What a beautiful Thanksgiving Day we were blessed with here, today, in Atlanta. Sunny and warm - a high of 70. Just delicious Fall weather. We invited another family over for our feast since their family is far away, like ours. I'll admit, this was my first Thanksgiving - I mean, one where I cooked! We've always been with my husband's family for Thanksgiving and all I've had to bring was a side dish. This was definitely a challenge I was up for! A very nourishing Thanksgiving.
I was nervous. I wanted it all to come together nicely. I didn't want the food to be cold. I didn't want to get stressed out. I wanted everyone to be happy. Oh, too many wants! I just prayed that God would give me the graces I needed to do it all and that I wouldn't lose my patience.
I started cooking yesterday so that my stress level would be less today. My husband, God bless him, he cleaned (with the help of the kids) while I cooked. He was also my kitchen helper and was right there behind me cleaning up my messes and doing the dishes. What a huge help. I think this was the key to less stress and more fun!
Around 11 am yesterday, I started my stock. I planned on making that green beans with mushroom soup casserole from scratch, so I needed to prepare the stock to make the cream of mushroom soup. I forgot that the soup called for chicken stock - I made beef stock! In case you're wondering, the beef stock worked out just fine as a substitute in the recipe.
I think the first thing I made was the coleslaw. I wanted it to marinate in the dressing for a good 24 hours. After that, I made the mashed potatoes and placed them in the crock-pot for today. All I did was turn it on low this morning and add more milk and butter and they were fantastic! I figured it would also be a good idea to cook the bacon (for the green bean casserole) and sausage for the dressing. I also pre-baked the sweet potatoes at 350 for an hour so that I could easily peel them this morning and spend less time sautéing them before we ate. I baked the pumpkin pies and apple pie before bed.
I got up at 5:00 this morning and put the turkey in the oven - then I went back to bed for a few more hours! Around 10:00 am, I made the cream of mushroom soup for the green bean casserole. Next, I made the dressing. I had made a loaf of bread to use for it two days earlier. Then, I put the green bean casserole together, took the turkey out, peeled, cut, and sautéed the sweet potatoes, made an apple cobbler, and last was the gravy. Did I forget anything? We had enough food for a small army. There were 4 adults and 10 children and we barely put a dent into all that was here. We'll have leftovers all weekend. YES!
It was a lovely Thanksgiving and fairly low stress - thanks to my husband. We had such a nice time. I am so thankful for the abundance of food we
