Turkey Day

Thanksgiving at the Carroll St. house!! I was so excited to host my first family holiday at my house! I even sent out invitations to my parents, brother, Grandma, and Aunt. That made six of us...add my roommate Thomas from The Isle of Man, and my good friend Koren...and this little house was rocking with eight people!
The backyard was filled with smoke from 10am until 6pm as my Dad smoked a huge 28 pound turkey. We used some orange tree branches and leaves to flavor the meat. According to everyone who ate some...it was delicious (remember, I'm a vegetarian now:).
I cooked my scalloped potatoes...with a twist this year. I alternated the layers with regular Idaho potatoes and sweet potatoes for a bit of sweetness and color.
Dustin made apple cobbler. Grandma made a Waldorf salad. Jan made cranberry sauce. Koren brought the green bean casserole. Thomas bought whipped cream for the desserts. My Mom did fruit salad and regular salad. There was barely enough room on my counter tops to hold all the offerings!
Before we sat down to dinner, my Mom brought over a 1000 piece puzzle that had been laying around the house. We set a large piece of cardboard on the living room table and suddenly everyone was crowded around searching for edge pieces! fortunately, the cardboard allowed us to remove the puzzle and allow half the guests to eat at the couches. But, as soon as dinner was over...we were all right back to work on the puzzle. The design was really easy and fun (famous TV characters from the last couple decades) and pretty soon, the end was in sight!
Eventually, my Aunt headed home to take care of her pets. Then my parents packed up and drove home with my Grandma. That left Dustin, Koren, Thomas and I still scrounging for puzzle pieces and stuffing our faces with dessert:)
By 10pm, the last piece was put into place and we commemorated the momentous occasion with a few photos (coming soon). Koren headed home, Thomas headed to sleep, Dustin was still on California time so he was chilling in front of the TV, and I did some last minute preparations before an early Master's swim workout in the AM.
It wasn't until mid-day today when I got home from the pool that I finally got a chance to clean my house!! Oh boy, that was a welcome chore:)!! And, for the rest of the day, I hung out with my brother and got ready for the Thanksgiving Triathlon Festival tomorrow!