THANKSGIVING WITH THE HARRISON SISTERS (me! & keeshie!)
true, we should have -by regular standards, relieved our mom from hosting the thanksgiving feast many years ago, but we have a very good excuse for waiting this long:
she cooks. we don't.
that said, i think the guilt started weighing on us so heavy over the past couple years, we finally stepped up to the plate this year: 2010. /and it should be marked in history.
the nice thing about hosting in 2010, is that there is so much food at the grocery store designed specifically for people like us: kitchen foreigners; alien to unprepared foods and those -mysterious appliances;
with all those buttons and knobs and strange circling coils.. racks and whatnot
so!
perhaps we could call ours: thanksgiving in a box. -because, very well aware of my strengths (eating), and my weaknesses (cooking), i purchased the following:
instant garlic mash potatoes /just have daughter add milk, butter,
instant stuffing /just add water, butter
instant turkey gravy /just have sister heat in microwave
canned grean beans/mushroom soup/onions for the famous green bean caserole /just open, open, open...
and jenny 'o's oven ready whole turkey /just take out of freezer and put in oven
PLUS -prewashed (x3) spinach & spring greens salad /just transfer from container to salad bowl
and a variety of fresh toppings -all prepackaged/fresh/ready to eat: sliced almonds, dried cranberries, feta cheese, and a premade, vinagrette dressing
PLUS! -and my personal favorite, for the appetizer: brie cheese, with a homemade (but not by us) cranberry sauce, and the cutest heart shaped crackers
and instant flaky dinner rolls -from refrigerator to oven to table. unless, you accidentally put them in the freezer, in which case they go from freezer, to microwave to thaw, then to oven and then to table... /and ideally, you should remove them from the oven about 1-2 minutes sooner than we did
anyway
my sister busted out the china, and we lit a few candles.. had some beautiful fall decor thank you to our mom, and darling thanksgiving decorations thank you to our children, and way cute name plates by my niece, sarah
and then, we did do things slightly differently than our mom,
because for all the years she hosted the feast, you sat down at a table where the beautiful, moist, delicious turkey was the centerpiece, surrounded by all the equally delicious, slow-cooked from scratch side meals
at our house,
we ate, -how can i say? in shifts. all the instant/ready made side dishes first, and then about an hour later..
the turkey!
because apparently either the turkey was larger than the package read, or their was typo on the instructions, or.. our oven's 350 is not actually 350
i can't be sure
but, the important thing is, everyone did eventually eat turkey.
and even more important than that
our mom brought her homemade, awesome-delicous, pumpkin pies for dessert.
so there.
***
she cooks. we don't.
that said, i think the guilt started weighing on us so heavy over the past couple years, we finally stepped up to the plate this year: 2010. /and it should be marked in history.
the nice thing about hosting in 2010, is that there is so much food at the grocery store designed specifically for people like us: kitchen foreigners; alien to unprepared foods and those -mysterious appliances;
with all those buttons and knobs and strange circling coils.. racks and whatnot
so!
perhaps we could call ours: thanksgiving in a box. -because, very well aware of my strengths (eating), and my weaknesses (cooking), i purchased the following:
instant garlic mash potatoes /just have daughter add milk, butter,
instant stuffing /just add water, butter
instant turkey gravy /just have sister heat in microwave
canned grean beans/mushroom soup/onions for the famous green bean caserole /just open, open, open...
and jenny 'o's oven ready whole turkey /just take out of freezer and put in oven
PLUS -prewashed (x3) spinach & spring greens salad /just transfer from container to salad bowl
and a variety of fresh toppings -all prepackaged/fresh/ready to eat: sliced almonds, dried cranberries, feta cheese, and a premade, vinagrette dressing
PLUS! -and my personal favorite, for the appetizer: brie cheese, with a homemade (but not by us) cranberry sauce, and the cutest heart shaped crackers
and instant flaky dinner rolls -from refrigerator to oven to table. unless, you accidentally put them in the freezer, in which case they go from freezer, to microwave to thaw, then to oven and then to table... /and ideally, you should remove them from the oven about 1-2 minutes sooner than we did
anyway
my sister busted out the china, and we lit a few candles.. had some beautiful fall decor thank you to our mom, and darling thanksgiving decorations thank you to our children, and way cute name plates by my niece, sarah
and then, we did do things slightly differently than our mom,
because for all the years she hosted the feast, you sat down at a table where the beautiful, moist, delicious turkey was the centerpiece, surrounded by all the equally delicious, slow-cooked from scratch side meals
at our house,
we ate, -how can i say? in shifts. all the instant/ready made side dishes first, and then about an hour later..
the turkey!
because apparently either the turkey was larger than the package read, or their was typo on the instructions, or.. our oven's 350 is not actually 350
i can't be sure
but, the important thing is, everyone did eventually eat turkey.
and even more important than that
our mom brought her homemade, awesome-delicous, pumpkin pies for dessert.
so there.
***
posted by SHE @ 9:12 AM
1 Comments:
Original post. 11/26/2010
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