Turkey Day in review

Well my bloggy friends, it's black Friday and instead of trudging through the melee at the stores I have decided to give you my Thanksgiving in review. Now aren't you glad you didn't wake up at 3 AM to be at the store at 4 AM to buy that handmixer on sale? If you had done such a foolish thing you would sound like the crazy woman on TV who said she had only gotten one hour of sleep. Sad, sad, sad, unless you are acquiring some gadget that does your housework or a book in say a 7 book series of some kind, there is NO REASON to be awake at such an ungodly hour on a day you can sleep in. Oh well at least it wasn't me and at least I don't have to interact with that crazy and no doubt cranky woman.

Anywho on to teh day o teh turkay!

Well our holiday's started off as usual with some crazy kink in the plans. Namely I ovulated Wed, not Thursday or Friday like the Nurse thought I would so I called the Dr.'s office in a panic, "OMG I'm laying the eggs now! What do we do?!" The sweet nurse Honey (no pun intended, ok maybe a little, and yes that is her name) said no problem just come in this afternoon and we can get your IUI done. PHEW! I felt a whole lot better about that than Friday anyway. So this little office visit put us a bit behind time wise eh, but no biggie. Keep your fingers crossed and light vast amounts of Jesus and/or saintly candles please!

Now to the real reason I'm writing this post, the food!

I made mac and cheese for the inlaws house and then stuffing for my family's house.
I had preshredded, prechopped and premixed spices and I brought all my own cookware and even containers for leftovers, I was well planned for this one. ;)

I made the mac and cheese and it got rave reviews, in fact more raves than my MIL's dishes. Is it completely wrong for me to relish that? I mean seriously I feel really kinda evil. The sweet daughter in law in me feels bad and I told her how much I liked her turkey and stuffing,I(as did others) and "the peas were delicious!" But then there is the evil soap opera, dark haired vixen, who is smiling that evil cat-like smile while tossing her thick hair over her shoulder, arms crossed all the while soaking in the feeling of crushing the rest of the cooking competition!!! BUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Oh, um, sorry I'm back.

I myself thought the mac and cheese was not nearly as creamy as I'd hoped (with 2 cups half and half how can that not be?) and not as cheesy as I'd hoped. It was a very mild and yummy mac and cheese but not what I was hoping for. I think I need stronger cheeses, now that I have a basic recipe I will need to fool with it a bit. Although I'm not sure why, dh and I cannot be eating mac and cheese like that more than once a year. So anyway, I just tasted it again reheating it with a bit of milk to make it more creamy and again, not nearly cheesy enough. Good, but too mild for my taste (which is probably why even dh liked it).

Now, we left my in laws house after I helped with the dishes and dh played a game or two of poker with the men. We left to go to my sisters house at which we were all bringing a couple of dishes or so. I was to bring the stuffing since "No one wants stuffing but you and 'moneyman'" I said I would make the stuffing because 1. I LOVE stuffing and can't imagine thanksgiving without it, and 2. I had a great recipe I was dying to try.

So I get there, commandeer the stove and a spot in one of my sis's double ovens (thank the Lord, since at my mil's there was much handwringing cause there might not be room in the oven!! the emphasized should be read with much sarcasm)
And commence with the stuffing. Now this is serious from scratch stuffing. I even cut up the bread in to cubes and let it dry for 24-48 hours none of that store bought croutons! Anyway I make the recipe, and the consistancy was exactly as Pioneer Woman (the blog from which I procured the recipe, Gob Bless that woman!) said it would be, moist yet crumbly and the broth mix did smell heavenly. Well everyone took some and everyone, especially moneyman LOVED IT. In fact it was the most talked about food item there. *evil curve of the mouth and slight eyebrow twitch* Again, I was victorious. Now mind you, my mother does not cook the worlds best turkey, and she doesn't put a whole lot of effort into the Thanksgiving feast idea. She doesn't like stuffing because (as she puts it) its just soggy bread. She makes broccoli cheese rice casserole with velveeta, and not cheez whiz (and it does make a difference). She will make cookies and cakes with less sugar than it calls for because of the calories. Her turkey comes out a bit dry and her gravy comes from a jar. However, I give my mom superior props when it comes to Mexican food, most namely Tamales, rice and frijoles rancheros. I suspect these are better dishes because she feels more kinship to these dishes than to the traditional american bird.

Anyway, the whole family agreed I should be the stuffing cook from now on, forever and ever. ;) Moneyman requested, nay, ordered, that it be made again at Christmas. I suggested tweaking the bread from french bread to sourdough and he said "Nope don't change a thing." I think the stuffing came out a bit too sweet, most likely from the corn bread mix I used. It was a nice texture, and a nice mild blend of seasonings. The seasonings were not overpowering, but were obviously there, and the bread was not soggy or dry, but nicely moist. Overall I liked it alot, but for some reason I felt it was missing something. I think I'll try my own experiments with the sourdough bread. but I did love it, and it will be a staple in my Thanksgiving arsenal. Oh as will sauerkraut, it is surprisingly good with turkey. We'll honor dh's family by adding it to our T-day feast.

The evening ended with a confusing but still hilarious game of Paco (some crazy card game that to me makes no sense) and then dh and I went home. all in all pretty good.
I'm still worried about my mental state of food victory. Please, tell me if you think I'm crazy. ;)