Turkey Day!

So this post is all about Thanksgiving, but most ladies out there know, that Thanksgiving Day prep starts way before that long Thursday morning. Earlier in the week Doug and I went grocery shopping for the big day. It was just going to be us and a friend from Church, Barrett, so we didn't need a ton of food, but Doug picked a 15 lb turkey. Oh Doug. The whole week up until Thursday I have been looking up recipes, planning out the schedule for each dish, and slightly stressing since this would be my first real Thanksgiving all by myself, with me creating the meal. I knew I had to get some things cooked before Thursday in order to get everything done, so Wednesday after work I was planning on making rolls and the mashed potatoes. Knowing this would take up my whole night, I figured Doug and I would just have an easy bowl of cereal for dinner, and really treat ourselves the next day to a good meal. Well, to my surprise, Doug's mom ordered Pizza Luce for us... from California! They delivered the pizza to our apartment! She got a Papa size Pepperoni for Doug and a Mama size combination for me, PLUS a caesar salad! It was such a surprise and perfect since I knew I wouldn't be able to cook for us that night. Thank you Lenny for being so awesome!

Our delicious dinner Wednesday night!

 So after I made the roll dough and mashed potatoes, we went to bed late. I woke up at 7 am and threw the dough into the oven, and got the Turkey ready. I felt like I was molesting the Turkey. I got the giblets out, and pulled the skin up so I could get the butter under the skin. I really didn't have the option to get squirmy with the raw turkey, so I just rolled up my sleeves and got the job done. I put lots of parsley and onions all over the turkey and hoped for the best. It actually turned out really well! It tasted delicious, but it certainly took longer to cook than the plastic it was wrapped in said to cook it. We had mashed potatoes, gravy, home made rolls, sugared asparagus, brown sugar beans with bacon, sparkling cider, and of course... TURKEY!

 So proud of my turkey

 yummm... it was all so good. Doug loved the beans. Yes, he ate something green!

 Doug carving the turkey. He did pretty good for his first time. We will have many more years of practice! 

So Thanksgiving was a success. After we ate, the boys were on the couch watching football. Once the food settled in our tummies I made some ice cream and we broke out the Pumpkin Pie that Barrett so graciously purchased for us. It was a great way to cap off the night. As things came to a close I realized some things through this experience of my first Thanksgiving as a married adult. Here we go:

Days of Prep before Turkey Day: 2

Number of hours to prepare all the food: 8

On a scale of 1-10 how bad my back hurt mid Thursday morning: 11

Days our left overs will last: 5

How many minutes it took to eat a meal that took hours to make: 35

How many minutes it took me to clean the kitchen after the big meal: 45

Will I be making Thanksgiving Dinner for my future family?: Wouldn't want it any other way. 

So I am not gonna lie, Thanksgiving Dinner is a lot of work and is over in a blink of an eye, but it was so worth it. The memories made on days like these are priceless. I am sad we are not with our families but it was fun to have our very own Thanksgiving. Here is to next year!