Our Yummy Thanksgiving Mess

Actually, that's not entirely true, since I knew I would need to be as efficient as possible in my tiny kitchen, I cleaned it from top to bottom before I started and kept it pretty clean along the way. I was quite proud of myself (and briefly considered why I don't do it that way all the time, but well, whatever).

I started cooking on Tuesday night, with the pie crust and first set of dinner rolls.

On Wednesday, I had a wonderful helper, who's only flaw is that she gets really mad when I won't let her help with something. Here she is helping me unearth the stock pot from that cabinet behind her for mashed potatoes. Can I just say, I probably should have realized that if I was using a stock pot for a party of eight, three of whom definitely weren't going to eat them, it was entirely TOO MUCH POTATOES! That's okay, I found an awesome recipe for mashed potato pancakes (which my children still won't eat).
Rolls getting started in my wonderful, awesome and amazing bread machine:


Thank you, Sam's Club, for potatoes on steroids. I have never, in my life, seen such gargantuan potatoes. And being the lover of potatoes that I am, I made about two thirds of the bag, ten pounds or so.
I tried a new stuffing recipe, and it was PHENOMENAL! This is going to be my stuffing recipe. The corn bread is another of my favorites, and was used Wednesday night with taco soup.


Were you wondering what the boys were up to while Brenna and I cooked? Brian was helping clean up, Nathan was playing with Legos, and Isaac was eating washable crayons, which foam when they get wet, by the way. I heard Brian yell, "Miranda, I need help! It's getting on me!" by which I'm pretty sure he actually meant our precious baby is eating something and I'm terribly worried about his welfare!
Just a side note, but see those really steep stairs behind Brian? I fell down them this morning. Which is why I'm now sitting here blogging, and not walking to the park with my family.

Here's the turkey. I got a big one, 15 pounds, I think, because I figured if I was going to spend the better part of a day cooking it, I wanted to be able to use if for a while. Mission accomplished! It was lovely, but too dry. Next year I'll try the bag thing like Linda told me I should...

And here is the meal. My moment of glory! And a little fear, because what if it was terrible? Oh, the green beans were. Terrible, I mean. Scrap that recipe. But everything else was wonderful. Yay!

I bought a puzzle for the evening because, well, I love puzzles, but also because Brian's aunt and uncle had one out a couple years ago at Thanksgiving and I loved how it gave people a chance to sort of exit the main conversations and have quiet conversations, but not actually feel out of the party. It turned out really well in this case; our three guests were people Brian works with who for whatever reason were staying in New Orleans. I have no idea if they know one another socially, but I had never met them before they rang my doorbell. So the puzzle gave us something to do with our hands and softened the inevitable breaks in the conversation. One young lady left pretty early in the evening, but the other had to be dragged away from the puzzle because her ride needed to get home :)
Oh, and those leaves on the wall behind the table? They were part of our school project a couple weeks ago, when we were talking about Fall. We've spent the time since we made them thinking of things we're thankful for and writing them on the leaves.

I know it's a little blurry, so if you're interested, here's the list:

Hannah and Claire
Get together
God takes care of us
Yummy breakfast
Our family
Isaac
Daddy
Clayton Community Church
We got to New Orleans safely
Our bedrooms
Our garden at home
Wonderful friends
Our new beds
Sophia
Mama
Brenna Mae
Daddy's job that helps provide for us
Toys
Jesus took away our sins
Nathan

Here are my favorite recipes that I used:

Sweet Dinner Rolls
I made a recipe of regular flour, and one of half whole wheat.

Stuffing
based on some of the comments, i added two granny smith apples, 1/2 cup walnuts and a handful of cranberries. And I used homemade cornbread instead of a mix.

Speaking of:
Cornbread
I love this recipe because it isn't crumbly. very moist and sweet.

Potato Pancakes