The Aftermath

I wish I would have taken a picture of our messy kitchen and our dirty dishes after Thanskgiving dinner. David cleaned it all up right away. He is so good... I would have left them a few more days.

I did end up (about 10 minutes after my last post) making some detailed time-lines and checklists for Thursday.

Everything on the menu came out very good (in my opinion anyway). I made:
turkey- really good! I used an idea I saw on Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade and seasoned and froze a log of butter and then put slices of it under the skin.
Aunt Cookie's stuffing- only made a little bit since I'm the only one who will eat it here.
corn souffle'- I absolutely love this stuff and TG just wouldn't be complete without it! It's always a big hit!
green bean casserole- another one I just couldn't NOT make!
sweet potato crisp- still sweet and delicious but with apples, cranberries and oats instead of marshamallows
mashed potatoes- I put David to work mashing. I tried to make them as delcious the ones one of my student's mom brought in but could't get them right. They were alright though.
gravy- turned out better than last year, but still needs work. I did 2- one from a packet and one from the drippings.
maple-glazed baby carrots- it was really easy not to have to peel and chop the carrots!
apple-cranberry-pecan stuffing- anything you make with Stovetop is super-easy, right?
fruited cranberries- really simple, but no can-ridges like Grandma's. I just mashed up a can of whole berry cranberry sauce with other canned fruit- pears, apricots and mandarin oranges. One of our guests had never had turkey and cranberries together before!
Crunchy, crusty french bread from the breadmaker.
bacon-ranch dip- I still have a lot of this and it's so good... David and I have been snacking on it every day!
crab rangoon- good and easy, but I baked them a little bit too long...oops.
pumpkin cake- my second of the season. I love this cake so so much!
pumpkin swirl brownies- they weren't actually brownies because there's no chocolate, and I need more practice with my swirling.

David made his "chocolate heaven" dessert, which I eat the top of but the pecan crust is too overpowering for me. He also helped a lot with the mashed potatoes and did tons of the prep for getting the house ready for guests!

Guests brought sushi rolls, pumpkin-oatmeal cookies, and 2 store-bought pies. Blueberry and something else.