Posted on 11/01/2025 5:46:00 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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“I felt comfortable in my own skin. Still not all the way back but better.”
You are well on your way, Girlfriend. :)
Your ‘strudel’ looks like Baklava! My BIL makes the BEST - so much rolling of all the layers and all the BUTTER and nuts and sugar and honey...Yum! And I’m not even the least little bit hungry as we ate ALL DAY from 11-4pm. ;)
I would still have a piece of your Strudel! :)
We had an absolutely lovely Thanksgiving meal. The turkey was falling apart done/tender & the crockpots (1 for white meat, 1 for dark) worked great. The timing was perfect - everything done as folks arrived except the rolls, which took 20 minutes. My cousin brought a giant pumpkin pie from Cosco, maccaroni & cheese & a colorful slaw. Her son, who is in pharmacy school, loaded up his plate 3 times. My other cousin, who was in the hospital for 2 months & is still frail, ate a large plateful & had 2nds on the green bean casserole.
I went to the trouble to make a compound butter for the turkey & I would do it again - you can see herbs under the skin. I put an apple in the cavity along with a good handful of herbs: rosemary, sage & thyme. It smelled wonderful while roasting.
The comment(s) made as people left is that we should have more family dinners - I totally agree. Every minute I spent in the kitchen the last 2 days was so worth it.
Mom did a great job decorating the tables - pictures at the link if you’re interested.
https://postimg.cc/gallery/zGcf3sL
Many t hanks, dear lady! I’ll be doing some worthwhile reading this winter. :-)
I like to do that when I roast an everyday chicken, but use a split lemon v. the apple. It makes such a difference!
Tell Mom the table looked LOVELY! :)
Brunch will be the usual fare of fresh eggs and toast - Mom gave Beau a loaf of her Red Onion and Pecan Bread that she makes and he LOVES - so that will be our toast.
Supper is going to be simple - a Seven-Layer Salad with a light dressing and lots of raw veggies and either leftover Turkey/Cranberry/Stuffing Sandwiches or Wraps.
Yesterday I had 'just enough' of the Feast, and after the game we had slices of the warm, Caramel Apple Pie, which was good, but I like a traditional Apple Pie much better. This one was WAY too sweet for me.
Going to work on a batch of Turkey Wild Rice Soup at some point using the turkey leftovers, gravy and the Wild Rice Beau brought back from Up North this Summer. It's the best stuff!
https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/turkey-wild-rice-soup/
We have this ONE DAY (Friday) to get a TON of stuff done outside before the snow hits overnight and all day on Saturday. I DO have my shovel and sand and salt on the porch already!
I AM looking forward to a snowed-in day on Saturday so I can get out my Creche and a few other Christmas decorations. It's going to come on fast now, with T-Day being so late this year. Let me be the FIRST to say:
“I’m just happy/thankful the $50 leg came out good.”
I was a nervous WRECK the first time I made a Prime Rib - that was a $100.00 chunk of MEAT! I watched a lot of videos and consulted Martha Stewart and all was well. ;)
LOL! Love the dog and the turkey bone! That would turn a few heads, for sure. ;)
Just watching a video on starting new garden beds and decided to jump on craigslist and search for 'tiller'. I did not know anyone even made a 3 foot wide PTO driven tiller but evidently Kubota does or did. Would be a perfect fit for my little tractor. Would have to wait 2 wks for another payday but then Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas to me. $1,175
I had one piece there. 8 people, 3 pieces left over. I was happy they went home with someone. My grandmother rolled the dough that thin, me I buy phyllo leaves.
Lovely pictures. Especially liked the crocheted tablecloth. Thanks for sharing.
I only get small boneless legs. Easier to let stand and then slice. We always liked it sliced as thin as possible for leftovers or sandwiches. And always a little pink in the middle. Sides are always roasted potatos, onions and carrots. Our family rarely ate beef growing up. It was either lamb, pork, chicken or fish.
We are having snow showers this morning! It’s cold ... 34 but feels like 28 with the wind chill.
