Friday, November 28, 2008

Turkey Day Recap

Whew! That was a fun Thanksgiving--but I've lost most of the feeling in my legs from standing nearly all day!

I got up bright and early to get the turkeys in--that's turkeyS plural. I do two turkeys so we have one for the dinner and one so we have enough leftovers for a couple of days.

Here's what I've learned from years of turkey-cooking experience--brined turkeys are the best. We have done taste tests with brined an unbrined turkeys and the brined one always wins hands-down. The problem with the brined turkey is that is retains so much moisture that there is literally NO liquid in the pan when the turkey is done so there's nothing to make gravy with. My solution is that I do one brined and one unbrined--so we get the best of both worlds.

Here's a look at one of my birds with Gooser peeking in the background. It's not all fancy-like on a platter because I had just taken it out of the oven.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Before all the turkey fun started we had some pumpkin pie martinis--I got the recipe from Cathy of Noble Pig. They were VERY tasty!! Here I am (right) with my friend Muffin enjoying our pumpkin pies in a glass:
I know I showed you the flowers yesterday, but here they are on the table with a little more of the turquoise/orange color scheme.

Actually, you can't really see the colors in that pic--here's one of the whole table. This pics bugs me though because Teddy rearranged my blue/orange napkin pattern and they are out of sequence. The adults had blue napkins and the kids had orange. You can see how ginormous the table is--I actually had to reconfigure my entire dining room and add and extra table to make enough room!
Here's a close-up of the cute Pilgrim place cards and baby flower arrangement. The plates are my Grandmother's--the design is called "crab apple." I use them every Thanksgiving.
One more table pic...
Unfortunately, I took very few pics of the kids because I got to busy with the food and guests. Also, was super worried and preoccupied because Andy suddenly got really sick--I think he has the flu. Poor thing was totally fine and then it hit him like a ton of bricks--he aches all over and has a fever. And he didn't eat anything--which is unheard of for him--so I know he's really sick. Update--since I started writing this, it appears Andy has the stomach flu...
Here's Teddy and Patrick:
And here's Pickle. I wish I had taken more pics!
The only other pic I have is of my sweet potatoes with marshmallows!
We were going to go away for the next few days, but what with Andy being sick, we'll stick around here.

Stop back over the weekend--I'll have a video of the dogs' turkey-eating contest and the kids' little concert they put on for our guests!

Hope you all had great Thanksgivings!!

Please join Candid Carrie for some post- Thanksgiving Phriday Foto Phun!!
Photobucket

22 comments:

Dee said...

Oh dear, Andy does not look good... poor kid! On thanksgiving too- what bad timing.

I love your photos, it must have been a massive day.

Ronda's Rants said...

I hope Andy feels better...your Thanksgiving table and all looks magazine perfect! I forgot to take any pictures that day...not one!
Not even the grand children...it is actually a little bit of a blur...I do remember someone saying it was the best Thanksgiving ever...I live for those moments! :)

Jennifer said...

Everything looked gorgeous! I hope Andy feels better soon- Poor thing.

Jenni said...

I am sorry Andy got sick! I hope he is better quickly!

GREAT pictures! :-D I love all the flowers!

Becky said...

Your table is beautiful. It looks like you go all out for the holidays!

What a fun mom you are!

debi9kids said...

The turkey looks fantastic! And, fabuolous table!
hope your poor boy feels better. My twins ended up sick as well and were up all night too. UGH!

Anonymous said...

Jennifer, I love your table colors, first orange is my favorite color so with blue as the complementary color, just beautiful. Glad you enjoyed the martinis, they pack a punch eh?

Sorry about Andy, save hime some leftovers, poor thing.

Angie said...

Poor Andy, hope he feels better soon. Your table is like a pic from Better Homes and Gardens, dang...I wish I could make a table look that good, lol. What the heck do you do to your turkey? Its perfectly browned all around, looks soo yummy! Glad you had a great day:0)

Sandi said...

So fun! It LOOKS like it all turned out perfect!

binks said...

Nice photos. I couldn't locate my camera, so no pix at all.

wendy said...

Your table looks beautiful and I'm definitely going to have to try those pumpkin pie martinis!!

Dennis and Leslie said...

What a beautiful Thanksgiving table!!! I love the orange and blue together. Hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday!

Susie said...

I hope your son feels better soon. Other than that, it sounds and looks like you had a GREAT Thanksgiving:-) That's awesome!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the table and the flowers. Gorgeous:-)

Sugar Boogers & Tantrums said...

I love the orange and the turqoise. It's beautiful and the flowers are beautiful. I bet those Martini's are yummy...

mrsmouthy said...

I'm so jealous you get to host Thanksgiving--and you did an AWESOME job!

Coincidentally, my son woke up throwing up today too. I guess the turkeys are getting their revenge any way they can this year!

Anonymous said...

Everything looks great!!!!.....except for poor Andy!!! I hope the rest of your family doesn't succumb to that as well.....

I only took pics of Zander and the sweet potatoes...which were 1/2 gone by then....what's up with that?

Anonymous said...

Oh my, Pumpkin Pie Martinis?! I am so going to try those! The table looks great - the turkey looks yummy and poor Andy but your young 'un is adorable, as always!

CaraBee said...

My husband's sister and her husband made T-day dinner and did a brined turkey. It was absolutely AMAZING!! My contribution was an apple butter pumpkin pie. Delicious, if I do say so myself. Hope Andy is feeling better and you can enjoy the rest of your weekend!

{oc cottage} said...

Fabulous!!

M ^..^

Anonymous said...

Wow Jennifer, what a table, and poor Andy feeling that way. Gooser's eyes tell a story peeking over that delicious looking turkey too. Looks like you had a fab Thanksgiving.

AV
http://netherregionoftheearthii.blogspot.com/
http://tomusarcanum.blogspot.com/

Temple said...

I just have to ask....does Martha know that you are gunning for her job? Because, seriously, after she did that stint in federal prison for that little "trading" issues, she may "know some people", if you get my meaning...

Seriously--very very very impressive!

Kori said...

the table is stunning-truly.