Thanksgivingdaivid

We take a break from our regularly scheduled programing to talk about Thanksgiving! YAHOO! It's probably one of my favorite holidays (besides Halloween) because it means the Christmas season is here and that mean Christmas music and trees and decorating etc...I just love this time of year. This year was no different, Wednesday night we had dinner at round table pizza with "the families" like always. We had some great entertainment provided by Miss. Reagan. =) she knows how to work a crowd.

 this was outside our window this morning:

really?! i like the snow but not this early and not when i have to drive places!! yikes. and Ty's in Chile enjoying a 2nd summer jealous!
I made it my project to be in charge of the turkey this year. I never realized what a big deal it was and how much work it is. my hands are raw from soap and bleaching everything, I'm so paranoid about cross contamination! So I took some help from one Alton Brown and brined the heck outta the turkey. I just used some stock, salt, peppercorns, orange peel and ice water then let it brine overnight in the fridge. then this morning i rinsed it all out (sick) and patted it dry. Made some aromatics with apple, onion, rosemary and cinnamon. Filled up the cavity with those items and brushed it with butter then baked it and basted it several times through out 3.5 hours. It got a little browner than I thought it would but it made the skin kind of crispy (i hate the skin though, never have liked it).  and this was the finished product:

i have to say for my first turkey ever it was pretty good. the flavor wasn't as intense as i would have liked but it was pretty juicy. I also made a stuffing like quinoa because i hate stuffing. I just made up a recipe and used 4.5 cups of broth/water and 1.5 cups quinoa. half an onion, dried basil, rosemary, toasted pecans and crasins. I loved it. I got seconds of it but couldn't finish because i was far too full.

we had our neighbors and tracy over for our lunch/dinner. it was a mad house for awhile but it all worked out. it was surprisingly less stressful than it has been in years past so that's good.

so tomorrow is black friday. we did go to walgreens and michaels tonight which wasn't as crazy as i thought it would be, i have never shopped on thanksgiving day before and probably won't again. but tomorrow, i'm debating what i want to do. People started lining up here at 2:30 this afternoon for stores that don't open until 5AM!!!!!! yiiikes. that's dedication but i think i'd rather pay an extra bit of money and not have to wait outside in the snow. so i might brave the crowds tomorrow to go to old navy and a few places but we'll see it might just be better to sleep in and avoid all the crazies and the icy streets!