thankgiving preparations

Are you cooking Thanksgiving dinner for your family this year, or are you spending the day at someone else’s house? For the first time in something like 10 years we are hosting dinner! Usually we head down to Drew’s mom’s house, but for some reason we felt like staying home this year. We extended an open invitation to our families and my parents, Drew’s mom, and his aunt will be joining us. I’m looking forward to a day stuffing myself silly and relaxing at home. That’s right, I said relaxing.

I don’t mind the cooking. It’s only four extra people and we have that many over on a semi-regular basis. I roast a whole chicken every couple of weeks; a turkey is just a little bigger! Granted, spending the day in the kitchen isn’t exactly on par with relaxing in a bed made up in luxury bed linens, but it’s not so bad 🙂 As I mentioned before, the menu is relatively simple. I’m not making too many side dishes and I’ve delegated the appetizers and desserts to our guests. Honestly I think this will be one of the more effortless dinners I’ve pulled together for people in a while!

Tomorrow I’ll do a little prep work so Thanksgiving morning I’m not running myself too ragged. I’d like to take a shower and make myself look somewhat presentable, too! I am taking a couple shortcuts, namely bagged salad and pre-made mashed potatoes. My mashed potatoes don’t usually turn out so well, and I had no real desire to peel a couple pounds of them, so I’m letting Bob Evans do the work for me, heh!

One other thing I’m quite excited about is tasting some of the boozy cherries I made back in July. Those little cherries have been sitting in their jars of brandy and amaretto for four months now (!!!) and they’re finally ready to be cracked open. Well, I have my whiskey and ginger ale and I am very much looking forward to garnishing my highball with a few of these babies! I’ll let you know how they taste!