We are Blessed... and that's Spectacular!: Giving Thanks All Weekend

When we built this new house I told WGO that I wanted to be able to serve a crowd. This Thanksgiving weekend we got to see how the "open concept" floor plan works for entertaining.
On Thursday we served turkey and all the fixings to 17 of our family. The girl's helped me do a lot of the prep work on Wednesday including cooking and deboning two turkeys. Granted, I would have been to bed a lot earlier if we hadn't taken the afternoon to go shopping! But everything was ready to serve at the designated time. The two ovens really came in handy. As I looked over at the buffet line as we were beginning to serve, I noticed steam rising from everything that was supposed to be hot. Success!

Several years ago my mother passed the baton for hosting Thanksgiving dinner to the next generation. I remember thinking how much I loved this holiday....until I had to be responsible for cooking the meal. Let's be honest, ladies (and any men who are the chefs in their house) this isn't the easiest meal to put on the table. Couldn't our forefathers have served a big pot of chili that first Thanksgiving day?
But this year I actually enjoyed it. I don't know if it was because of the new kitchen or just that I have a few years of cooking this meal under my belt and have learned a few tricks

My brother and his wife from Portland, Oregan traveled to Kansas for the holiday. They spent Thursday in Hays with Deborah's folks. So on Friday, we gathered again to celebrate family with a nice meal. My brothers came from Kansas City and Manhattan to visit. Instead of serving leftovers we had ham, cheesey potatoes, and funeral dinner green beans. My brother Ray made his awesome spinach salad and others contributed desserts. Twenty-three people in all went through the buffet line around our kitchen island. It was a very enjoyable evening.

Saturday morning, I went in to my mom and dad's to visit with my brothers and did some Christmas shopping. In the afternoon WGO and I went out to Burns, KS to enjoy a bowl of chili with his sister. It was a beautiful evening for a drive to the country.

I am not nearly as tired today as I thought I would be. I spent most of the afternoon, (between loads of laundry), making Christmas stockings for the newest members of our family, Grady and Hadley. I've made my Christmas "to do" list and I am actually getting a little excited. Maybe the Christmas spirit will really take hold of me this year.

I am blessed. God is good.