Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving happened. Everyone was fed. Everyone got along. And there were pies!

The Saturday before The Big Day, we went to Aldi and Dominick's for supplies. Yes. Two grocery stores. We take Thanksgiving seriously in our house. And yes, those are extra meaty ribs. Extra meaty = extra delicious.

Note the lack of bird.

The manfriend insisted on the ribs - he figured they had ribs at the first Thanksgiving, so there was no reason we couldn't also have ribs. Obvs.

Later that day, I made the pie crust dough. I had a little too much fun with the food processor.

The pumpkin pie crust is the basic crust from the Joy of Cooking. Simple and a good basic crust. Now, about the crust for the apple pear spice pie (from the Food Network's site, found here). I was a little nervous about the egg in the crust (the Joy of Cooking does not have egg in their crust), but it turned out to be the best best best crust I've ever made. Chewy and flavorful and not at all crumbly like some other crusts I know.

Tuesday was an exciting day. Our first visitor arrived!

Big Shaggy

Barclay is the manfriend's dog from a previous relationship and he still has partial custody. Barclay comes to visit every now and then, usually over the holidays when his mom is out of town. And Barclay is, if nothing else, a good conversation starter. If you come over while he's visiting, he'll bring you a boot.

After Barclay arrived, I continued my preparations:

My OCD at its finest.

Wednesday dawned bright and early (aka 8:00am). I got up early to make pie and rolls and pick up the manfriend's mom from the airport. We spent the day in the kitchen making the baked goods, deviled eggs, rubbing and prepping the ribs, and brining the turkey. I was so wrapped up in the baked goods, I forgot to take pictures of the meat items, but trust me, they looked spectacular.

My rolls turned out just like the picture! I was super excited and HOLY CRAP are they delicious and fluffy and yeasty and delicious. You just need yeast and patience and you too can make these rolls. Yes, they took a while, but they are so worth it. That can of back up, emergency Pillsbury (ok, fine, Dominick's brand) crescent rolls stayed IN. THE. FRIDGE.

Thursday, the rest of the manfriend's family arrived, Joe and Ashley came over (with Trader Joe's Pumpkin Cheesecake ohmygawdy'all), we finished making the appetizers (spinach dip, chili cheese dip), and then drifted in and out of the kitchen to keep an eye on the rest of the meal. Everything got done on time, nothing was burned, and it was all warm when we got it on the table!

Even more than a holiday, this was the great Meeting of the Families. I think having a Thanksgiving feast to prepare was a good distraction to keep me from FREAKING OUT about this Very Big Step, but I shouldn't have worried. Everyone got along swimmingly! It helps that we're all liberal Democratic types with similar world views, so there were no fisticuffs breaking out over the gravy. Unfortunately.

Since I was distracted by food prep (and wine...), I didn't get that many pictures, but here's what I do have:

Barclay is a proper puppy.

The Martha LOVES deviled eggs. See that joy on her face?? Joy!

FEAST. Including ribs. And this is Ashley's picture. Which I stole from the Facebook.

The tradition continues! The "tradition" being Martha beats us all at Scrabble while I get drunk on cheap wine.

Friday morning I made "danishes." Puff pastry dough + cream cheese + one of the AMAZING homemade jams Amy sent me for my birthday = best thing ever. And super easy. I know not everyone has access to this special homemade jam, but I'm sure Smucker's would work just fine.

And, as is tradition, I finished the Thanksgiving holiday and kicked off Christmas by putting up all the decorations.

Barclay helped.