Thanksgiving

Haven't updated in a while, been taking a bit of a "break". Well more like work, school, appointment scheduling, cleaning for the holidays, etc. We spent Thanksgiving at my Father's, live we've been doing for the past several years. It sort of became tradition, my Mom normally goes out of town, and there's really nobody left on my Dad's side of the family, so I spend Thanksgiving with him. It was like a lot of previous Thanksgivings, which I'm glad about since I enjoy the low-key nature of the holiday, at least for me. No huge crowds, much as I love my family I prefer the small get-togethers. It's easier to talk with everyone, stress is normally low on Thanksgiving. Arrive around 10:30 in the morning, Dad already has the turkey in the oven. Chill and watch the Macy's parade like I do every year. As silly as it gets I still enjoy watching it. I convinced Dad to let me make the broccoli casserole mentioned in the previous post. It's sort of a compromise, he always wants to do green bean casserole and my sis and I really don't like mushrooms. So broccoli casserole it was. I think I made it better this time around. I tweaked the recipe a bit, added more chicken bullion and more cheese on top. Instead of toasted almond slivers I used bread crumbs . It came out much better, the sauce had more flavor, it was nice and cheesy and the bread crumbs were a nice touch. When it came to dinner time we started with some fruit cocktail. Dad takes the basic stuff and adds some strawberries and a bit of orange liquor to the juices to balance the sweetness out. Steve, the guy who hasn't eaten fruit in years, tried some. He enjoyed it but put himself into a state of shock at eating the fruit. Dinner itself was great, the turkey was nice and moist. Had mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, my broccoli casserole, cranberry sauce, and stuffing. I love stuffing, I know it's not the healthiest part of the dinner, but I love the texture and the herbs. Dinner overall went real well, I'm glad to say everyone liked the broccoli. We had it with an Argentinian Torrontes to drink. Only needed one bottle of wine for how small a group there was for dinner, but it went so well with dinner. I found out my sister likes wine too, but she's also one of those party-loving college girls too. Don't worry, nobody got hammered. After dinner we spent more time either napping or watching the History Channel. There was a very interesting program on about popular American foods. Would have watched more of it if Dad hadn't woken up and put on the game. I know football is a crucial part to many on Thanksgiving, but I'm really not that into sports. Back to the program, it was very enjoyable. Learned about the history behind Chinese take out, BBQ, Chef Boyardee pastas, old fashioned soda shops and ice cream treats. I was getting antsy around dessert time, much as I loved hanging out I did have to work. Such is the life of a convenience store worker, if you're not going out of town on a holiday work is mandatory. I had to rush through dessert, Dutch apple pie with tea. Very delicious as well, I think my sister's boyfriend may have made it. He's a culinary student, and couldn't be with is at all this year because of work. He started his new job at the Mirror Lake Inn, training under apparently one of the best chefs in the country. My sister took some leftovers home for him though. I'm hoping everyone else has a great Thanksgiving too! Now we have to tackle Christmas. I know I'll be making a bunch of sweets like I do every year. Cookies, fudge, and peanut brittle, oh my!