I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving doing the things you are thankful for, with the people you are thankful for. I am thankful that my Dad is such an awesome photographer and that he caught these cool shots of our day for me to share.

Turkey is good, but its even better when your Dad watches Food Network and learns how to carve a turkey like this.

(Thank you Bobby Flay)

My Dad calls him “Simon the pie man”. Ironically, just before bed, “Simon the pie man” informed me  that he didn’t have any pie.  I informed him that breakfast is only hours away, and pie it is!

And to remind me that everything can’t always be perfect, pumpkin pie…overcooked.  But at least I remembered the sugar after they were in the oven, but before they had begun to set, I know, you wonder how I did it, it was the perfect save!

These two downed three bottles of sparkling cider between them. They were proud…and they burped a lot.

Clearing his empties.

And then we color and play Chutes and Ladders.

Her first Thanksgiving!

“We should have Thanksgiving more often!”

And the joke of the night, told by my 8 year old brother Crosby:

Crosby: Why did the pilgrim eat the candle?

Me: I don’t know.

Crosby: “Because he wanted a light snack.”

Oh!  Hello my dear blog!  I know, you (and a few other people) have probably been wondering where on earth I had gone, but alas, here I am!  Hmmm,what excuse do I start with?  Flu?  Too much to do? Or just plain lack of creativity?  It matters not, I am here now (at 2 am on a Saturday night Sunday morning).  And I can see you have all been faithfully checking in, so sorry to have disappointed. I will attempt to redeem myself and fill you in on our happenings.

The flu came and went, (about a four day bout), the short duration I attribute to large daily doses of cod liver oil and E-mergence, full of vitamins D & C.  I unfortunately have been plagued by fatigue since then, that is until today, today I have a renewed energy (which I am now sabotaging by staying up all night, idiot!)

As for the small (and not so small) ones,

Samuel who has a heck of a lot of self motivation, went from being almost a week behind (thank you flu) in his schoolwork to being a week ahead.  I sure wish that would rub off on me!

Jonathan has successfully wound himself around Evelyn’s little finger.  She just peeps and he is there picking her up.  She then proceeds to force him to hold her by whimpering and holding her legs up every time he attempts to put her down.  Needless to say he is not quite caught back up on his schoolwork.

Hannah is our chicken whisperer.  We’ve had many conversations on the difference between “farm” animals and pets, but we don’t live on a farm, so our chickens must be pets, right!?  We have been getting two small brown eggs everyday, so far.

Simon has been learning to read and is very quick witted, a very funny guy indeed.  He also has quite the temper, we’re helping him with that.

Ben is talking up a storm and sees the world through very obscure little eyes.  He claims that Peter is his sister, and when he grows up, he’s going to be shoes, and when he doesn’t like what you have to say, he crosses his arms and says, “whatever”.  Peter claims he gets that from me. Could be true.

Evelyn has seven teeth with an oh so cute and funky space between her top front teeth. She stands on her own and gives big wet open mouth kisses.  And she spends the majority of  her time torturing Jonathan.

Today I finally got my kitchen cleaned to my standards, just in time for the holiday cook off.  I was in limbo about what exactly I felt like doing and decided to have a small family dinner with a few extended members.  Today I decided on my menu and placed my grocery order with SPUD, which will be delivered on Tuesday. Last week I picked up my pastured turkey from the farm, and got my pastured leaf lard, which I’ll be rendering for pie crusts.

This year I decided to keep it simple and traditional.  Here is the menu I am going with:

Green Salad

Salad greens with Gorgonzola, dried cranberries, candied pecans and homemade citrus dressing.

Spice Cured Turkey

I found this recipe a few years back on Martha Stewart.com and I will never prepare a turkey any other way.   The turkey is soaked in brine overnight,which makes for a very tender, juicy bird.  I do not stuff my bird with stuffing as Martha suggests, but with aromatics because I like a less soggy stuffing, so I cook it separately.  The spiced butter rub makes for a perfectly crisp skin.

Mashed Potatoes with Cider Gravy

The cider gravy is another Martha recipe (what can I say, the woman knows good food!)  It is savory and flavorful with a touch of sweetness.

Cranberry Sauce

Every year I just google a cranberry sauce recipe, it may have ginger or orange, but I always make my own.  Its so simple and can be made up to a week in advance, and is way more flavorful than the canned stuff.

Cornbread & Sausage Stuffing

These little orange tomatoes are so yummy, and it’s a good thing, we have an abundance!

We have been getting apples off our trees and have labored over several pots of applesauce.  Then Peter came home with a box from a guy at work…guess what I’ll be doing!

This is whom the kids call “Specialty”,  eventually her specialty will be laying eggs, but so far it has been eating and wandering off  into the road and neighbor’s yards and pooping pretty much everywhere.