something distracted me while doing this and somehow I managed to dump an entire glass baking dish full of sugar water onto my kitchen floor. Note to self: Don't EVER do that again! I have cleaned it multiple times since and continue to find sticky spots. Ugh.

Thursday went very smoothly for us. Bart helped me with the turkey but I did get over myself and managed to stuff it and close it up and get it ready all by myself. When everything was done, we sat down to a fantastic meal. It was fun to have our small family together. We got out our china and made sure to go around and say what we were thankful for. The top ones were: our house, our family, the church, homemade rolls with butter, Diet Coke, and no school. Add to that one prayer for snow and we were one happy family.

So I guess this means that I can officially say: I am a good cook. I am so proud of myself.

I think food pictures never look that great and sometimes look really disgusting, but I couldn't help but post some of my proud moments in cooking. My Mom should really be proud too! Thanks to her great instructions, we pulled it off! Thanks Mom, we are thankful for you too!

Our Turkey (YUM!)

Our most delicious Apple Dumplings The bread that later became the best stuffing ever

My attempt at Mom's rolls

The beautiful table complete with Jacob's
school decorations