one of the best thanksgivings I have had in a long time

Well I am post meal and post early A.m. black friday and I can tell you it was ALL good!!

We had Friends with Kids over! a couple and thier three children who are close in age to our four children. and we had a single guy from S's office- who doesn't have family here and we invited another but too bad he was a no show.

I made two turkeys- one traditional roasted and stuffed with French Mama's stuffing- this includes chestnuts , sausage, lots of shallots and bread and a bit of grand mariner liquor and one Fried Turkey.

we actually cooked 4 turkeys three in the fryer and one in the oven. so everyone got leftover turkey, all of them weighing around the 13 pound mark. I have to say the oil was the most expensive part of this fun ( we have done this in the past). to get it right you must not give in and use cheap oil, only peanut oil will do and it did do just fine., in fact we are thinking of frying a couple more to put up in the freezer too.

also on the menu was mashed potatoes and turkey gravy- excellent and a must for a traditional meal.

Drunken sweet potatoes ( yams) - these were very wonderful. made with brown sugar, jim beam, maple syrup and a bit of small pineapple tid bits and juice. I made a syrup, cooked the yams in the microwave first and then, cut them into a casserole dish and covered with the drunken syrup, yum !

my friends brought- the best green bean casserole- the kind everybody loves with the fried onions

a carrot dish- with lots of buttery goodness,

great rolls - dinner wouldn't be the same with out rolls.

Jello Salad- yeah.

there was Harry and David Cranberry sauce- with whole cranberries and a jellied cran-raspberry sauce.

a bottle of Shiraz wine from Australia and a bottle of chardonnay from France. I picked these wines and they were excellent.


and then after we rested a bit from dinner- with x-box and game play and t.v. thrown in we had pie!! oh my did we have pie....... we had a chocolate cream pie, a mince meat pie, an apple pie, a pumpkin pie and a cheesecake with cherries and an carvel ice cream cake! all served up and enjoyed - everyone got something they liked- and coffee to finish off the night!!

what a blast - everyone had a great time and no pressure to show off or feel like they weren't there to have a good time. wonderful lovely meal with friends. 12 of us all together.