Good Googly-Moogly, I'm Glad That's Over!

Whew! Thanksgiving Day's come and gone and boy am I glad to have survived it without any major (or minor) cooking incidents.

My Thanksgiving Day

7:00 a.m. Alarm sounds. Internal voice says, "I really should get up", but that 1:30 a.m. coughing fit/rummaging for cough syrup run through the kitchen cabinets wasn't really condusive to quality sleep. I can snooze once. I think I have time for that in my schedule.

7:09 a.m. "Alarm? Huh? Wha? It's so warm here under the electric blanket. One more snooze won't kill me."

7:18 a.m. Pete (a.k.a Rocko, a.k.a. the black and white dog) is trying to will me out of bed using only the power of his walnut-sized brain. The dogs are all dying for their breakfast, which is not surprising since they only ate a mere 12 hours ago and have been getting their two squares a day for the last decade. Fine. Get up and feed the mongrels. Stumble to shower.

8:15 a.m. OMG! I really am cooking an entire meal. A turkey and five sides plus desert that all has to be done at approximately the same time. What if I just went back to bed and pretended that it was all a bad dream? Nope, you're committed. Haven't you just been whining on the internet for everyone to read that you want to start DOING things?! Get goin'.

9:00 a.m. Whipping mashed potatoes for the Gouda Mashed Potato Casserole. Remember (just a tad too late) that you are incapable of preparing mashed potatoes. I know it might sound crazy since I've just made a Carmel Pudding Tort with Almond Shortbread Crust completely from scratch, but it's true. I have never successfully made mashed potatoes without lumps. LUMPS!!!! TLS walks through the kitchen just in time to see me ripping the beaters out of the mixer and tossing them in the sink. "Problem?" "I CAN'T MAKE MASHED POTATOES!" Long pause. "Well, I guess this'll give you something to blog about." I definitely can't fault that logic. Well, it is part of a casserole, so maybe the lumps won't be as noticeable. Onward and upward. No time to waste on crying over spilled milk...or lumpy potatoes.

10:00 a.m. Turkey goes in the oven with the help of my brawny and ever helpful TLS.

10:30 a.m. The familial units arrive.

Cooking frenzy continues...chopping, mixing, pot and pan washing, sauteing, rising, baking...

1:15 p.m. Things are coming together. The turkey is about 5 degrees from its appointed internal temperature. Casseroles are warming. Rolls have baked and are cooling. Salad dressing is made. Crap. I haven't sliced the apples for the salad. Make mental note.

1:30 p.m. Making the whipped cream for the tart. Must remember to double the recipe, which means 1 cup whipping cream and, um, 1 cup powdered sugar. Ooh, I do love freshly made whipped cream, I need to taste test. What the? Oh doody. That should have been 1 tablespoon of powered sugar. I think I have enough whipping cream to make another batch.

1:45 p.m. Since it has reached an FDA safe 180 degrees Fahrenheit, the turkey is out of the oven. Here's the beauty! Well, okay, looking at it in a two inch square, it looks more than a little splotchy and frankly kinda weird. It was much prettier in person.

1:50 p.m. Making gravy from the pan drippings and heating the green beans. I still need he apples sliced to assemble the salad. "Honey, help!" TLS slices the apples in fine form.

2:00 p.m. Thanksgiving is served. Here are a couple of photos of the table. Note my cat, Newman, looks like he's ready to dine on some of the bounty.

3:00 p.m. Time for some tart. Yum!

6:00 p.m. The kitchen cleaned, leftovers stowed safely in the fridge, it's game on! Anyone who knows us knows that Mom and I are extremely competitive. Time to get out Yahtzee and commence the grudge match started last Christmas. Last year TLS was the Yahtzee king and must have thrown five of them. I've vowed to avenge my loss.

7:30 p.m. We played three games. I won the first one, TLS won the second and Mom won the third, but I had the best combined score so I'm the ultimate win-nah. Wooo! My score card: