Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a great holiday! This year Brian & I had the pleasure of hosting some of my family for Thanksgiving. Our kitchen that we hope to makeover this spring has a few flaws, such as a small wall oven! So when it was decided upon Brian & I hosting my Dad, stepmom Rachel, Mom-Mom and Brother, Darren we decided we would take a chance and grill the turkey!

We were all out back watching Brian use his grilling skills when our neighbor Robin came outside to move the cars around, I quickly asked for her to take a photo of all of us. Well we took the first one on the side of the house closest to her house, not so good too much sun! So she was kind enough to snap another on the shady side!

Family photo with the sun in our eyes...opps!

We moved over to the other side, no sun :) Thanks to my neighbor she took this!

On the menu we had:
Apple Sage Grilled Turkey*
Whipped Mashed Potatoes*
Whipped Sweat Potatoes w/ walnuts
Sausage and Cranberry Sausage*
Corn*
Lima Beans
Cranberry Relish
Coleslaw
homemade bread*
And for dessert:
Jelly Roll
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Apple Pie*

Luckily we were only feeding a small crowd, we were only responsible for the items with the * next to them. Brian is great, he mopped the floors, made the apple pie and bread all while I was at the gym on Thursday morning. He really enjoys cooking -- I am thankful it does not all fall on my shoulders to get it done! He even had the "beats" flowing so he was in his groove with the music and cooking. The grilling of the turkey was basically used as a oven. The turkey cooked in a roasting pan on a grate so that the juices fall to the bottom. Brian rotated the turkey a couple of times and then for the last hour he basted it with the apple sage sauce. In addition to following the recipe we also brined the turkey. I think that helped to keep the turkey really moist.  If you aren't sure what brining is, we let it sit over night in a salt water seasoning mixture. We have never made a turkey before so we didn't have anything to compare it to! Except for the fact it was super moist and delicious!

Apple Pie

Brian even did the criss cross crust!

Looking good!

The final product!

Brian did a great job! It was a real team effort by all including the family dinner guests! I'm glad that we can say we have know cooked a turkey and hosted Thanksgiving in our home. It was a nice time. I am thankful for many things especially all the little things we take for granted, like using the bathroom, walking, talking, to the big things like owning my home and having a job. I am also thankful to have wonderful friends who are like family. And of course I'm thankful for our family and most importantly-- Brian :) I love him so much. Happy Thanksgiving!