Thanksgiving in Virginia

Good morning everyone. I had to post - trying to figure out the blog title "Harrisville Hurricane"... snow, a flurry of activity?

We have a quiet house today - just the four of us. Brittany came Wednesday and left yesterday morning. Sarah always gets sad when TK or B leave after a quick visit. We haven't seen B since last August so over a year.

Thanksgiving was good -relaxed, everyone in the kitchen talking, cooking, visiting. Tom's sisters Wendy and Sandi and families came over for dinner which was only 30 minutes later than planned. Tom made a Italian Sweet sausage/fennel stuffing that was a big hit - I don't have the recipe. I found a garlic, ginger green bean recipe online that was also a success - and that is basically the recipe - add 1/3 c. chicken stock and you're done. The turkey was moist, the prime rib roast was perfectly cooked and our buffet pans on the sideboard were a big help keeping the food warm. We're bringing them up to the Coast Christmas - if they're needed - racks, pans and sterno - I'm happy just thinking about how helpful they were.

Sandi and Greg spent Thursday night, then the older children stayed another night - Newell, Savannah, and Tanner. They watched movies, rode bikes, played xbox and playstation games and generally got to hang out. I took them down to town yesterday - I thought I'd be able to find a parking spot easily but everyone else thought DC was a good place to visit on Thanksgiving weekend. Sandi and Greg met us in town and found a $5 garage so I went there- and was easily the largest vehicle there. I had no problem driving in DC - I knew that I would come out on top, literally, if I had any traffic issues.

We went to the Museum of American History - the kids all went their own way - cells phones are really handy for coordination. We left town at about 5:15 - lots of traffic still in town but no problem once I got over the Potomac River. The Washington Monument lit up at night was worth the night time driving.

Can't wait to see everyone in a couple of weeks.

Jan

Thanksgiving in Austin

Rob's parents and brother came up from Kingwood to enjoy the first sit-down dinner in the remodeled space.

We finally bought a dining room table: the Tuscan from World Market. (This is their picture.) We got the chairs and bench that go with it, too. Our old table was one I bought at a church sale in 1995, when I first moved to Austin. It was $3 with flaking veneer, but the legs are great. We'll keep it but we may not keep the chairs -- a mismatched set from Rob's family that I covered with yellow and gray striped material from the remnant bin at a local fabric shop. I love that material; maybe I'll take the covers off and ditch the chairs.

Dinner was good, if a bit late. Rob smoked a 12-pound turkey, using a drip pan with apples, onions, carrots, and seasonings. We used that for the gravy -- it tasted like liquid smoke (now I know how to make that). Rob put the turkey on at 11; I was still cleaning and mopping our floors -- we needed a clean house for the dinner but that meant I didn't start cooking until 12:30 p.m., a bit too late as it turns out for dining at 3. We ate at 4:30 instead -- the turkey was done early but we had Ted carve it and put it in the warming oven.

With help from everyone - Ted, Helen, Mike and Rob preparing the food (Juni kept the floor clean) -- and the Internet for the recipes -- the Elizabeth Street Thanksgiving Menu:

• Smoked Turkey, from Amazing Ribs
• Stuffing with Chestnuts and Cranberries, from Whole Foods Market
• Chipotle Mushroom Gravy, from The Splendid Table
• Mashed Potatoes, an America's Test Kitchen recipe
• Honey-glazed Carrots, from Whole Foods Market
• Green Beans with Shallots and Almonds, from Whole Foods Market
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Macadamia Nuts, from Whole Foods Market (minus the nuts)
• Emmitt Smith's Sweet Potato Casserole, from a 1999 newspaper clipping
• Cranberry Sauce with Pomegranates, from The Splendid Table
• Dinner Rolls, from Whole Foods Market (bought these instead)

We had fun finding the recipes and experimenting with new flavors (chestnuts: yum, but probably not worth the effort; chipotle mushroom gravy: very hot, and not like gravy at all; pomegranates: a lot of work for crunchy seeds; macadamia nuts: lost in the 4 hours of frantic cooking). The sweet potato casserole is now a 10-year old tradition in the Doyle household and the only recipe not from the Internet. I'll put it in another post so you can see how much butter we used.

Ted, Helen, and Mike brought dessert: cranberry-apple pie and a pumpkin pie cake. Not that we had room for it (but we persevered).

We all went into the living room to watch the Texas/A&M game. Sadly, it was on ESPN and we don't have cable, only rabbit ears. Alas. So, we watched Night at the Museum on TV instead or stumbled off to bed, according to the sleepiness of each.

The next morning was pancakes and coffee and packing up leftovers for the Doyles to take back to Houston. They left at noon. I took a nap.