My First TURKEY!

So, I worked 3pm - midnight on Wednesday, 7am-midnight on thanksgiving, went shopping at 4am on Friday and was at work by 7am for a 12-hour shift. Needless to say, I came home friday night and passed out. I awoke Saturday to the sound of my housemate and her brother coming back from New York, ready to hit the grocery store to make last minute purchases before we began our all-day prep for Sunday.

Before church on Sunday, I prepped my Turkey and threw her in the oven. When we got back about 3 hours later, the house was filled with nothing but the irresistible scent of a juicy bird. I opened the oven to find that she was a luscious golden brown... God bless Reynolds oven bags!!

We smashed the 'taters, baked the bread, and whipped the cream. Timing was perfect. The table was set just in time for every dish to be set out while still piping hot.
The menu:
Oven-roasted Turkey, amazing (from scratch!) dressing, homemade southern gravy, orange coconut rolls, brussel sprouts w/ caramelized shallots, cranberry cinnamon port sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, whole grain dinnner rolls, sweet potato meringue pie, and pumpkin chiffon pie with homemade whipped cream. I was in charge of the bird, dressing, gravy, and punkin' chiffon with whip. I also put all the ingredients in the breadmaker for the dinner rolls. Basically, we skimped on nothing. Everything was made from scratch or as close to it as humanly possible. There were only 6 at the dinner table and 3 who made it all happen. It was lovely.

AND THE DRINK, you ask?! Well, we realized we hadn't decided on a beverage. So, I suggested a sherbet punch idea I got from... somewhere ;-) It was such a hit, with a little twist. White cranberry punch with orange sherbert... the punch bowl had not a drop left in it! Most of the dishes were bone dry, come to think of it. We were so proud of our first all-on-our-own attempts at a home-cooked feast and the huge success of it all!

I won't update too much regarding the latest happenings with me. I will see y'all shortly and we'll have plenty to talk about, I'm sure. I am freshly showered after a few hours at the studio staying late after my pottery class. I am working really hard to master the art of clay-throwing, but I am pretty much making ashtrays, paper weights, and door stoppers. They say I'll get better... but we'll see.

Can't wait to see y'all! Much love.