Thanksgiving 2019

Thanksgiving Day was lovely!

Everything was prepared on time, our guests enjoyed themselves, and we enjoyed them. It was a great day.

Our college kids arrived around 8:30 or 9:00 Tuesday night. All were forewarned that they would be expected to help clean and bake all day Wednesday. All were agreeable. I am not great at delegating, and I don't have enough mixers, bowls, or pots for everyone to work in the kitchen at the same time (although our kitchen is definitely spacious enough), so only a few of us worked in the kitchen together at once. But that gave everyone a chance to hang out together and have a little fun throughout the day.

Jessica made biscuits for breakfast; Jason and Adreanna enjoyed some. (I hope the others did, too. I didn't see.)

We started right in on the pie-making.

I realized that my boys hadn't made an appearance by 10:00-ish. I guess they all stayed up too late talking and playing games together.

This is how Kaylie makes meringue (for pie, not merengue dancing).

When all the food was prepped and the kitchen cleaned—around 10 p.m.—we all stayed up and watched Captain Marvel. Which was probably not the best idea on my part because it didn't end until nearly midnight. But...time with the family (at least until I fell asleep for the big ending). :-)

I woke up by 5:20 Thanksgiving morning, and finally decided to just get out of bed around ten-to-six. I was still tired, but wide awake, so I spent an hour finishing my Thanksgiving playlist on Spotify. (Because my life definitely has a soundtrack.)

When Bruce got up he made my breakfast for me so that I could work on the Thursday food-prep. All went smoothly. At noon the pickle and veggie trays were laid out on the table as well as the crackers, bread chunks, chips, and dips/spreads.

Guests started to arrive between 12:30 and 1:00.

The first thing the teenage girls did was get together to give each other fancy hairdos.

I'm not sure whether Hannah came with her hair done, or if they did it at my house. We should have lined them all up and taken pictures of their hair from the back; it was pretty fancy.

After a stop at the munchie-table, the kids went to play. I had some paper and crayons available, a baby doll and a Raggedy Ann out, and my dollhouse (with Barbies) lives in the great room; we have wooden train tracks, hobby horses, and Lincoln Logs... I hoped that would be enough to entertain them. It turned out to be perfect. (I have to admit that I was afraid it would be loud and chaotic—and it was! But it was happy chaos, so it was fun, and not bothersome at all.)

at the crayon table

I had imagined the boys playing with the building toys, and using the hobby horses alternately as transportation and swords, while the girls played with the dolls and dollhouse. Instead all of the kids had fun with the dollhouse... which I find delightful.

And dinner really was set out pretty close to 3:00, as planned. Yay!

The kids sat at the kitchen table (no carpet in the kitchen). Behind them you can see the grown-up table, and you can almost see the teenager table, too. We had another, smaller, table set up in the kitchen will all the food set out on it.

While we all sat around the table chatting, a lot of the kids went into the living room to watch How to Train Your Dragon, 3.

We had a little singing session around the piano, then pies and goodies (the baklava was a huge hit!), and more visiting.

We ended the evening by watching The Christ Child: A Nativity Story—which you should watch too; it's so good. Click here to watch it (about 18 minutes long).

By 10:00 p.m. we'd all said our goodbyes, sent people home with pies, and gotten the house pretty well straightened up.

I'm so glad we had everyone over, and that they had a good time. We had a really enjoyable Thanksgiving.

The Thanksgiving Planner

In 1997 Bruce and I, and our little family of three kids, lived in Tennessee while Bruce went to college. We were living in a trailer park, and had made friends with Mr. Gerbitz, who lived across the way with his grandson, Perry, who was Michael's age. We also had some school friends, the Crystals, who, like us, were in Tennessee while their families were back in Idaho and Oregon. So Bruce and I invited them all over for Thanksgiving that year. (Why we took no pictures of the event, I can't say...)

