Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Thanksgiving Bloopers 2011

This year’s bloopers didn’t involve any Jell-O. 
No, the disasters this year all focused on baking.

Earlier in the week, I went to pull my file of Thanksgiving recipes…and they were nowhere to be found! I panicked. I cried. I ranted. Then I searched for a while online and finally…finally found the recipes again!
My pie recipe (which is nothing spectacular~ it involves Jell-O Pudding & Cool-Whip!) is pretty yummy & it’s my husband’s favorite of all the Banana Cream Pie recipes I’ve tried over the years…so I was pretty upset that I had misplaced it.


 
The next disaster involved rolls. Homemade rolls. I do not consider myself a novice baker. I used a roll recipe that I’ve used dozens of times…but the dough would not raise. I made 2 batches of rolls. Both with different yeast & different flour, neither batch turned out.
The picture makes them look much better than they were. They tasted fine~ but they were really small.

(These are my back-up plan)
I was going to blame the mishap on the altitude here…but the back- up rolls (Rhodes) raised just fine~ in fact they raised more than I wanted them to…so I guess that throws the altitude theory out the window!
Either way, we had plenty of rolls to go around! And my family had plenty to harass me about~ so I guess the rolls were a success after all.
And finally…the piecrusts…(yes, they are Marie Callender’s Frozen pie crusts….don’t judge me!) For some reason I thought I could bake them without using pie weights….yeah, no.  They puffed up in the center.  I gave in and substituted Keebler’s Graham Cracker Crusts instead~ which everyone liked better than the traditional pie crust that I usually use.  So, now I know.  Next time, I’ll make my own graham cracker crusts though…
 
Disasters aside, it was a great day! We had 16 people here to celebrate Thanksgiving. There was plenty of yummy food to go around...it was a perfect day!  I love Thanksgiving!!!
 I started the day off by making Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins for breakfast.  They disappeared in a hurry! 
 For Thanksgiving Dinner, we served:
Turkey, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Sage Dressing/Stuffing (my grandma’s recipe), Candied Yams (my mom’s recipe) Green Beans w/ Bacon & Onion, Rolls, Stuffed Celery, Pickles, Olives.
And for dessert: Pumpkin Pie, Mincemeat Pie, Banana Cream Pie, Chocolate Cream Pie.

My dad was at his all- time funniest. He had been sick the week before, so I think he was just happy to be feeling better. I did tell him he might need to lay off the Nyquil.  :)

Shane was our official photographer.  Here are a few of his better shots:


 I guess he likes taking pictures of the backs of people's heads?


These are interesting...




 At least he got a picture of the puppy!


Other Thanksgiving Weekend fun included:

*A partially flooded basement.
No one will confess to plugging the toilet & then letting it overflow. All. Night.
We suspect is was "Blaine" (name has been changed to protect the not so innocent.)

*Season 4 of "Prison Break"
The whole entire season...in one day! (That's for you, Vern).

*Breaking Dawn...my husband has declared it the stupidest movie he has ever seen. Even worse than "The Polar Bear King" (I know it looks like a good movie...I chose it as a rental years ago & have never lived it down.) 

Now we are switching gears for the Christmas season.
I love the Holidays!



11 comments:

  1. Glad you had a good Thanksgiving! I always cook everything, but procrastinated so much this year that I actually just bought my rolls and pies. They weren't quite as tasty as homemade, but it didn't stop everyone one from devouring them.

    And so sorry about your overflowing toilet. All. Night. Uhg. It's good you protected the not so innocent. :)

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  2. That poor puppy looks like he wasn't invited in for the yummy food :)

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  3. ...wait a minute. Is your puppy a he or a she?

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  4. Huge smile going on here.
    You crack me up with all the little wise cracks you made :)

    Sorry about the rolls, and the poofy pie crusts (NO judging going on here...I love pre-made pie crusts!), but I am happy that everyone had a great time, and lots of laughter and good memories going on.

    Maybe you should go back to perfecting jello :)

    Have the best week!!

    Hugs.... Kerin

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  5. A flooded toilet and rolls that didn't raise. Life doesn't get more unfair than that!
    I can't imagine the stress. It gives everyone something to razz you about though.

    Great pictures. It looks like a houseful.

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  6. Looks like a great day (except for the overnight flooding). Sometimes rolls don't work, and I have given up trying to figure it out.

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  7. Shane makes me laugh! Who needs to see faces...unless it's a close up of Shane?
    What a fun day you must have had. You really did have mincemeat pie? I LOVE that stuff and no one else does so I don't make it because I'd have to eat the whole thing...maybe not such a bad idea.
    Sorry about the flooding. Hope it was only water!

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  8. I feel so naive right now. I had no idea there was such a thing as pie weights. But frozen pie crusts? Those I know well! ;)

    Your holiday looked pretty darn good to me, in spite of the kitchen flubs!

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  9. I am impressed with your baking endeavors! I had never heard of a pie crust weight before this year, and still have never used one...and haven't had a problem...*yet*. I wonder how long I can get away with it? :)

    I must agree with your husband's review of Breaking Dawn! Well, it might not be THE stupidest, but it's in my top 5. For sure.

    Shane's pictures make me laugh!

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  10. ha ha, there always has to be some kind of disater at Thanksgiving...or events when you know people will be gathering and you want to put your best foot forward.
    But all in all, you had fun, and these become things to laugh at afterwards.

    Merry Christmas and I'll check in with you at the end of December. Headed to Utah on the 14th(as you know) and I won't be blogging for awhile.
    Family time.

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  11. we share the same back up roll "recipe". LOL. Glad you had a good Thanksgiving. Sorry about that toilet.

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