Sunday, December 1, 2013

Thanksgiving 2013 - San Juan Bautista, CA

My mom and I started prepping our small Thanksgiving meal the day before the actual holiday. She always wanted to try making her own cranberry sauce so we worked on that. The color was beautiful!

The taste was not so much! The canned stuff is just the best!

We cleaned and prepped the acorn squash for stuffing...

Set the table for 6 and called it a day!

Thanksgiving Day...
We stuffed the squash with spinach, rice, cheese and various spices... check!

Put the bird the in the oven to sun bathe...check!

Took a well earned sip of soda to get my energy going... check!

Chopped onions for a fabulous Corn Souffle... check!

My Mom made one of my Dad's old school favorites... Antipasto with tuna. My Grandma made it at various parties and it brought a lot of great memories back for my Dad. That was a sweet thing of my Mom to do!

Our pies were made the day before by my Mom...

And a few extra for stranglers.

Now this was the best part of the day, I got to watch my Mom teach Kate how to make her famous Lemon Meringue Pie. Kate was so excited! She learned how to make a perfect, flaky pie crust...

Put together the wonderful lemon curd...

Whip the egg whites for a mile high meringue...

And win Grand Champion with her very own Lemon Meringue Pie!
Great job Kate!

I made the mashed potatoes,a personal favorite. Cream cheese, sour cream, butter, chives, salt and pepper all made their way to the bowl. Delicious!

James helped with the gravy...

...and sliced up the turkey.

It was perfectly moist and juicy.
 I would have to say one of the best years of cooking a turkey.

Our buddy, Frank's plate. It looked so good, I took a picture!

Frank and my Dad, happily waiting to be served!

The serving line... Starting from the top: Kate's Sweet Poatoes, Stuffing (we did not cook it in the bird this year, it could be why the turkey was so moist! We just filled him with fruit), the corn souffle, and stuffed squash.

My plate, complete with a glass of Martinelli's sparkling cider!

Mickey was already in a turkey coma...

I cleaned my plate!

My mom brought out dessert way too quickly after finishing dinner. I was stuffed!

And then we started on a Lobster Bisque for tomorrow's feast... 
WE LOVE GOOD FOOD!

I was so thankful for this Thanksgiving visit. I was home sick, missed my family and really was appreciative of the short vacation. It was a great time and I cannot wait for Christmas!

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