I wish I was good at coming up with clever titles...
I am worried that I have officially become the "nagging girlfriend". And all because of one very important topic: Thanksgiving turkey.
I inadvertently asked the boy to make the turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. I was apprehensive, but he was immediately excited and started plotting the perfect plan. Seeing his enthusiasm made me feel bad for doubting him, but I couldn't help it. Giving up control of something as important as the turkey is tough. I mean, that's the center of the whole dinner! And my family is picky. The bird has been simply slathered in butter and oven roasted for as long as I can remember. We don't even put salt and pepper let alone sage, thyme, etc. And this boy--the same one who doctors up EVERYTHING he makes with Checker's Creole Seasoning-- is going to be in charge of the most important part of the meal.
Suddenly, horrible thoughts of frozen turkey, dried out turkey, even cajun turkey flooded my brain. What would he do to it? (Nothing, it will be perfectly fine.) Would it come out ok? (Of course! It will be juicy and delicious.) Does he realize the significance of this task? (Of course he does.) It doesn't help that he won't tell me anything about what he has planned for it. He finds it humorous that I'm so nervous about it and gets some kind of sick joy out of torturing me. His recent favorite thing to say is that he's going to put candles all over it and make it a turkey birthday Thanksgiving cake... Do you now understand my anxiety?? :)
I have been incapable of restraining from asking/reminding/questioning/pondering/nagging him about the turkey. I know it has to be frustrating and I wish I could simply relinquish the control. But I am so nervous! Surely this is all unnecessary. I'm positive it's going to be perfectly wonderful.
Right??
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Preparations
Needless to say, I am very excited to be hosting Thanksgiving this year. It will be nice to be with my family again since I haven't spent Thanksgiving with them since I moved here (2 1/2 years ago). This will also be the first time the "kids" will spend a holiday together without our parents. That's a little strange, I have to admit. It makes me feel like we're grown ups. Not to mention the fact that my baby brother is graduating high school this year. But that's another topic entirely...
Last night I went to my favorite store to (finally) go Thanksgiving grocery shopping. It's Walmart, by the way. And I know, I know. But I just don't care-I love it! And here's why:
I had a massive shopping list, y'all. This was partly because I had to buy everything, even the basics like flour, sugar, spices, etc. Basically, it was every single ingredient needed to make an entire Thanksgiving dinner in my shopping cart. (And you should know that when I say an entire Thanksgiving dinner, I really mean, 'enough food to feed half the country'.)
So anyway, I love grocery shopping at Walmart. I know where everything is (and just in case I didn't, they supplied these handy laminated Holiday Shopping Guides that listed every ingredient you might need for Holiday cooking and which aisle they were located on. So wonderful!). I know about how much everything costs. I know which brands I like, which I prefer and which I have to choose from. All of this has made me a pretty good grocery shopper. I can almost always get out of there under budget and with quite a few bags of groceries. But last night...I outdid myself.
My sister and I had a dollar amount in our heads. Granted, when you think about it, it was a bit much to spend on one meal but you have to remember this is the biggest meal of the year. And we're feeding 6+ people and LOVE leftovers. Anyway, we had this dollar amount in our heads. Secretly, I was hoping it would be less than that, but I didn't want to have to skimp on anything. Howevery, my super-human grocery shopping powers were in full force last night. An hour and a half later, I was checking out and holding my breath (metaphorically, not literally). When the grand total was announced, I thought for sure she had forgotten to scan a couple bags of stuff. I checked the conveyor belt and, sure enough, it was empty. Everything was bagged and in my cart and I had finished $40 under budget!! It was amazing.
Now the cooking begins. I'm going to start early this year. Prep and some of the food will be made the day before to ensure it all gets done on time (and I'm not dead by the time we sit down to eat). Here's the menu...it doesn't look like anything fancy. (No fancy ingredients or cooking techniques in the titles, sorry. But it is ALL homemade from scratch.) And if you've tasted this food, you know I'm telling the truth when I say it's simply going to be the best dinner. Ever.
Appetizers:
cheese ball w/assortment of crackers
deviled eggs
relish tray (pickles, olives, spicy veggies, etc)
Main Course:
turkey
twice baked potatoes
cornbread stuffing
candied yams
green bean casserole
pasta salad
corn
cranberry sauce
rolls
turkey gravy
Dessert:
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Banana Pudding
Mississippi Mud Pie
Last night I went to my favorite store to (finally) go Thanksgiving grocery shopping. It's Walmart, by the way. And I know, I know. But I just don't care-I love it! And here's why:
I had a massive shopping list, y'all. This was partly because I had to buy everything, even the basics like flour, sugar, spices, etc. Basically, it was every single ingredient needed to make an entire Thanksgiving dinner in my shopping cart. (And you should know that when I say an entire Thanksgiving dinner, I really mean, 'enough food to feed half the country'.)