Leftovers are on the menu for the next couple of days. I have turkey tetrazzini on the brain for some reason so I have to see if we have enough turkey to put one together. I was surprised how much turkey was eaten - two huge breasts & maybe 1/4 of one was left.
We have to go to the old place in a week & will take some tubs to fill with nandina berries (SIL says they are loaded!), pine, magnolia, rosemary & cedar with blue berries. I want to make dad & my cousin wreaths for their graves again this year & mom needs berries & greens for decorating her big pots in front of the house & on the patio. I’ll probably get the tree out of the basement this coming week & set it up.
Today is a “rest” day - I have been cooking since Tuesday & I am pooped. I have one casserole to put together for tomorrow & that is it. I do need to take the Christmas presents for the great nieces & nephews tomorrow so I have to do some wrapping. Mostly, I forsee an afternoon of college football & knitting :-)
Mom, so glad to hear of your Thanksgiving dinner. Your apple strudel looks amazing, and if you felt like sharing the recipe, I’d love to have it.
I love when vegetables are prepared simply as well as when they’re done more elaborately. Your broccoli looks so yummy!
I’m just catching up with the thread. Long travel day yesterday, and late dinner, but was wonderful. More on that later.
LOL, that would do the trick!
I ran a risk posting the pic that someone would ask. No recipe written down. I should probably just do a youtube. Really need pictures. I do have a tiny channel. I do have plans to make a cheese one in January.
Beautiful photos! I love the set up! It was a heartwarming event, I can tell. Your Turkey looked absolutely perfect!
Good luck with your winter storm! I think it’s funny that they’re now giving names to the winter storms. They have to keep pushing alarmism on us.
If you ever do a video for it, I’d love to see your steps. That would be cool!
Our Thanksgiving was wonderful! Wonderfully LONG day, too!
I’m happy to report that Thanksgiving Day airport travelers and airline personnel were, in general, VERY well behaved. Cheerful, polite, gracious, and kind. We had two legs to our trip, and the weather cooperated. Our first leg got away on time, and arrived 30 minutes early. The second leg was also on time, and arrived 15 minutes early. My suitcase was truly THE LAST ONE at baggage claim to be put on the belt. I was getting worried there that it might not have made it on the plane. Finally, finally, it came out from the other side.
Such happy hugs when our daughter and SIL pulled up! They’re doing well. So good to see them in person!
After lightly unpacking a few essentials, we got straight on to cooking for the feast. Daughter took a nap, and the men watched a bit of football while discussing turkey tactics. SIL spatchcocked the turkey and had dry brined it for prep. Plans were to put it on the smoker later as we got the other side dishes going. I brought fresh herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme, and Italian oregano) from my herb garden and they were a welcome contribution. The oregano wasn’t used yesterday but will be used at some point I’m sure.
Sides were dressing, made from scratch mashed potatoes, scratch cranberry sauce, amazingly roasted rainbow carrots on a bed of whipped feta (daughter made that, scrumptious!), sautéed spinach, smoked salmon rubbed with oil and fresh herbs, focaccia with fresh herbs, and dinner rolls. Oh, how could I forget? Gravy as well.
The kids are accomplished cooks, so all of us were in the kitchen together, chatting as we worked. Dinner was served at 7:30, a bit of the late side, but that how it works when you get started at 2 pm.
We were all so stuffed (and tired) that the pies weren’t even touched (pumpkin and pecan). They both look amazing and I can’t wait to try them today. I think today will be a day of rest. We will keep things simple. We got leftovers put away, and the dishes were cleaned up, too. Getting into a bed never felt so good. Hubby and I had been up for 20+ hours.
Happy day after Thanksgiving, otherwise known as Black Friday! I’m so glad I don’t work retail anymore. Today I hope to watch some college football. Tomorrow too. Still waiting for our new precious to give the heads up that she’s ready to enter the world. Say prayers that when the time comes, things go smoothly, and not take too long.
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