So we were going to have about twelve people in our little home for Thanksgiving that year. And that is the year I started writing out a Thanksgiving planner: the entire menu, who was bringing what, what days I would start cooking certain foods, and finally a down-to-the-hour planner for the day itself (what times to stuff the turkey, cook the mashed potatoes, carve the turkey, etc.). I've done this most years since then, even when it's just been my little family of ten—eleven now, since Jason got married. :-)

This year we've invited our good friends the Rays and the Rehbeins; we will have twenty-eight people in our home for Thanksgiving Day!

Well, a couple of weeks ago Bruce stumbled upon the spiral notebook where I wrote last year's planner. And he said I should post my Thanksgiving Planner on my blog. And I thought, "Why not?" So here it is.

Today, November 18:

See what the Rays and Rehbeins would like to bring
(if anything...I am perfectly OK with preparing the entire meal myself). I'm pretty sure Ruth Ann would be willing to make some of her famous apple pies. :-)



I'll also make the cranberries today—which is  a new timing-thing, Jessica loves my cranberry sauce; she eats it like jam on toast (it is pretty tasty). I've often thought I should just make a bunch of it and bottle it up so she can have some throughout the year—if it lasts that long. Well, this year is the year. I'll cook it and can it, and then on the holiday I'll just have to open up a jar and transfer it to a nice dish to set on the Thanksgiving table.

Friday, November 22:
Do as much of the food shopping as possible. Some things, like fresh green beans and mushrooms will have to wait until the following Tuesday.

Make the stuffing bread. Yep, I bake homemade bread for the turkey stuffing. It really is stuffing bread, made with chicken broth and poultry seasoning, among other fabulous spices. It just adds a little extra flavor to the stuffing. (It also makes great turkey sandwiches, but I'd have to make more of it later for that.)  I usually don't do the bread until the Monday before Thanksgiving, but this year I thought that since it has to be dry anyway, I may as well start way ahead of time, and bag up the dried pieces.

Sunday, November 24:

Get the turkey out of the freezer and into the refrigerator.

With so much of the work done ahead of time, I can pretty much relax until Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. Although, on second thought...


Tuesday, November 26: 
I will bake a couple of pie shells, and cook the cream pie fillings. Probably make the veggie dip and cracker spreads/dips too. Oh! And do the rest of the shopping.

Wednesday, November 27:

Although March 14 (3.14) is Pi Day, our Pie Day is the day before Thanksgiving. Well, pie-baking day; I make lots of extra to eat for breakfast on the day after Thanksgiving. Yes, pie for breakfast on Friday. It's a holiday, so sue me!

This year, besides Ruth Ann's apple pies, I think I'll do pumpkin (of course), banana cream, and pecan. Or maybe instead of pecan pie I'll make baklava. Yum! (I'll have to run that one past the family...)

Over the last few years I've wanted to incorporate at least one other, non-pie dessert into the Thanksgiving menu (although we all love pie!). I'd considered doing a pretty bundt cake this year, but with so many little kids coming over I think I'll do cupcakes. With two ovens I can probably start at 9:30 a.m. and be finished before dinner time. Although if I'm awake at 6:00, as usual, I may as well get an early start.

(Wednesday's dinner will probably be soup or chili, simmered in the crock-pot all day long.)

While the pies are in the oven I will start to prepare the green bean casserole. I use Cook's Illustrated's recipe; none of that insipid canned green-bean and Campbell's soup stuff around here!

I'll definitely prepare the yams on Wednesday evening. I almost forget these every year...probably because yams—even smothered in sweet spices and butter—are a flavor I really can't tolerate. But my family loves them. 

All of that—plus the perpetual cleanup of the day—will make for a full Wednesday. Fortunately my kids will all be home from school to help.

Thursday, Thanksgiving Day:

6:00 a.m.

This sounds like an indecent time to get up on a holiday, but I can guarantee I'll be awake anyway. I always am by 6:00.

Boil the necks and giblets to make a broth for the stuffing.

8:00 a.m.

Breakfast

9:00 to 10:00 a.m.

Prepare the stuffing, and stuff the turkeys—I'm doing two smaller birds rather than one GIGANTIC one; they should cook better that way.
(10:00) Boil potatoes for mashing. I'll have the kids peel, cut and boil these while I work on the turkeys.

