Thanksgiving

Yesterday my little family and I hosted Thanksgiving for the first time. Thankfully, we didn't have to cook everything, so we were able to actually enjoy our Thanksgiving. I think the key to hosting is not getting too stressed out. I thought that I would be a nervous/pessimist wreck yesterday, but never once did I think things were going to go badly. Maybe that's because Nick was in charge of the turkey, not me. But it still helped to be positive. 

Here's what we had:

Gordo the 30lb Turkey (I kid you not, he was really 30 pounds) with a mixed fruit and walnut stuffing

Honey baked ham

Normal Stove-Top stuffing

Butternut squash and parmesan bread pudding

Mashed potatoes

Green bean casserole

Stuffed mushrooms

Sweet potato and apple gratin 

Red chile

Homemade gravy 

Crescent rolls

Pumpkin pie

Mince meat pie

Rocky-road cake (because we believe chocolate should be featured on Thanksgiving)

Yeah, it was a delicious day. I have to say, though, my favorite dish was the bread pudding. It was a pinterest find, and I had never made it before yesterday, but it was awesome. Want the recipe? You can find it here. I cooked it in a crock pot, so I'm not sure how similar it is to the original recipe. Either way, it was amazingness. 

So, in the spirit of the holiday that was yesterday, I am so thankful for my family. I love each and every one of them and I don't know where I would be today without them. I am soooo thankful for my husband, especially since he woke up at 5 yesterday, but let me sleep in. And of course, I'm thankful for my little monster. He may drive me crazy, but he is the best part of my life. 

I hope everyone had as nice of a Thanksgiving as I did. 

Apple Pucker's Surly Older Brother

Just in case you didn't know, my husband brews beer. Great beer. Wanting to branch out a little bit, he (with my constant urging) decided to brew some apple cider. Thankfully, my mom lent us her fancy apple-peeler that made our work much easier-- yes, our work. Nick usually brews on his own (I just enjoy the end result) but I helped this time (i.e. I cut the 15 pounds of peeled apples into quarters and tossed them in the giant pot. Very helpful.) No matter how hard we worked, what could possibly be better that homemade organic apple cider? Nothing, right?

Brewing day. Even the Monster was excited!**

We were wrong. So, so wrong!

Instead of getting yummy apple cider we got apple liquor. Hard ass, super sour liquor. Think Puckers, only thicker... and surlier. One big swig (remember, I was expecting cider) and I'm buzzed. Words cannot begin to describe my disappointment.

Here's a picture of the four bottles of DOOM! Yeah... 15 lbs of apples and all we got were four stupid bottles.

** Sorry about the giant picture, I stole if from Facebook.