Happy Belated Turkey Day!

What a great week! Andrew and I had so much fun having our families visiting for Thanksgiving. Preparations started really as soon as we moved in back in late July as we set out to accomplish several little house projects before the big day.

The countdown really began though on Sunday once I picked up our Honeysuckle White 21 pound turkey and started to let it thaw out for five days in our fridge. The week went by so fast as we finished up last-minute projects, grocery shopping, etc.

On Wednesday evening after work we started a whirlwind of cleaning and cooking. My mom suggested making several dishes before Thanksgiving Day to free up my oven a bit and make things less chaotic. Plus, several of these things taste even better reheated after all of the flavors have time to blend.

So, on Wednesday evening I made:

1. Cranberry sauce (which was a new recipe and turned out sooo yummy)
2. Stuffing (from scratch - yes, this involves making biscuits and cornbread from scratch so it was pretty intense, but I just don't like it any other way)
3. Candied yams (yes, from scratch - it's Thanksgiving and that's the way they should be!)
4. Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake (one of Andrew's favorite holiday desserts)

Andrew's parents, his older brother Luke and girlfriend Lori, plus his younger brother Zach arrived a bit after 10pm, and after a couple of hours of chatting, I was pooped out.

We got up pretty early on Thursday morning and started the turkey. Throughout the day I continued to apply my Autumn Spice Glaze, plus work on setting the table, setting out appetizers and snacks, working on the remaining side dishes and dealing with a broken sprinkler pipe.

Yep, we even had to turn the water off for a while during my cooking escapade. Not a happy camper. Apparently, when a referred landscape guy came to winterize our sprinklers, he hit a pipe which caused it to leak and flood our yard. Thank goodness for the handy Butch Moore and Sons crew because the boys got it plugged and the water back on in time for dishes. And to use the restroom. Ha. What a nightmare. I'm sure the sprinkler guy appreciated my frantic not-so-nice calls and messages on Thanksgiving, which I do feel a bit bad about, but please don't rupture my sprinkler pipe the day before I'm cooking for a house full of people and eliminate my water supply.

Anyways, everything turned out soo good. And, I timed things perfectly! Andrew's mom helped out quite a bit, as did my Aunt Jan from Fort Worth, and then once my mom arrived about an hour before the big show we really got everything together (potatoes and gravy, rolls, reheating stuffing and yams, plus continuing the turkey). Success!

We had great food, great conversation, great weather and even eventually water. Such a fun time!

Check it off the list - Andrew and I hosted our first successful Thanksgiving as a married couple.

I made the first complete big turkey day meal...

He carved his first turkey...
And, we really appreciated everyone traveling to visit. :)
Happy Thanksgiving!