Well, the table is set. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. This will be only the second time I have hosted Thanksgiving, the last time was over 11 years ago. That was quite a story.....
It was the first year we were married. We were living in California and had no family around. We decided to have individuals from our church, that we were pastoring, over who had no where else to go. I was excited, and had no idea what I had gotten myself into. I had never cooked a turkey before. I didn't realize how many days it would take for it to defrost, so it obviously was not quite defrosted by the time I was ready to cook it. I read on the directions that it needed to be completely submerged. Well, it was too large to be completely submerged in my kitchen sink, so I took it to the BATHTUB!! I filled the tub with enough water to cover the turkey
Well, to add even more frustration, I found out that a turkey (at least my turkey) floats! So, I sat in the restroom, holding the turkey under water so that it could defrost. When I would get tired, my cousin who was visiting at the time, would take her turn, and hold the turkey down. Crazy.... I know!! Finally, it was defrosted.
We put it in the turkey bag, into the pan, and into the oven. That was just about 1 hour before everyone was supposed to be arriving! Needless to say, I had to come up with a few other things to snack on to keep our hungry guests happy. A couple hours later I was so excited when I looked at the Turkey and it's little "popper" had "popped". We quickly took it out, warmed up all the other dinner sides, and began to carve the turkey.
As it turns out, I had never done that before either. A nice older gentleman from our church offered to carve it for us. As he was carving, I spotted something white in the turkey. Not knowing what it was I said, "What in the world? There is a paper bag inside the turkey!" I was quickly informed that those were the giblets, neck, etc... that you were supposed to take out of the turkey before you cooked it. Oops!! One more thing I learned that year about cooking a turkey.
Thankfully everything ended-up tasting just fine, there were no more complications, and everyone had a good time. But I tell you what, I will never forget that Thanksgiving! )
This year, I am not cooking the turkey, my mother is. I am so Thankful for her. My in-laws are on their way here, and we are looking forward to a great Thanksgiving together.
So, for the crafty side of this post, here are the tables I have set.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I didn't want to purchase anything new this year, because it would just add to the items needing to be packed up again. So I used things from around the house and outdoors.
The fabric came from my piles of fabric. The candles and sticks were on the dresser in our bedroom. To add a little more dimension, I simply grabbed maple leaves and pinecones from outside.
It was the first year we were married. We were living in California and had no family around. We decided to have individuals from our church, that we were pastoring, over who had no where else to go. I was excited, and had no idea what I had gotten myself into. I had never cooked a turkey before. I didn't realize how many days it would take for it to defrost, so it obviously was not quite defrosted by the time I was ready to cook it. I read on the directions that it needed to be completely submerged. Well, it was too large to be completely submerged in my kitchen sink, so I took it to the BATHTUB!! I filled the tub with enough water to cover the turkey
Well, to add even more frustration, I found out that a turkey (at least my turkey) floats! So, I sat in the restroom, holding the turkey under water so that it could defrost. When I would get tired, my cousin who was visiting at the time, would take her turn, and hold the turkey down. Crazy.... I know!! Finally, it was defrosted.
We put it in the turkey bag, into the pan, and into the oven. That was just about 1 hour before everyone was supposed to be arriving! Needless to say, I had to come up with a few other things to snack on to keep our hungry guests happy. A couple hours later I was so excited when I looked at the Turkey and it's little "popper" had "popped". We quickly took it out, warmed up all the other dinner sides, and began to carve the turkey.
As it turns out, I had never done that before either. A nice older gentleman from our church offered to carve it for us. As he was carving, I spotted something white in the turkey. Not knowing what it was I said, "What in the world? There is a paper bag inside the turkey!" I was quickly informed that those were the giblets, neck, etc... that you were supposed to take out of the turkey before you cooked it. Oops!! One more thing I learned that year about cooking a turkey.
Thankfully everything ended-up tasting just fine, there were no more complications, and everyone had a good time. But I tell you what, I will never forget that Thanksgiving! )
This year, I am not cooking the turkey, my mother is. I am so Thankful for her. My in-laws are on their way here, and we are looking forward to a great Thanksgiving together.
So, for the crafty side of this post, here are the tables I have set.
The fabric came from my piles of fabric. The candles and sticks were on the dresser in our bedroom. To add a little more dimension, I simply grabbed maple leaves and pinecones from outside.
Here's a little closer view. The printables were from this post:
17 Free Thanksgiving Printables.
I used the Neutral and Elegant from Catch My Party.
Napkin rings......
The kids table turned out fun. I made the "Popcorn stuffed Turkey" from One Charming Party. I just used brown paper that had come in a package from Amazon. I stapled the sides together, then turned it inside out. I used that same brown paper for their placemats, so that they could color on them while they sat there. The printables were also from the 17 Free Thanksgiving Printables. post.
A little closer view of the "popcorn stuffed Turkey"
Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!!
