Thanksgiving Saturday

Knowing that my parents were leaving prior to the official Turkey Day, we decided to celebrate early.  Not only did this allow us to spend the “holiday” with Mom and Dad, but it also ensured that Mike and Ryan got to eat all the fixings that are normally served on Thanksgiving.

On Friday morning Mom and I set out to the grocery store to buy the ingredients that we needed for our early holiday celebration.  I wanted to get a fresh turkey this year, so we headed to King Sooper as Mike heard an ad on the radio that they had fresh birds in stock.  When we got to the turkey section it was rather humorous as they had small turkeys (7-9 lbs) and really BIG turkeys (19+ lbs).  Knowing that our friends Jessica and Chris would be joining us for dinner we opted for the BIG bird.

After we got home we left the bird out for an hour or so as it was partially frozen.  The guy at the grocery store said that this was because they flash freeze them before transporting them as it helps reducing the number of bruises that appear.  It’s funny that the grocery stores seem to care more about the turkeys once they are dead!  (Yes…that’s the vegetarian in me speaking!)

On Saturday morning we got up around 7am and started cooking.  Here’s what was on the menu:

Turkey – basted with white wine and butter
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Corn Casserole
Green Bean Casserole
Cranberry Sauce (I think Mom was the only one who ate it!)
Rolls – both wheat and white
White Wine

It wasn’t extravagant, but it reminded me of past Thanksgivings at home in Michigan.

Before dinner we spent time catching up with Jess and Chris and we even snuck in a few games of Euchre.  I don’t know why more people in Colorado don’t play cards.  I need to start a Euchre or Pinochle club.  It would make my Grandma proud!  Also, not that I’m bragging or anything but Jess and I were partners and we were undefeated!

We only had one mishap during the day and it was my fault.  When I was taking the corn casserole out of the oven, my oven mitt slipped and I spilled corn all over the bottom of the oven.  It even leaked in to the bottom of the door.   Oops!  The following day Mike had to pull out the owners manual to figure out how to take the door off.

After dinner we were all stuffed, but we burned off some calories by playing Wii Sports Resort in the family room.  We bowled, we played archery and we even shot basketball hoops.  All in all, it was a great holiday celebrated with family and friends.  What more could you ask for?