So anyway, I love grocery shopping at Walmart. I know where everything is (and just in case I didn't, they supplied these handy laminated Holiday Shopping Guides that listed every ingredient you might need for Holiday cooking and which aisle they were located on. So wonderful!). I know about how much everything costs. I know which brands I like, which I prefer and which I have to choose from. All of this has made me a pretty good grocery shopper. I can almost always get out of there under budget and with quite a few bags of groceries. But last night...I outdid myself.
My sister and I had a dollar amount in our heads. Granted, when you think about it, it was a bit much to spend on one meal but you have to remember this is the biggest meal of the year. And we're feeding 6+ people and LOVE leftovers. Anyway, we had this dollar amount in our heads. Secretly, I was hoping it would be less than that, but I didn't want to have to skimp on anything. Howevery, my super-human grocery shopping powers were in full force last night. An hour and a half later, I was checking out and holding my breath (metaphorically, not literally). When the grand total was announced, I thought for sure she had forgotten to scan a couple bags of stuff. I checked the conveyor belt and, sure enough, it was empty. Everything was bagged and in my cart and I had finished $40 under budget!! It was amazing.
Now the cooking begins. I'm going to start early this year. Prep and some of the food will be made the day before to ensure it all gets done on time (and I'm not dead by the time we sit down to eat). Here's the menu...it doesn't look like anything fancy. (No fancy ingredients or cooking techniques in the titles, sorry. But it is ALL homemade from scratch.) And if you've tasted this food, you know I'm telling the truth when I say it's simply going to be the best dinner. Ever.
Appetizers:
cheese ball w/assortment of crackers
deviled eggs
relish tray (pickles, olives, spicy veggies, etc)
Main Course:
turkey
twice baked potatoes
cornbread stuffing
candied yams
green bean casserole
pasta salad
corn
cranberry sauce
rolls
turkey gravy
Dessert:
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Banana Pudding
Mississippi Mud Pie
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Just Another Day in the Life
I've decided that I'm going to start actually using my blog. yay! I'm thinking of writing just about the everyday musings and occurrences of my daily life. Not because I think anyone really wants to read them, but because I feel like writing and think this is a good outlet. So here goes nothin.
Yesterday I discovered the non-stop Christmas music station on the radio. I had heard rumors, but didn't realize they were already playing it. Needless to say, I was very excited. However, the song that was on at that time just didn't work for me. I didn't want that song to be the first Christmas song I heard of the season. My second (okay, third) attempt- It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! by Johnny Mathis -was a much better selection. I happily sang along and grew more and more excited for the coming holidays.
Today was wonderfully winter-esque. I didn't care too much for the 1/4" of ice on my windshield this morning (especially because I don't have an ice scraper for my new car yet...must make a mental note to go to wal-mart) but I loved the fact that the sky was gray and I could wear boots and my nice coat. My favorite part of the day was driving home from work listening to the "All Christmas All the Time" station and seeing the twinkle lights outside my apartment. It's the simple things, I tell ya.
I'm trying to decide how detailed I want to get in this blog. I'm sure I won't be able to go for long without mentioning a few people, so maybe I'll just outline the major players now.
the boyfriend= the boy
my sister= S
my mom= mom
a friend= R
the boyfriend's roommate= J
that should about cover it for now. I have a feeling this might get confusing...
One more thing. I'm super excited that my family is coming for Thanksgiving. Just the brothers and sister (and husband) but that's 4. Add me and the boy (and possibly J) and that's a full table! I'm excited to cook all my holiday favorites and share them with the people I love. Thanksgiving is edging closer to stealing first place from Christmas on my list of favorite holidays. But who am I kidding.. that will never happen!
Yesterday I discovered the non-stop Christmas music station on the radio. I had heard rumors, but didn't realize they were already playing it. Needless to say, I was very excited. However, the song that was on at that time just didn't work for me. I didn't want that song to be the first Christmas song I heard of the season. My second (okay, third) attempt- It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! by Johnny Mathis -was a much better selection. I happily sang along and grew more and more excited for the coming holidays.
Today was wonderfully winter-esque. I didn't care too much for the 1/4" of ice on my windshield this morning (especially because I don't have an ice scraper for my new car yet...must make a mental note to go to wal-mart) but I loved the fact that the sky was gray and I could wear boots and my nice coat. My favorite part of the day was driving home from work listening to the "All Christmas All the Time" station and seeing the twinkle lights outside my apartment. It's the simple things, I tell ya.
I'm trying to decide how detailed I want to get in this blog. I'm sure I won't be able to go for long without mentioning a few people, so maybe I'll just outline the major players now.
the boyfriend= the boy
my sister= S
my mom= mom
a friend= R
the boyfriend's roommate= J
that should about cover it for now. I have a feeling this might get confusing...
One more thing. I'm super excited that my family is coming for Thanksgiving. Just the brothers and sister (and husband) but that's 4. Add me and the boy (and possibly J) and that's a full table! I'm excited to cook all my holiday favorites and share them with the people I love. Thanksgiving is edging closer to stealing first place from Christmas on my list of favorite holidays. But who am I kidding.. that will never happen!
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