Sunday afternoon is here and I do declare that I think Thanksgiving 2009: Family Merge was a success! Folks arrived in waves with my family coming for the game at 11:30 and Aaron’s family coming in two shifts — one around 1:30 and the next closer to 3:30. We ate around four and, of course, were done twenty minutes later. Ok, maybe the meal lasted longer than that but it’s always so much work and worry and getting ready and then — poof! It’s over. Though, to be fair, it wasn’t that much work for me since my role was more cleaning and catch-all while Aaron slaved away in the kitchen. And I mean that — he worked hard. And has the sweat stains to prove it. In addition to turkey, we served garlic mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts with homemade bacon, ginger and orange carrots, and garlic green beans (my favorite part of the meal). Aaron’s mom generously brought two kinds of stuffing — one sans ‘shrooms since I can’t stand them, as well as her signature dessert. Terry, Steve & Mags brought multiple pies (apple, dutch apple and homemade pumpkin), sweet potatoes and copious amounts of wine. My mom brought the hors d’oeuvres — chips and guacamole (Whole Foods), bean dip and salsa (both from Pasqual’s — the best); shrimp; cheese and crackers; crab dip; spinach artichoke dip; potato chips; and fruit. She also brought the cranberry relish and the rutabaga (blech!). What else? Oh! Aaron served his homemade smoked fish (white fish and trout). Ok, I think that about does it. So, in all, it was a lot of work but we also had tons and tons of help and I really had a good time. The star of the show, though, you might think was the turkey or the homemade bacon but, in my opinion, you’d be wrong. The real star was…my table! Gosh, how I love it. Second and third place can go to the other two contenders.
life and puppies 