Thanksgiving Dinner with My Team

Thanksgiving.  I was up at 2 a.m. on November 25, 2021, worrying about transforming our main floor from a caramel production site into an elegant dining room for Thanksgiving dinner, not to mention cooking the meal.  Luckily, I had a team to help me.  

I cooked at a furious pace all morning, with excellent helpers appearing at staggered times. The Flindts were our house guests, so they were gracious hostages. Kirsten, Diana (Kirsten's friend from her mission), Alyssa, and Bryce helped to peel sweet potatoes and regular potatoes, mix the filling for pumpkin pies, and fix the green salad and fruit salad. 

Lisa made the rolls.  Kyle stepped in to slice the turkey and Bryce mashed the potatoes.  At 11:30, the kitchen was a total mess, with food and containers completely covering the kitchen island and flour all over the floor. 

At noon, the island was spotless and an elegant Thanksgiving feast was laid out on the buffet table, complete with artistically contrasting colors and textures.

“Grandma, you’re all ready for us, with the kitchen cleaned up!” Emilie said in surprise.  I thanked my excellent team!

We had more than 20 guests—Lisa’s family (Lisa, Kyle, Kirsten, Diana, Bryce, and Alyssa), Camille’s family (Steve, Camille, Emilie, Sophia, Ezra, and Mia), Mike, and Jonny’s family (Jonny, Jenny, and all four of their boys).  This was the Bastians' year for Thanksgiving, but  Heidi was OK with Mike eating Thanksgiving dinner with us and driving to Axtell afterwards.  

Grant and Meg also stopped by on their way to dinner with Meg’s grandparents in Farmington.  The Owens weren’t having sweet potatoes, Grant’s favorite Thanksgiving dish.  He wanted to have some of those at our place before driving north! 

I crashed after dinner and went to bed, but Camille’s and Jonny’s families hiked to the “dead car”, in the hills behind our house.  Someone managed to dump an old car down the hillside, where it still lies in a grove of oak trees.  It is a landmark for little kids, if not for the general populace!  The views of the mountains and city from up there are spectacular for everyone.  Camille’s family played games until just before 6 p.m., when they left for their second Thanksgiving dinner at the Eberts’ house. 

Jonny stayed even later, playing board games and eating the last vestiges of my three pumpkin pies.  It was a successful holiday.  (I was also too tired and frazzled to take pictures; hence the repurposed ones from Google and my other blog postings).