Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was great this year.  It seemed like we had more stuff in control ahead of time, so we got to enjoy it a bit more. 

We had the usual standby items: a baked turkey (delicious), stuffing (Brenda's yummy sausage stuffing), buttermilk mashed potatoes (brought by Laura's mom) which were a new, but delicious change from standard mashed potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce (not your usual canned yuckiness), spinach salad (by Sarah), and sweetened, baked sweet potatoes (Brenda's dad's recipe).  I wish I would have snapped a shot of the food.

The girls (me, Sarah, and Laura) took care of desserts.  I made a pecan pie (seriously yummy and worth the extra steps required by the Best Recipe book) and a pumpkin pie (not bad, but not a wow recipe for all the work it was).  Sarah made a chocolate bundt cake--so moist.  Laura made burnt sugar ice cream (really intense flavor that went so well with all the desserts) and her little surprise. 

This is a cake she made and sculpted into a turkey.  So amazing.  I didn't taste it (too full), but it was a feast for the eyes.  The breast/body was a white cake, the legs a spice cake, and the stuffing was a mix of the two cakes.  So clever.  It was a fun bit of whimsy for the day. 

Here are some photos of C from the rest of our time in the Lou.  He was really good the whole time there.

curled up on the fireplace for How to Train Your Dragon

Enjoying the pallet and tent grandpa made him

Sarah, Mitch, Scott, and C went with grandpa to pick out the Dankel Christmas tree at the Mertz tree farm (they've been going there for a long time)

riding the tree farm's "train"