Thanksgiving 2010 Recap

My parents came for a few days and celebrated Thanksgiving with us. We deviated a little from our typical traditional Thanksgiving. Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa were game.

We bought a fresh, never-frozen turkey this year. I really liked it, but John thought it tasted a little "gamey". He wants to go back to the frozen butterball next year. The fresh turkey was more than double the price of a frozen turkey, so I wonder if it was more of a price thing or a taste thing? Hmmmmmm.

Wyatt is taking a picture of the tree on his (Mom's old) cell phone.

I, personally, didn't like having to go pick up the fresh turkey. There were designated pick up times and the lines were crazy. People were lined up outside all wrapped around the barn that was next to a 2 lane highway. So I ended up having to get a babysitter to pick up the turkey since the first attempt didn't go so well. (I made the kids wait in the car and they ended up setting off the panic button on the van).

We made pumpkin bread pudding instead of pumpkin pie. We got the recipe from the Food Network Throwdown with Bobby Flay Thanksgiving edition with the Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond. It was her recipe and it was AMAZING!!!! I liked it 10 x better than pie! But, it is not a recipe for the novice cooker....it took John and I a while to make while Grandma and Grandpa worked entertainment duty.

We also opted for a cornbread dressing recipe from the same Food Network show. We baked it in its own pan and didn't stuff the turkey. I loved it!

Notice how all of the ornaments are 2/3 of the way up the tree?

Finally, we skipped the green bean casserole and made brussels sprouts instead. It was a nice change!

Then at dinner we all went around the table and said what we were thankful for....

Wyatt: "I'm thankful for rainbows and flowers."
Jonah: "I'm thankful for everybody here"
Sam "I'm thankful for my family"

Me, I'm thankful for my family, our health, and all of the happiness that we have enjoyed this year!