The First Thanksgiving

By this time of year, we are well into the holiday season. We have purchased our Christmas lights, stockings, several colorful tapestries to decorate the living room, and two hugging moose dolled in winter gear.

I spent Thanksgiving day at work, which was especially fun having many people's families stay over for dinner. It was festive, the overall atmosphere was cheerful, and there were LOTS of food. Everyone's plate was filled with food. For the "salad" course, people either had pistachio or orange jello. Each table had a plate of veggie finger foods and deviled eggs. The main course consisted of shredded turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, BBQ baked beans, green bean casserole, and mashed yams. For desert, people could choose between pumpkin or pecan pie. And of course, there was bottomless tea, coffee, milk, and juice to go around.

Yeah, I was takin' notes.

After spending the entire day wishing people Happy Thanksgiving, I realized how I not do the same for our little family, even though we previously agreed that we'd be ok with not doing anything special since we both had to work.

The next day, I went to the store to pick up a few items. I figured I got it handled and didn't need to consult a recipe book this time @_@".

It's hard to make a turkey for two people because you end up with more leftovers than you know what to do with. Sure, you could save it to make soup and congee, but that is beyond my skill level. A lady at work suggested to buy a game hen, but then it felt important to have turkey for our first Thanksgiving together.
I bought two medium-sized turkey drumsticks for around $3.45. Cleaned, seasoned, then steamed them in the wok for about 25-30 minutes. After it cooled a bit, I shredded the meat and tossed it back into the wok for a quick stir fry along with some of the turkey juice.

Fresh mashed potatoes are just heavenly. I chopped and boiled two rustic potatoes until soft, mashed them in a mixing bowl with some Tillamook butter, some warm milk, and added salt and pepper to taste. I didn't want to mess with the gravy. Last time, I tried the powder packaged gravy and that was a disaster. So instead I bought a jar of Heinz Home Style Classic Chicken Gravy, which was thick and delicious.

Mashed yams were also on the menu. I know I didn't do that right, so all I'll say is that after the yams were cooked, softened, and mashed, I added some apple cider for a little zest.

I absolutely love baked beans. They were my most favorite thing in the cafeteria lunches from elementary school. I haven't gotten to eat much of that at all after that time, so they hold a special place in my thoughts. I purchased a small can of baked beans (flavored with brown sugar and bacon), and reheated it on the stove top.

I also bought some white button mushrooms. I had intended to stir fry them with butter, salt, and pepper, but amidst the cooking frenzy I completely forgot :<

There was also tossed salad and peach pie for desert. I had also made a pot of tomato and beef vegetable soup several days ago, so that was perfect for the cold night.

I have to say I am quite happy over the way things turned out. Mashed potatoes were much easier to make than I imagined and taste 110x better than that instant stuff. After dinner, Raihn slipped into the most peaceful food coma. I'll take that as a compliment any day. ^_^

Happy Thanksgiving!