We had a fantastic week. Thanksgiving is my mom's favorite holiday and the one that she does to the max. This started out when I was around 10 and it was just the four of us for Thanksgiving. For my mom who is one of four kids, and whose own mom was one of twelve kids, it was just not enough people. The next year we had Thanksgiving with some friends who also had no extended family in town. It has grown from there, and everyone is invited. This is also the one time a year when my brother and his family are guaranteed to be here from California, so there is lots of awesome cousin time.
We have had as many as 50+, but this year it was a much more manageable 38. Everyone helps set up tables and chairs, bake pies, brine turkeys, ice drinks, set the tables, sweep the deck, and take out the trash. I really thought 3 turkeys and a ham were going to be too much, but almost no leftovers got thrown out. Shocking!
I made this turkey, which was such a hit that they have asked me to do it again at Christmas. The only thing I did differently was to roast it upside down for the first hour at 425, then flip it and turn the oven down to 325. It was delicious!
My family decided that the best thing they ate all week was this leftover turkey soup. I made it just like the recipe but added all of the broth from the carcass (about 4 extra cups) and we still ate it all up!
Of course I made my usual Calypso Pie, a totally non-traditional holiday pie but one without which Thanksgiving would not be complete for my family. I also made an apple pie with crumb topping, which is The Pit Boss's favorite.
I try to keep track of things I would do differently next year, but this year was so much fun that my only note is to start the turkey about 30 minutes earlier than I did because I cut it a little close.
How did your week go? What will you do again? What will you change next year?
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You win in terms of numbers of people. We had 24, which is a shocker for most of the people we know. We had a nice time. It was touch and go for me in terms of mood (I do most of the work) prior to the event, but my husband put a glass of wine in my hand at about 4pm and all was good after that. ;-)
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