10:30 to 11:00 a.m.

Turkeys into the oven.

Mash the potatoes and put them into the crock-pot on Low

11:30  a.m.

Mix the bread dough.

12:00, noon

People may start to arrive (depending on how much time at my house they think their kids can tolerate). I have a few toys for little kids, and some movies they could watch, but I'm hoping for fine weather so that all the dads can take the young'uns out to play ball, or tag, or something—in any case, it's up to the dads to entertain the children. I'll also have paper and crayons—and story books available.

I never do lunch on Thanksgiving Day, but by noon I'll get out the veggie trays, crackers, and spreads for munching.

12:30 to 1:00-ish p.m.

Shape the rolls.

Make a green salad (? I really do forget this every year...)

1:00 p.m.

Get the green beans and the yams out of the fridge so they can start to warm to room temperature.

Set the tables.

2:00 p.m.

Get the turkeys out of the oven, put the rolls in.
Collect the turkey drippings for gravy.
Remove the stuffing from the turkeys.

2:15 p.m. 

Heat up the Green Bean Casserole and the Yams (in the second oven)

Cook up a simple, undressed veggie—probably corn.

Start carving the turkey.

2:30 p.m.

Rolls out of the oven.
Make the gravy.
Get out the cranberry sauce.

Start getting food to the tables.

2:45 p.m.

Green Beans and Yams out of the oven.
Turn off the oven.
Dress the salad.

Put the punch together.

3:00 p.m: Dinner!

After we've all had way too much dinner we'll sit around talking, maybe play games or sing at the piano, and eventually we'll get to the pies. Cream will be whipped just before serving. Guests will stay as long as they want to (no sleeping overnight, though—except for my college kids). And that is the Thanksgiving Plan.

It sounds like a lot to do, but it really goes pretty smoothly. The biggest hassle is the cleanup that has to happen around every project. But Ryan has told me a few times that he thinks it would be fun for each of us to work on a particular dish or pie in the kitchen together. And I think he's right; I should have plenty of helpers.

Friday morning will be pie for breakfast (or leftover turkey and stuffing...). Decorate the House Day will begin. We will probably go check out Vernal's Holly Days for a little while. The entire Thanksgiving weekend is a pretty great holiday around here. So...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Finished... ?

Have you ever looked and looked, and searched and searched for something that you know you saw within the last couple of weeks, yet you can't find it now that you want it?  Ugh! That is what happened with today's intended pictures. So frustrating! But the good news is that...

My living room is finished!

Mostly.

It has been a long-haul with the living room, beginning clear back, last year, when I built the shelf for the DVDs. And then the bookshelves. But now it is pretty much done!

So, to start out with, my living room had boring white walls, and ugly white mini-blinds. Also ugly, green couches.

I couldn't find any "before" pictures of my living room...
well, not the one I wanted. 

This is a very cute picture of Jessica, with the "before"
living room behind her.

And these are pics of the "before" living room
while it was under construction.

These pictures will give you an idea of my empty canvas, although they are not nearly as good as the one I was looking for.

Well, after the shelves were finished I decided I needed a little end table to go next to my couch. This would prevent the ottoman and the floor from collecting things like empty cups and remote controls. I got a cute little table at a second-hand store. It was mostly cute. But it had lots of gouges and scratches—including "I LOVE YOU MOM" carved into it which, I'm sure, made that mom feel very loved. The scratches were so deep that I decided I'd paint the table instead of staining and varnishing it, which would have been my first choice.

Once again, I forgot to take a picture until I'd already started working on my project. 

I did a lot of sanding, used a lot of wood-filler, and did a lot more sanding. I also tightened some screws—and put in a few more—to keep it from wobbling. I painted the table with the paints for the bookshelf and the wall around the bookshelf, but I've never been sure about it...it looks like it would be super-cute in a little girl's room.

Then we planted our garden. And then we painted the living room.

the same color as the hallway-side bookshelf wall

No more white walls! Yay!

We made a custom clock for the east wall:

I think the compass points and the fancy hands make it hard to read. I wonder if painting the hands bronzey/brassy
or maybe coppery would help...

