Thanksgiving 2011

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post this.  We've been recovering from four Thanksgiving meals.  Yup, that's what I said.  Four.  All of last week was just one big feast.  I not only spent a lot of time eating, but a lot of time cooking and baking.  It was exhausting.

Meal one was on Tuesday.  I had a huge potluck at work and Malu came along.

Meal two was on Wednesday.  Malu had a huge potluck at work and I went along (the perks of being married to a service member in the same command).

Meal three was the "real" meal--Thanksgiving Day.  We, along with two other families/friends, were invited to the Wells Family home for an evening of food and fellowship.  We split meal responsibilities from amongst the families.  I didn't realize how much I volunteered to cook/bake until we loaded everything into the car.  We could have fed all the guests on just that!  What a wonderful time!

I'm so happy that we were able to get a family shot.  The Wells' live in one of those typical tiered German houses.  I say "typical" because all of our friends who live on the economy here live in the same style of house where there are about 3-4 floors/tiers, each with 2-3 rooms.  For example, one floor is a basement; another is the entryway, livingroom and guest bathroom; another is the kitchen and diningroom; another has 1 or 2 bedrooms; and the final floor is the master bedroom and a full bathroom.  They're actually quite spacious and I like the layout.  What sucks is having to climb all of those stairs...and having to watch your toddler the entire time.  The thought of Sina or any toddler falling down those stairs just freaks me out to no end.

In any case, what I was meaning to say was that it was hard to get Sina to sit still for anything (including this family picture) because she was so fixated on climbing up and down all those stairs.  It was quite entertaining for her, but exhausting for Malu and I me.  Anyway, starting from the top right of the collage--one of the desserts I made; Zinda in her kitchen; the ham I made along with some other side dishes; Malu and JP Wells jammin' on the guitars; LTC Miller and Baby Cora (who goes to school with Sina); Rebecca (Cora's Mom), Cora and Tracey Miller; and Sina playing with Zinda's potato supply.

I made some really good stuff that day. Here are the recipes and everything was fabulous (and I'm not just saying that because I made them!):

Nilla Praline Cheesecake (shown)

Baked Ham w/Sweet Bourbon-Mustard Glaze (shown)

Lickety-Split Alfredo Style Mac n' Cheese

Candy Apple Pie

Macadamia Nut Pie

Crockpot Green Bean Casserole

Curried Chicken Appetizer Bites

In addition to all of this, I brought corn, a salad, and a fruit tray with homemade fruit dip!

After that, there was no way I could even look at another meal, let alone eat another turkey. 

But meal four came on Saturday...at Malu's boss' house.  Turkey and all the trimmings.  Sina never complained.  As a matter of fact, she couldn't stop saying "Mmmmm!"  I have a feeling Thanksgiving will be her favorite holiday.

Everything really was quite delicious, and how can you refuse an entire meal?  You just can't.  We ate without reservation.

All was well until I got some kind of stomach bug that night and ended up throwing up everything I ate on Saturday.  We're not really sure what happened, but we know we can't blame it on any of the four meals because no one else got sick.  We can only deduce that it was the chicken sandwich I'd eaten at lunch at the PX food court on Saturday (as if we didn't have enough leftovers at the house that day; guess that serves me right). 

All in all, it was a wonderful Thanksgiving, despite being away from our family and loved ones back home.  Honestly though, we have enough people here that we call family and we're so very thankful to have them in our lives too!

Thanks to the Wells Family for opening up your hearts and your home to us and to the other families we had the pleasure of fellowshipping with throughout the entire week!