Thanksgiving wrap up

Since I failed to get this post up yesterday, I present it today as a rare Saturday post.

It was a glorious Thanksgiving at the Hopkins’ home. Dave’s mom is in from Illinois, my dad was here and we also invited Marissa’s finance, Jeff, and his parents, Dean and Amy. Dad and Jeff came over around 1:00 and we played cards…

… beer pong for Dave and the kids…

… plus bags/corn-hole…

… an ongoing jigsaw puzzle that the grandparents were working on.

… and, of course, cooking.

There was a brined turkey on the outdoor grill…

… and a traditional stuffed and roasted turkey – fresh from the oven.

I skipped our beloved potato rolls and opted for cloverleaf rolls instead.

As promised, I made Barb’s Apple Tart with Jalapeno.

Dean and Amy arrived at about 5:30 and we sat down at 6:00 to our traditional butternut squash soup and Brussels sprout salad, which were both plated and served to guests. Then everyone served themselves from the buffet in the kitchen.

Thanksgiving Menu 2014

• Butternut Squash Soup
• Brussels Sprout Salad
• Roasted Turkey with Stuffing
• Grilled Turkey
• Sage Dressing
• Mashed Potatoes and Turkey Gravy
• Green Beans with Fresh Horseradish Sauce
• Cranberry Jelly
• Creamy Corn Gratin
• Cloverleaf Rolls
• Pumpkin Pies
• Apple Tart with Jalapeño
• Hot Toddies

Oh, and the day before Thanksgiving, Tram called and asked if a reporter could come over to do a quick interview about Thanksgiving/Turkey mishaps and how to prevent/fix them. So, there was that too.

Speaking of Tram, I just have to share this beyond adorable photo Tram posted on Facebook on Thanksgiving day. How cute are these two 8-month-old birds!?!

The day before that (I think we’re backed up to Tuesday now) I had a cooking mishap of my own. I made my pumpkin pie and put it in the oven. It takes about an hour and a half to cook, so I set the oven timer for an hour (which is as high as it goes) and went about my business in the kitchen. The timer went off and I was about to go outside to set up and get started on a jigsaw puzzle with my mother-in-law, Pat. I set the timer on my phone to 20 minutes and went outside.

About an hour later, I came inside to get a drink of water and smelled my pie! I guess I hadn’t pushed “start” on the phone timer!

Anyhow the pie was seriously overcooked. Not burnt, but certainly not moist and creamy either! I really didn’t want to make another pie, so we were going to have to make the best of it and slather it with whipped cream.

On Wednesday, Amy called to say she was out running errands and wanted to know if there was anything I needed, “Yes please, a pumpkin pie!”

Anyhow, I served the pie Amy picked up for dessert, and then on Friday, we did a blind taste test with the purchased pie and the overcooked homemade pie. Guess which pie was the favorite of Connor, Dave, Pat, and myself???

My pie! How funny. Must have been the love that was put in there!!!

In case you were wondering, we finished that jigsaw puzzle too!

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!