Ok, first a little talk about the food because isn't that the MOST important part of Thanksgiving? We've already had three turkeys, and it is not even officially Thanksgiving yet! I love turkey, and deep-fried turkey is the best! If you haven't experienced deep-fried turkey, you might be wondering about it. I mean, deep-fried doesn't sound all that healthy- ever had a deep-fried Twinkie? I hear they're doing those at fairs, etc., now - geez, its a heart attack on a plate.
But deep-fried turkey is great -- all the juices are sealed in, it only takes about 45 minutes to cook, then you peel the skin off and voila! A fully done, wonderfully tasting turkey! So we (by "we" I mean Dave) cooked two on Saturday for our annual Bolduc Thanksgiving party and then another one on Sunday for he, Jace and I to enjoy for the following three days. Plus he's cooking one when we go to my folks' for Thanksgiving - that'll give him an excuse to stay away from the in-laws and stand outside drinking beer.
Dave is a fabulous cook, and for our Thanksgiving party he made turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, pork sausage/Granny apple stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes. Our guests brought side dishes and desserts, and it was quite a feast! Paige has helped Dave the last few years with some of the prep, but this year she really helped with the majority of the dishes for the dinner. She asked him a couple of months ago to start showing her how to cook some of his favorite dishes, since she's going off to college next year. (She asked her father about cooking because apparently neither her mother and step-mother can cook as well as her father! I know that's true, in my case!)
But deep-fried turkey is great -- all the juices are sealed in, it only takes about 45 minutes to cook, then you peel the skin off and voila! A fully done, wonderfully tasting turkey! So we (by "we" I mean Dave) cooked two on Saturday for our annual Bolduc Thanksgiving party and then another one on Sunday for he, Jace and I to enjoy for the following three days. Plus he's cooking one when we go to my folks' for Thanksgiving - that'll give him an excuse to stay away from the in-laws and stand outside drinking beer.
Dave is a fabulous cook, and for our Thanksgiving party he made turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, pork sausage/Granny apple stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes. Our guests brought side dishes and desserts, and it was quite a feast! Paige has helped Dave the last few years with some of the prep, but this year she really helped with the majority of the dishes for the dinner. She asked him a couple of months ago to start showing her how to cook some of his favorite dishes, since she's going off to college next year. (She asked her father about cooking because apparently neither her mother and step-mother can cook as well as her father! I know that's true, in my case!)
Gorgeous girl, gorgeous cheesecake! That was her dessert contribution to the evening, and it was so yummy! The party was fabulous as always - we had the deck almost done, and bought a firepit for the stone patio, so lots of our guests spent time around the fire after dinner. We ended up having 26 people, including the two of us and our three kids - a huge group for our small home! It is hard, because I have more people I'd like to invite, and we just don't have the room. Here's a few pics from the evening:
Newlyweds Clay and Cindi were able to join us for the first time!
the guys!
the gals!
Dinner is served
Gail and Heather
Dave breaks out the horse racing game!
Jana and Traci sitting out by the fire pit
It was a great evening, and once again I don't have pictures of all of our guests - I tend to get sidetracked later in the evening, after a little wine! But I did remember this year to actually get a picture of some people eating (better than last year's pics, where it looked like a big drinking party with no food!) It was quite a bit to clean on Sunday, but also had quite a bit of leftovers as well, so we've feasted on all the great dishes for the last couple of days. Now I've got to get packed tonight so we can leave town right after work tomorrow and head to St. Clair. I'm so excited to see Sam and Eva, (my nephew and new little niece!) and of course the rest of the family.
Safe travels and Happy Thanksgiving wishes to you all!
