Homemade Thanksgiving

From the time I was little my holidays have always been completely homemade (except for the StoveTop Stuffing -- don't judge!). This year I think Mom and I outdid ourselves -- we had a food list a mile long, homemade decorations to prepare, and all of this spanned a couple of days. My mom's birthday started the festivities (the Tuesday before Thanksgiving), so I started preparing for her birthday cupcakes that Sunday. I figured making the frosting the night before might be a good idea, and then it breaks the whole process down and isn't so stressful. So Sunday night I made peanut butter frosting. I didn't even have the cupcakes made, but I knew it was going to be a good one. MMmmmMMMM! The next afternoon I made mostly mini cupcakes -- chocolate with a peanut butter cup nestled snugly and decadently inside. I used an actual cake recipe that included sour cream, so the batter was heaven-sent. Oh, my. So good. Once the cakes were all decorated -- topped with half a peanut butter cup the cupcakes looked (and tasted!) divine! I'm still working on my frosting via piping bag, so some of the cupcakes turned out kind of fugly. But some of them turned out perfectly!

That was a whole lot of fun! So these were all finished Monday night right in time for Mom's birthday on Tuesday. Tuesday we had a little break while we celebrated Mom, but we got right back to it on Wednesday!

Lots to do!

Wednesday both of us got up early and immediately after my morning coffee ritual, we plunged in! (It was around 10:00 or so). We didn't come up for air until 10:00pm. We made so many wonderful things, and had very few catastrophes. The peanut brittle was more intent on burning than on doing anything productive. The smoke detector set us back twice. Once mom hurled it into the bathroom shouting: "Shut up for Christ's sake! (angry, screamy face)." The next time the smoke detector became perturbed I took a towel to it, and took care of it! "SHUT UP GOD DAMN YOU TO THE FIERY PITS OF HADES!!!" In the meantime mom is struggling to hold, pour, and spread out the molten lava which is cashew brittle. What a mini nightmare. Everything else went off without a hitch though -- and everything was delicious!!!

Braided wheat bread with an egg glaze and sprinkled with parsley, basil, and onion and garlic powder.

It's almost cranberry sauce! A cinnamon stick and orange zest gives it a subtle but amazing kick!

Dirty Cowboy Corn -- Mom got an unexpected eyefull after googling that....

Grammy's stuffing, not StoveTop.

Beautiful turkey!

 Our beautiful turkey was slathered in a decadent herb butter, smothered in sage and parsley, and decorated with rosemary and thyme. Instead of stuffing him with...stuffing...I stuffed him with onions, carrots, celery, garlic, oranges, apples, and the rest of the fresh herbs. The fruits make him so moist and delightful! I also basted him every half hour. It is very important to do this if you do not like dry meat.

Deviled eggs! Filled with lots of mustard, garlic powder, and dill!

Chai tea from scratch topped with whipped cream (sadly, not homemade) and cinnamon.

Vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips.

Pumpkin ice cream with chocolate covered ginger snaps.

Everything turned out so well, and it was a blast. I enjoyed baking all day for a couple of days straight. There is nothing better than putting all of your effort into making something wonderful, and then to have people drool over your food and make orgasmic noises is really very satisfying. Not only do I enjoy what I create, but others do, too. And that is the best.