Hen23's Journal~Goodbye

[Henrietta23]

Glad you are going to have a happier holiday time this year!

I am tying to lower the stress of Thanksgiving this year by doing a bit of cooking all week. Hopefully that will work to make the holiday smoother here as well.

It should. DH's aunt used to do the big Italian-American dinner and would start weeks in advance. She'd tell everybody to bring whatever since she had the bases covered and then some. So we'd end up with 22 vegetable dishes. It was nuts, she still stressed out and there was way toooo much food. We keep it small and basic. I'm doing the turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, breads and one pie. Mom is doing the stuffing (dressing I guess since it isn't in the bird), squash and green beans. My brother will bring a green salad. Someone will grab a couple of bottles of wine and I'll do sparkling water and apple cider. It's only 6 or 7 of us. My stress now is that DB's GF won't tell us if she's coming or not until the last minute (long story, happens every year, 50/50 shot she's coming-I don't set a place for her until I get the word she is, so sometimes we scramble, mostly to make the point that it's nice to know!)

 

[lorihadams]

I tried to do smaller with less leftovers cause it just seemed like we always ended up throwing stuff away. I told my parents and grandparents the first year we lived in our new house that I would do all the food. They showed up with 14 dishes of food, 2 pies and 2 cakes. UGH.

Maybe you could do a spiral ham instead of extra turkey?

 

[Henrietta23]

Since I didn't find the boneless turkey breast I wanted I might just do that. I love ham! I also have two huge chickens from the same farm in the freezer. I could always roast one of those as well.

I am home with a sick kiddo again tomorrow. Fever and sore throat. Need him healthy by Thursday!

 

[Henrietta23]

Had a wonderful Thanksgiving, other than the little guy still having a nasty cold. He's holding his own anyway. We had a Narraganset turkey from our CSA. 10lbs. It was very tasty. I cooked it using a method I watched on Cook's Country or America's Test Kitchen. You poke the bird all over with a fork then cover it with slices of salt pork, then wet cheese cloth, then foil. When the meat reaches 140 degrees you take all that off, increase the oven temperature and brown the bird up until the meat reaches 175. I was nervous trying something new on such an expensive bird but it worked. I also made their garlic mashed potatoes and I don't think I will ever make them another way. Holy cow, were they good. We just had the three of us, plus my parents, my brother and his girlfriend.
More Christmas changes. DH called his sister who has always flown out from Iowa with her DH and 2 kids to be at their parents house for the week. Since MIL has told them she's not doing Christmas and can't handle them coming, SIL and DH decided we should just take a break from gift giving completely this year. My gift list just decreased by half. I usually do homemade goodies of different kinds for them all. I will save a lot of time. DS is not happy that he won't see his cousins and that he won't be choosing presents for them. I figure he can make some things and we'll send those anyway. I already made a small charitable donation in each of the cousins names. Oh well.
Looking forward to the next three days off and hoping no one else gets sick.

 

[Henrietta23]

Ah! Sun is shining. Made Advent wreaths in the church hall after the service. Hung some pine roping on the picket fence here at the house. Everything smells green and good. Pulled the turkey carcass out of the freezer to pop into the stock pot with lots of veggies.
Kiddo is finally getting healthy. Someone at church told us her grandson had the exact symptoms for the same duration of time and he was diagnosed with H1N1 so there's a good chance that's what DS had. DH and I are both fine.
18 work days until winter break! 4 days off wasn't enough!

 

[Henrietta23]

Delicious-but, oh man, the brain freeze!!!

 

[Henrietta23]

13 school days till Christmas break-woot! Hoping for a snow day Thurdsay..... I really do love my job! Really!!

 

[delia_peterson]

Your puppy is so precious! I love his picture!

 

[Henrietta23]

Your puppy is so precious! I love his picture!

Thank you! He is loving the snow.

 

[delia_peterson]

Your puppy is so precious! I love his picture!

Thank you! He is loving the snow.

Is that a little bell hanging on his collar?