The Lee Family: Happy Thanksgiving 2017

This morning started out crisp and sunny in the mid-30s with my usual walk to the soccer fields with Buddy. It was fantastic! We had the whole path and fields to ourselves and it was quiet and still and a perfect way to start the morning thinking of all the things I'm thankful for in my life. Thanksgiving really is the best holiday - it marries family with favorite foods and thankfulness without the stress of gifts and expectations. CK Sr. and Connie arrived yesterday afternoon and it's exciting to host our first Thanksgiving since we were married in 2005! We hosted CK's family the Thanksgiving after Olivia was born in 2011, but we bought everything cooked and prepared from Central Market. This year, we planned out the entire meal and made everything, including all the pie crusts, from scratch! Since we only have one oven, it does take a bit of preparing and Olivia and I made the cranberry sauce on Tuesday and I made the sweet potatoes, gravy, and potato and celery root mash yesterday. It will all need to be reheated, but at least it's made. CK also made the pecan pie and pumpkin pie yesterday and made the apple pie this morning before the turkey went into the oven.

Buddy and I returned to the house around 8:15 and CK was busy peeling and cutting apples for his pie. After he put his beautiful apple pie into the oven, he got busy making biscuits which he put into the side oven. Meanwhile, I set the table for our Thanksgiving feast while Connie made up the scrambled eggs and bacon. Olivia set the table for our breakfast and then woke Sofia up from her frigid sleep. Sofia has been sleeping with her window open a few inches and her room must be in the 40s! She loves it! I don't know how she stands it, but she loves covering up in a pile of blankets and sleeping.

Breakfast was amazing! We enjoyed CK's famous biscuits, scrambled eggs and bacon while we smelled the apple pie baking! After breakfast, we put the turkey in the oven and set our timer for 3.5 hours! We still needed to make our brussel sprouts with pancetta and balsamic glaze, green bean casserole and Aunt Shirl's delicious sausage-apricot stuffing. First, we decided to take a rest by the fire and relax for a few minutes. The girls were busy jumping on the trampoline and running around pretending to be dragons. In the past few months they have rediscovered their love of the episodes of "How to Train Your Dragon" so they pretend to be dragons pretty much all the time. The girls also took turns playing their piano recital music for Grandma. Sofia is playing "Can you Feel the Love Tonight" while Olivia is playing "Deck the Halls." Sofia has worked really hard every day to get her piece down, while Olivia hasn't been as diligent but thinks it "sounds good," although she has a lot to practice!

I showered and got dressed and then headed back out to the kitchen to make our sides. I made Aunt Shirl's stuffing, which I've helped her make for years. It really turns out so yummy. Once that was made, I worked on the green beans and finished up with the brussel sprouts, which are really very easy. CK and I headed up the potato and celery root mash and the gravy. Sofia and CK then took our sweet potatoes and stuffing over to Marco and Stacy's oven to reheat them since they have two ovens and plan to celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow since Marco is working today. It really was a huge help!

Once the sides returned from Stacy's oven, the turkey was ready and we had to put everything on their serving plates. CK carved the turkey, which not only looked beautiful but also tasted delicious and was super moist! Based on several recommendations, we decided to brine the turkey for just over 24 hours and then slide pats of butter mixed with fresh herbs under the breast skin before putting it in the oven. It worked out perfectly! Not bad for the first turkey in 15 years! After the turkey was carved, we headed to the dining room table, which I set up earlier that morning, and sat down for our Thanksgiving meal (after taking several photos). We passed around the dishes and were all eating in no time. It really was all delicious! Once we were done, it honestly didn't even look like we'd eaten anything from the serving dishes! So, I guess we have a lot of leftovers in our future.

We moved all the dirty dishes and food to the kitchen and were ready for desert! CK had his pecan pie, pumpkin pie with shortbread pecan crust and apple pie with vanilla ice cream on the sideboard and was soon cutting pieces for everyone. All the pies looked perfect and they tasted even better. He did a great job and they were the perfect end to a great meal. We sat around and talked for a while before Connie, CK and I headed to the kitchen to do the dishes. Connie washed while either CK or I dried and then put everything away. Just as we finished up, I actually headed to the airport to pick up Mitzi from her trip to visit her mom. It was nice to catch up with her on our drive home.

After I dropped her at her house, I returned home where everyone was hanging around relaxing. The fire was still going from this morning and it was great to sit by the fire, browse emails and the internet and just relax after such a fun day full of great food.

Freshly roasted chestnuts for the stuffing