We gathered together...

To ask the Lord's blessing...

Ahh, if only the turkey had considered this philosophy... or the cocktail shrimp...

That being said we cook as a family in my kitchen. Things learned? The turkey cooks much faster in convection oven... We had a humongous turkey... in the over 20 lbs variety.. it would have been done in 3.5 hours if we hadn't turned off the convection.

The girls will now and forever more play an important part of the creation of the meal... Their accomplishments this year? The Angel prepared candied sweet potatoes that included mini marshmallows and candied pecans. Imelda? She was in charge of cranberries and is responsible for jellying them.. However there was no Jello Brand Gelatin to be had in her concoction... she used real... plain... Knox Gelatin and fruit and juice.... I have to admit that she was not entirely sure that it would work... yet somehow it did. (Told ya' baby!)

We had good old fashioned mashed potatoes that were peeled and cut within an inch of their past lives... (The Angel likes to use the chef's knife) after being drained they were mixed with butter and cream cheese which I find a bit richer than cream.... They were eaten up quickly. We even had soup... Pumpkin soup, with cumin and coriander and chiles.. very American. The soup was topped with sweet and spicy pecans.





Dad made the stuffing and therefore I am unable to report the actual recipes.. but I can tell you that there were apples and walnuts involved.... oh.. and it was really dressing. Because we are adherents of Alton Brown's belief that stuffing is evil, it is important to point out that our seasoned and damp bread was cooked and served in a container other than the germy uncooked turkey. Why dry out the turkey meat and create a haven for bacteria at the same time? (btw... turkey picture courtesy of the Angel)

My worst dish? steamed asparagus.. I got a little distracted when Dad took over the kitchen for the ending of the cooking...(he taught his grand daughter's how to make gravy AND how to carve a turkey) to say that it got a little over cooked would be an understatement. Eh. So it goes...

My favorite part of the meal was the dessert. In years past, we made too much dessert and ate none of it.... This year we clued in. I made one item. Not a pumpkin or apple pie... but maple. I have to admit that I got the recipe over at Smitten Kitchen. It was a breeze and sooo, so good, that I wish I had some leftover. (tart picture courtesy of Imelda)

As you can see, it turned out to be a pretty good day. Good food and fun with family... Heck, the girls are not even trying to strangle each other in this picture! Can you top that during the Holiday Season? Oh, you probably can... but it is a big deal here! Now all we have to do is get ready for Christmas...