143.8…Thanksgiving Whirlwind

OMG. The last several days have been a complete whirlwind. Our Thanksgiving holiday was jam packed and such a fabulous time!

Last Tuesday night we met some friends for dinner at Cafe Luna. My husband and I split the Caprese salad.

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I ordered the Chicken Piccata.

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It wasn’t as good as my beloved Firenze but it was pretty tasty! 

Wednesday morning’s breakfast was Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal and half a grapefruit.

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I took the kids to school then started the prep work for the 29 people I was having over for Thanksgiving on Friday. Yes…I said Friday. Every other year we host on Friday instead of Thursday to allow family to spend time with their in-laws on alternating years.

The kids had half day so I picked them up and took them to McDonald’s for lunch. I had my usual grilled chicken McWrap and a side salad.

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Dinner that night was the rest of the Enchilada Lasagna.

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Didn’t look to great after being microwaved but it still tasted great! I served it with a green salad.

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Thanksgiving morning I woke up early to do more prep work. Breakfast was scrambled egg beaters with salsa, turkey and cheddar cheese.

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Around noon we all hopped in the car and headed to Los Angeles to have Thanksgiving dinner at my brother’s house.

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My daughter took this picture and, for some reason, I felt the need to  lean way down so we’d be in the picture. :)

Dinner was INCREDIBLE. My brother’s wife, Stephanie, made everything from scratch.

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I brought Pumpkin Cake for dessert (recipe to come).

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With full bellies, we drove back to San Diego. When I got home I put the turkeys (Two!) in their brine and went to bed.

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Friday morning I was up early again to start baking pies (four of them).

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Everything was ready to go!

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I set out a bunch of appetizers and little by little, all 29 guests started arriving.

I cooked ALL DAY. I made way too many thing and had NO down time. Everything turned out great but I’m going to scale back next year for my sanity.

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I think I had lost said sanity at this point.

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Dinner was finally ready!

Good Eats Roast Turkey (recipe to come):

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Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes (recipe to come):

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Cognac Gravy (recipe to come):

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Stephanie’s Homemade Stuffing:

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Gulliver’s Creamed Corn:

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The Ultimate Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Fried Shallots (recipe to come):

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Creamy Macaroni & Cheese:

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Peas:

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The rolls escaped the camera. They were made from frozen dough. No recipe there. :) I did make a Cranberry Chutney which I think is pretty good. I’m not a fan of cranberry sauce so I don’t usually eat it but this one is good.

I had some of everything. Delicious!

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Dessert was insane.

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Cheesecake (recipe to come), homemade ice cream & whipped cream and four pies.

Two “Grandma Ople’s Apple Pies”. 

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Blackberry Pie:

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Pumpkin Pie:

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I’m not a big pie fan but I tried a bit of everything.

After weeks of prep, Thanksgiving was over. Just like that. I have to say that I did give all my leftovers away. I couldn’t bear to look at them ever again.

Saturday morning’s breakfast was an onion bagel with chive cream cheese.

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Then it was back to Los Angeles to attend the USC vs. UCLA football game. We stopped in Orange County at Maggiano’s for lunch.

We all split the Caprese salad:

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And a Caesar salad:

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I ordered the Chicken Piccata. Yes, I’m obsessed.

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It wasn’t that good. Boo. 

The football game wasn’t that good either. We lost. BOO!

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We did stop at Chano’s for dinner though. That was good. It’s a little Mexican shack by campus and I’d eat there all the time in college. I had a beef taco and split a bean and cheese burrito with my husband. I shared some of his chili cheese fries too. :)

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Then it was the long drive back to San Diego.

Breakfast yesterday morning was another half a bagel.

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Football weekend continued when we went to Chargers game!

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Unfortunately another loss! Definitely not our weekend in football.

Last night was our club’s Holiday Party. I changed out of my Chargers gear into my cocktail attire!

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Dinner was served buffet style. Usually this event has amazing food by it just didn’t cut in this year. Another loss. :(

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Everything was really bland.

This morning was definitely difficult to get up and going after our crazy weekend. Breakfast was scrambled egg beaters with the usual add-ins.

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I took the kids to school then went to Cardio Muscle class.  I went to the grocery store, then cleaned up around the house.

Lunch was a turkey sandwich, veggies and ranch dressing.

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Whew! That was a lot of catching up! Tonight is Hot Wing night! Let the food craziness continue!

Comments

  1. Wow, that is a whirlwind! Glad everything went well, but I agree, maybe scale it down a bit next year for your sanity!

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