Thanksgiving

Ok, it's become clear that there just isn't enough time for me to keep this blog up as often as I would like.  There's just too much to do.  There are a ton of things I should be doing that are a lot more important that the blog, and I haven't had time for those either.  So, my suggestion is that you subscribe to this blog and then when when I do get a chance to post something, you'll receive it automatically.  That way you won't have to keep checking back every so often.

Jackson was saying "Happy Gobble Gobble Day" all day.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving.  This was out 1st Thanksgiving alone and in PA.  It was nice and quiet (as quiet as it gets with 2 small kids in a tiny condo).  The best part was that it snowed in the morning, then sleeted, then rained most of the rest of the day.  Nice and cold, the way T-giving is supposed to be.

I was also excitied to have a 100% original menu - all new dishes we've never had before.  I'm so tired of the exact same menu every single year. All good dishes, but my god, how many times can we have the same thing??

Appetizer: Pumpkin soup baked in the pumpkin.   Very good, but next time I'd put less butter and not make it so thick. 

Main Course:  Turkey roasted in normal spices and aromatics, but wrapped in bacon and resting on a bed of carrots, rutabegas, and celery.  I poured some apple cider and wine over the top at the start of the cooking process.  The turkey juices cooked those veggies and made them delicious.  Plus, now those vegied made an extra side dish.  The turkey was delicious - one of the best I've ever made (that wasn't smoked or brined).

Veggie: Mashed potatos mixed with some leftover mashed butternut squash.  Great.

Veggie: Bacon-braised green beens  -  good, but I'd alter the recipe next time to make it a little less heavy.

Side: Cranberry sauce - I usually make this but I added a couple of new things.  It was good, but I wouldn't add those things again next time. 

Side: Gravy - ok, but I made it with the turkey drippings, and since much of those drippings started as wine, it didn't have the right taste. 

Not everything was perfect, but all in all, it was a very successful dinner and everyone seemed to like it.  Jackson ate his weight in green beens.



November 2009

Not much really happened in November.  The beautiful fall continued and came to an end by the end of the month, and there's a great slideshow below.

Here are a couple of videos below of Jackson eating.

We drove down to Alabama for Thanksgiving.  Both Jackson and Lincoln were good (they slept the whole way almost) and we made it in ~14 hours.  What can I say about Thanksgiving . . . well, it was crazy.  Josh and Jon David had driven from Anchorage (69&1/2 hours straight) in Josh's VW Bus and surprised us by being at the house when we arrived.  We had a family party in Birmingham the 2nd night were were there, and then the next day went down to the lake. 

Jackson and I visiting my great aunt.

Shopping with Granny at Publix

We all went down to Auburn 1 day to see campus, my old apartment that JD lives in now, and have lunch at Mellow Mushroom - it hasn't changed a bit, unlike just about everything else in Auburn.  That's one reason I like going there. 

We also went out to that new monstrosity called "Tiger Town", which when Sarah and I were at Auburn was on the edge of the boonies and was just forest.  Anyway, we got Jackson an Auburn hat.  He was always wearing mine but it's obviously way too big.  I expected him to get tired of it within hours at most, but he LOVES that hat.  He wears it ALL THE TIME, even now.  And he wears it like an older kid - it's always straight, he tkes it off and adjusts it with 1 hand.  It's hilarious.  He literally sleeps in it and if it isn't in his crib when he wakes up, that's the 1st thing he asks for. 

We were there a couple of days when all of Sarah's family started to arrive.  The rest of the week was just a blur  - lot's of people, food, and dogs.  Sarah's brother, Andrew, and his wife and family came.  Isabella is ~1yr older than Jackson, and this was the 1st time we got to see their new baby, Lucas. 

On Saturday, we needed to get out of the house, so we packed a picnic lunch of leftover turkey sandwiches and drove down to Dadeville to a nice playground they have there for the babies.  Jackson loves slides, and even on those curved tunnel slides, he'll go down head first. 

After the playground, we all went to Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, which I'll talk about in its own post.

Jackson with Grandpa Wiley

Fortunately, Sarah and I took  off the entire week and the Monday after, so we left Saturday night and still had a day to recover, which was nice, because that drive back is so much worse having done it just a few days before.