A Great Thanksgiving Day

After making stuffing, stuffing the turkey and getting it in the oven this morning, we went to do the Oak Creek 7th Annual Turkey Trek at Drexel Towne Square. It is an hour long walk around the local park at 8 AM. The coordinators request that we bring non-perishable food to be collected for charity. The temperature this morning was 37 degrees and there was a light wind but on a cold day it still stung a little. We enjoyed the view of the icy ponds along the trail where we walked. It was a great way to start turkey day.

After the walk was over we went home to enjoy bloody Marys in the hot tub. It is a great way to get the chill out of our old bones and enjoy the quiet before the storm of family that will be over later this afternoon for Thanksgiving dinner.

I love all things Peanuts so  I just had to take advantage of the opportunity to use my plastic cup for my bloody Mary.

Whenever I have something big to do, like Thanksgiving dinner I've learned to make a list. This year I thought I would add some post-dinner comments in order to learn for next year. These are the lessons I learned from this year's dinner:

1. Cook the turkey way in advance, carve it and put it in a crock pot. Then all the mess can be cleaned up before guests arrive. It is a great stress relief.
2. Make turkey stock from scratch and use it to keep the sliced turkey moist in the crock pot.
3. Make less side dishes. Everyone wants the mashed potatoes. The end.
4. The cold vegetable sides were more popular than warmed vegetables.
5. Drink wine instead of making sangria. It's less fuss.

The day was very stress free since I really planned ahead. The only disappointing thing was that my granddaughter was ill and laid on the sofa while we had dinner. At least we could see her and keep her in the conversation. I hope she is better today.