Welcome to the Christmas Season!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it is officially Christmas season! I am very excited for the activities and plans I have thought up. These next 3 and a half weeks are just going to fly by. And then I will be home! As I always say, I am having a great time out here. But I am ecstatic to come home!

Thanksgiving was great. Julia arrived home from her trip to Kayenta right before noon, as I was getting the turkey ready. Washing out the dead carcass of a bird is now on my things never to do again list. We rubbed it with seasonings and oil, inserted the meat thermometer, and opened the oven to put our dear turkey in... when we realized he did not fit. The tenet before Julia had (we assume) unknowingly shoved the oven racks in backwards, making them unmovable. We had never put anything as big as our 9 and a half pound turkey in the oven before, so it was never a huge problem. But now it was. So, we had to turn off the oven, put the bird back in the fridge, and try to remove the very stuck oven racks. We we able to move the entire oven before we were able to move those oven racks!!! Finally, with me pushing and Julia pulling (and some added help from Julia's hammer), we finally dislodged one of the racks and put it right side in, re preheated the oven, and started cooking our bird.

After that little catastrophe, everything else went smoothly! I was in charge of the bird (eeek!) as well as the cornbread muffins, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce and cabbage (Julia's family has cabbage at Thanksgiving dinner). Julia made the pumpkin pie (from scratch... using pumpkins and everything), her Dad's mashed potatoes, the gravy, as well as supervising my turkey skills. Even with just the two of us, everything went remarkably well. We alternated who was cooking in our tiny kitchen so we weren't on top of each other, getting all our assigned tasks done with such skill, we even had time to watch Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving that Mom sent me!

The turkey turned out fantastic. I basted the turkey every 20-30 minutes with our white wine, butter, and herb sauce (thanks to Martha). When the inside read 180, we took it out and finished the last minute prep before carving our close to perfect bird. Wow. I probably won't volunteer to carve another large piece of poultry again.. but Julia was very forgiving. Not only did the bird look fantastic, but it tasted delicious too! We were very proud of ourselves! Everything was amazing from the canned cranberry sauce to the homemade pumpkin pie. First Thanksgiving without motherly guidance was a success. I hope I won't have to do it again on my own for a while, but it is certainly an accomplishment knowing I can!

I am currently in town at Let It Grow, gathering ideas for Christmas presents. I am still brainstorming about how to get a live tree in our house for Christmas, but no worries. By the time Kate and Bee step off the plane, our little apartment will be a winter wonderland.

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday! I miss you all lots and can't wait to be home!