It's a Thanksgiving Miracle...

That I 1) got all the food cooked and served by 12:00 2) didn't totally lose it even when my pie crusts turned out as total crap (not even one cuss word) 3) that I didn't cry...well, I kind of did but I'll get to that later. 

Thanksgiving went well.  I made lunch for our little family and then we had dinner with a very sweet family that night. 

I started the prep on Tuesday with the making of the pie crusts.  I cannot make pies without thinking about my Granny.  She always seemed to have a pie at her house when we came to visit.  It was sweet to spend the afternoon thinking about her and her sweet legacy...that was until my pie crusts wouldn't roll out and would crumble whenever I tried to make it touch the pie pan.  I didn't want to work the dough too much because it makes the crust tough.  I put them in the freezer, just hoping that might help.  It didn't really.  I finally added a little bit of water and made it work...but really...I wasn't feeling good about Thursday at this point.

Wednesday I made the pie filling.  I made a pumpkin pie which is yummy and hard to mess up and then I made the pecan pie which you can mess up....and I did.  :)  I put the eggs in at the end instead of the beginning which means I had scrambled eggs in my pie filling...I used my flour sifter to get the scrambled eggs out of the pecan pie.  I then cooked the pies.  J wanted a taste of the pecan...and it was a bit runny.  You really don't want a runny pecan pie.  I turned the oven on 200 and cooked the dawg out of that pie.  I think J has had one piece since it was re-cooked.  And I don't really like pecan pie...so I'm not sad to not have a piece...my pride might just be hurt a bit.

I was kind of sweating cooking the turkey and since I messed up reheating a ham last week, I decided not to chance it.  I had about a 6 pound turkey (did you know they made them that small?) and so I shoved it into the slow cooker with some chicken broth and cooked that baby for 15 hours.  The next day, the meat fell right off the bone and was super yummy.  Yes, I kind of cheated but at least it tasted good.  I finished the meal with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce and bread.  It took all morning to cook and about 30 minutes to eat...but it was sweet and I was thankful.  I did tear up a little bit but it was when I thought about the many families that were without their loved ones on this holiday because they are deployed.  I know several.  I'm happy that was the reason for the tears and not a burned turkey.

Throughout the day I thought about my Aunt Tommye as I made the green beans.  She is the best green bean maker with the right about of bacon, bacon grease (the secret) and beans.  I thought about her house we would always go to for holidays and how sweet she was and is.  I thought about my Aunt Sandy and the way she made the best corn casserole.  Mine doesn't even come close.  I thought about my mom and how busy she always was on Thanksgiving.  And now I understand.  It takes a lot of planning to cook Thanksgiving.  And I of course thought about my Granny and Grandmother. 

Sorry I have gone on and on...but it was kind of a big deal.  We have a couple of other big deals going on in our little world but that is for another day...

until then

 ugliest pie crusts ever

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