It snowed overnight, so the world looked ready for the beginning of the Holiday Season.
As usual, Jay got our turkey in the over before the crack of dawn. We've always cooked our own turkey even though we never spend Thanksgiving at home. And when I say 'we', I mean 'Jay'. It's just not Thanksgiving without the leftovers!
Back when he was coaching, he nearly always had an away game the night before Thanksgiving. His tradition was to get home in the wee hours, put the turkey in the oven and that way, it was cooked, cooled, cut up and put away by the time we headed out the door (between noon and 1) for dinners with our families. Even better than the promise of leftovers is awakening on Thanksgiving morning to the aroma of fresh roasted turkey!
Now that he's retired, he doesn't return from the road in the wee hours but insomnia makes it easy for him to still get the bird in the oven in time for me to wake up to the smell of Thanksgiving. Anyone who says there's no upside to insomnia isn't looking for one.
Says the woman who can sleep anywhere for nine hours at a stretch.
This year, we were going to Steve and Pam's to party with the Pivecs. After stuffing ourselves silly and catching up with everyone on that side o the family, some of us planned to roll on over to my sister Katie's house, not to eat (hahaha) but to hang out and play some games.
For the last several years, Thanksgiving on my side of the family had been at my brother's house; he and his wife have a beautiful big house only a mile from us, with a new, fabulous kitchen. This year, Vi has a new job that has been kicking the crap out of her. Several weeks ago, she said she was exhausted and simply couldn't face the idea of hosting. What a lazy bitch.
Just kidding; she's not that lazy.
Seriously; No one should be forced to host their inlaws against their will. In fact, I'm against anyone doing anything during the Holidays that causes undo stress. Believe it or not, you can actually refuse to bake cookies, buy gifts, wrap, clean your house, decorate, go to parties every day, get dressed up or eat and drink too much. You really can. Then, just like the Grinch, you'll discover that Christmas still comes and everyone still has a great time.
Katie picked up the slack and said we could all come to her house, even though it's half the size of Andy's and her kitchen is much smaller. She told us that any food we brought must be ready to eat, as there would be no prep room. Then she ordered as much food as she could from a nearby full service grocery store. I promised to drop off cranberry sauce (ready to eat) and Devil cookies in time for dinner.
So I woke up Thursday morning and thought "Holy cow, I forgot to make cookies!"
Well, I'd mixed them up but I hadn't baked them yet. So, as soon as Jay finished getting the turkey put away, I took over and baked several trays. It was not fun. I don't know what I've been doing wrong but for the last two years, my Devil cookie dough has been very difficult to work with: It's both sticky and crumbly and getting the dough onto the trays has been a fight. I wasn't happy with the way they tasted, either. But I got tons of compliments and every last cookie was eaten, reinforcing my belief that even a bad Devil Cookie is still a damn good cookie.
I also agreed to bring a chocolate cherry cake to Pam's, as it was Patty's birthday. I'd baked the cake the night before, so all I had to do was frost it. The cranberry sauce takes no time. I made enough to split it between three big pickle jars. Two went in the car and one went in the fridge.
Josie came over to bake a tart she had planned to bring to Pam's. Katie and the girls also arrived, just for fun. Adam hadn't planned on coming early but he did because Josie forgot her tart tin, so Adam brought Katie's. They also brought winter gear, with plans to take the girls sledding in the park across the street. It was a fun morning!
Adam taught me, Katie and Josie to play a dice game that's very popular in Sconnie bars. It really was fun.
We made it to our first feast around 2. I'm old enough to appreciate how families fluctuate. When I first joined this clan, there were a lot of us and for the next decade, tons of little kids. Then we had lots of young adults and teens...but no toddlers. Now, there are so many little kids! And the best thing is how much fun they all have together.
The food was fantastic, the company likewise. We were in no rush to get to the next party, so it was more relaxing than it has been in other years.
Dinner was pretty much over by the time we got to McC's but that was okay because we were all so full eating more would have been gluttony and masochistic. There was football on TV and a giant couch, so the last time I looked, most of the men in the house were in the TV, cheering on whoever.
In the Living room we played several different games, none of which we were any good at on turkey brain. Even 'Catch Phrase', which we've played for years, was hard to do with our brains marinating in turkey. It was fun, though.
Here I am, five days later, finally posting.
I can't believe Christmas is only three weeks away.