How is it that Thanksgiving is already over?? I feel like just yesterday was October 23rd, when I was in California with my family. And just the day before that was when I married Jacob down in Newport Beach. But all the same, Turkey Day has come and passed.
So when the time came, I decided that it was my duty, my obligation, to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for Jacob & his family. I spent time on Wednesday carefully studying my family recipes so that everything would be just right! I felt a little intimidated by the daunting task of cooking every component of my first Thanksgiving dinner on my own.
So when the time came, I decided that it was my duty, my obligation, to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for Jacob & his family. I spent time on Wednesday carefully studying my family recipes so that everything would be just right! I felt a little intimidated by the daunting task of cooking every component of my first Thanksgiving dinner on my own.
Slightly scared, but also oddly confident, I headed to the store to get the necessary items. It didn’t take long for me to realize that quite a few of the items would not translate as easily as I had hoped. Besides some of the ingredients having different names, the other issue I had was with the conversion of measurements. Back home things are measure out for us in ounces, butter is already broken down in tablespoons on the stick. Here, everything is in the metric system (liters and grams). But luckily, Eva gave me a very thoughtful towel that has all the conversions that I needed. Also, all the turkey’s were a little big and intimidating, so I settled with a large Thanksgiving chicken instead.
I started with the Cream Corn first, then moved onto to the homemade rolls (which decided to NOT rise…so there was major issue #1) then came the Sweet Potato Casserole, followed by my Mom’s Apple Pie. After that the delicious Thanksgiving chicken went into the oven with some roasted parsnips. Everything was quite delicious, if I may say so myself…There was only one problem that wasn’t realized until after everything was cooked and ready, and it was something that Esther, Jacob’s sister, noticed. The sugar that I had been using all day and in every dish was the half-sweetener kind. The kind where you only need to use half of the called for amount of sugar from the recipe. So dinner was EXTRA SWEET…
I missed my family terribly. I can’t stress that enough. I missed my mom making the apple pie, and then sneaking into the kitchen to steal a piece of the crust when it was fresh out of the oven. I missed our family football game. I oddly enough was sad that I wasn’t able to go on the Palm Springs hike…and that is NOT something that I expected to miss. I missed my family, I missed my grandma, I missed my cousins. I’m sad that I missed Scarlett’s first Thanksgiving and I missed sitting down at dinner and listening to what everyone is grateful for this Thanksgiving.
That being said, I am so grateful for them all. I love my family dearly. My family is something that will always bring a smile to my face and make me the happiest person in the world. I am so grateful for their love and support and all that they have done for me. I am so thankful for my mom and how much she does for us girls and I miss our Friday mother/daughter errand outings. I am so thankful for my dad and the support he has always given us and all the soccer & softball games he sat through. I am so thankful for my sisters, even though they drive me 100% crazy half the time, i miss them and love them. I am so thankful for my grandma and the comforting words she always gives us and her incredible hugs & delicious snickerdoodles and shortbread. I am thankful for my aunts and uncles and the love they show for me. And I am thankful for my cousins, who I have always been so close with and who I love more than they will ever know.
I am thankful to the Brown family for letting me be apart of their family.
And finally, I am incredibly thankful for my Jacob. I am so lucky to have found this great person and to have someone that I know I can always count on for love and support. Someone that treats me like a queen and is always able to make me laugh and smile (innit). I love you Jacob!! xoxo
All things considered: the house didn’t burn down, no one was food poisoned…even though everyone may have felt a little sick from the amount of sugar. And I wish that I could have been home with my family...I figure that I can wrap up the day saying that this Thanksgiving was very, very bitter-“sweet” (pun very much intended).
Hey Elsa. . .thought of you often on Thanksgiving and hoped you were happy. Sounds like it was memorable and delicious. I have never heard of extra sweet sugar. That must be a UK thing? Anyway next time you are making anything with yeast try "proofing" the yeast first even if the recipe says you can put it directly into the batter. (Basically using the liquid you would put in the mix, dissolve the yeast separately to see that it bubbles and shows you proof that it is alive and kicking.)Google "proofing yeast" to see what I mean. That way you can be sure your yeast is not a dud before you invest all of that time and . . .sugar.
ReplyDeleteLove and miss you lots sweetie :)
Lynda