We decided that the south wall needed some family pictures... But what I really wanted was a family tree. So we projected a nice tree onto the wall, and I traced it and painted it (time for us to bewail the misplacement of a really good photo of me painting a tree onto the wall). 

Lindsey is not sprouting a tree out of her head;
it is painted on the wall.

I had originally bought a bunch of picture frames at the thrift store, but I realized pretty quickly that they would 1. cover up way too much of my tree, and 2. take up space that I'd rather use for pictures. So we printed up a bunch of photos and mounted them onto hardboard and foam-core board and used sticky-tack to put them up. :-)

Then I had a short bout of laziness. 

And then I made the curtains for the windows. They are pinch-pleated, and have drawstrings and everything. No more ugly mini-blinds!

This picture in my files is titled: Too many devices.
But don't look at that. You are supposed to notice the "Before"—white walls, white mini-blinds, and green couches. Particularly
the blinds. You can notice my attractive kids, too.

Here's a better "before" picture of that wall.

This is actually a picture of my chair, in progress.
But you can see the curtains on the wall.

Then we did the couches. And then lots of canning. And finally the chair and ottoman.

Here is the chair, still in progress. I had originally intended to make the chair blue—just to break up the brownness of the living room. And then I started wondering if that would just be weird—
this BLUE chair in the middle of everything. I do have yards of brown fabric left, and I could have done it brown.
But we decided to go with the blue.
Behind the chair you can see my fabulous ottoman, and the first use of the elephant fabric that I fell in love with in the beginning.
Again, I debated brown or blue for the top of the ottoman,
but the brown just made it look really boring.
And a blue ottoman gave me a tie to the chair, right?

The very last project to be completed was the cornice board. It was pretty easy to make, although I did have a few puzzles to solve (mostly how to hang it up...).

the back of the cornice board—it's almost finished
What you don't see, and will never see, is that under the elephant fabric on the front side I used two layers of horrible, purple,
minky-fleece to pad it.

And now I'm going to take a break and tell you how wonderful that elephant fabric is. It is gorgeous in every way. It feels fabulous, and the colors are rich, and it was woven so that you could sew it end-to-end without any waste (it connects perfectly in the middle of an elephant). I knew I loved this fabric from the moment I saw it!

Love this fabric!
I wasn't sure about the tassels...Even though they match the green wall and the blue chair, and would pull those colors into another part of the room, they did look a little too bright for my beloved elephants. But, as with the chair, I decided to forge ahead.

OK. Now that you know how fabulous the fabric is...

I sewed the tassels on by hand—all 11 1/2 feet of them!

A sneak preview:

Of the four yards of tassels, I had nine tassels left: four brown,
three blue, and two green.

Well, Bruce and I got the cornice board hung up. It really gives the curtain a finished look—and I'm glad I used the tassels.

Oh...wait. I was wrong! The cornice board wasn't the very last thing done. Once it was hung up, I had my two throw-pillows to make. I'd gotten a couple from my neighbor, who was moving, so all I had to do was re-cover them, and pad them out a little more.

before and after pillows

blue on the backs, to tie in with the chair

And that's it. Well, almost it. I do have some lovely fabric for sheers to hang under the curtains. I'm undecided about them...which means I'll probably make them and hang them up and love them. But if I don't love them in the living room, I'll use them in my bedroom. I also have this strange little closet space to fix up (it's not going to be a closet). Maybe I'll make that it's own post.

Anyway, here are the before (sort of) and afters:

Before

After

with the curtains closed
Still don't know about the white and green table.
Mostly I don't think about it...

...although I'd like to keep a plant on it.

the whole room, as you see it when you come in the front door

So, that's it! I could use some artwork on a couple of walls, but we are hoping our talented kids will take care of that...  Or I will have to look around. And, if you look at the clock pic, Little Red Riding Hood isn't going to live in the living room. I'd replace her with a small globe or something. Maybe another plant (Because I am soooo fabulous with houseplants...)

Anyway, I'm pleased with the way it all turned out. :-)