Thanksgiving is Over

After a successful (I thought) and fun Thanksgiving with most of my family, the outdoor Christmas tree was lit. I just love it and make myself wait until Thanksgiving to light it. It is so bright, we call it our beacon. Our son has one, too, and we joke that when we both have them lit, we don't need car lights to go from one house to the other-12 miles apart!

The dinner yesterday went real well with planning to make the stress-and me crabby-the day before instead of Thanksgiving Day. The table was set and chairs put around on Wednesday. We cooked and cut up the turkey (we only get breasts) the day before, put the sliced turkey in a cake pan and poured a sauce of 2 c. combination drippings with fat skimmed and broth and 2 Tbsp honey on top so all I had to do was pop it in the oven to warm up. I cooked the turkey in a baking bag I picked up at the grocery store and it cooked up faster and my husband said it was easier to cut and it was real moist. The sweet potatoes and dressing I mixed up the day before so they just had to be heated up. The gravy and vegetables did have to be cooked at the last minute. My son brought his cheesy potatoes, my daughter brought a fruit salad and my sister brought the pies. Thanks to a friend for the turkey precooking instructions and a friend I met in New Orleans at Mardi Gras for the sweet potato recipe. So after a good dinner and an afternoon and evening with family, I was tired! It was a good day!