gobble gobble

Happy Thanksgiving!

We've always gone to my lovely mother-in-law's house for Thanksgiving, but this year I decided to tackle the feast on my own.

I was pretty nervous about the turkey, but I'm happy to report that everything turned out great! I used a meat thermometer and an oven bag and rubbed it with olive oil, garlic, rosemary, onion salt, and pepper, and the turkey was juicy, crispy and perfect.

Here I am with my first turkey! (and my trashed kitchen)

Don't I have the cutest husband?

Jason's big job was carving the turkey.
Along with the bird, I made mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, stuffing, the world's best dinner rolls, spinach salad, carmelized green beans, pasta salad and the most delicious cranberry sauce ever. We also had spinach and artichoke dip in bread bowls with fresh veggies, cream cheese and raspberry walnut chutney with crackers, sweet potato fries and cranberry mustard, and sugared cranberries. Yeah, that's a lot of food. We have soooooo much left over!! I made everything (but the gravy) from scratch and spread it out over most of the week. I like cooking, but that's a lot to do all in one day!
My two brothers and my sister have been spending the holidays with us and it's been fun. I'm so happy they live nearby--we have so much fun together! Not to brag, but we are a very witty, clever, funny family.
And here's a short list of what I'm grateful for: Jason. Tempe. Helena. Juno. my parents. Jason's parents. All of our siblings. the rest of our family. our house. Jason's job. America. food. the internet. a warm house. the Gospel of Jesus Christ. freedom. enough money for our needs and almost all of wants. good friends. a great neighborhood and neighbors. Disneyland. changing seasons. my education.