I have this thing about Thanksgiving... I LUH-OVE it!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have a freakish obsession with Thanksgiving. Most of it is because the food you eat at Thanksgiving is some of my fave food of all time... but, part of it is the history of the day and the meaning on the day. I get VERY upset that Thanksgiving is so passed by these days with retailers starting Christmas so early... but that's a story for another day!
To me, Thanksgiving is a purely happy and usually stress free time. I get to see all of my family (well, half of it anyway!) and watch football with the boys and be filled with happiness all day... oh, and eat my FAVE foods!! How could that be any better???
My father's mother, my Bippy, has almost ALWAYS cooked most of our Thanksgiving meals, at least the big parts of it. With the help of my aunt and uncle they usually provide the turkey and dressing and ALWAYS the giblet gravy! Bippy's gravy makes the day for me. My Thanksgiving is not complete without it. I could eat it as soup... and I'm sure I have at some point!! Is that eww?! LOL
As a kid, I wouldn't touch dressing. Hated it. Well, as an adult even! Until I tried my mother-in-law's dressing and decided I'd been MISSING out!!! It was moist and delicious and that day I decided I'd never miss it again! I'm not sure what turned me off about dressing before, but I would assume it was the texture.
When we moved to San Antonio, we decided that we could still split Christmas between our hometowns but we just couldn't do that with Thanksgiving, so we'd start switching every other year. The second year we lived here, we were going to my husbands family for Thanksgiving, which... dun, dun, dun........ meant.... NO BIPPY GRAVY! I was crushed. So... I pulled my big girl pants up and said "If I can't go to Bippy's gravy, I will make Bippy's gravy come to me!" I called my aunt for the recipe and viola! A new tradition was born!! Thanksgiving in the Muegge house!
Our first year, we invited friends to share in the day with us. I bought a 7lb turkey... hahaha! Do you know how hard it is to find a turkey that small? And I had no clue I actually needed MORE than that! After buying the turkey this year, I realized that tiny turkey cost me twice as much as the 14lber I bought this year! We tried all of our recipes for the first time and got the hang of planning and creating a large meal.
After that, I thought "I can do this!" So I asked my mom and aunt if I could do the entire meal. My aunt Cheryl did still bring some of the sides and Kyle and I planned the turkey, dressing, gravy, green bean casserole and some others. It ended up being a blessing in disguise that we planned it this way because the day before Thanksgiving, one of my aunts... one of my most favorite aunts... Marvine, suffered a massive aneurysm and was Halo Flighted to the hospital. My entire family was in and out of the house, going to the hospital and visiting my uncle and cousin. The prognosis was grim and my heart was broken. I realized that no matter what the day brought, our family needed to eat and we already had all the food. So I cooked. And cooked and cooked... and fought through some really hard emotions. And my husband and sister and brother-in-law were right there with me. We pulled through and cooked an amazing and HUGE meal. I knew our family would be in and out all day and even if we didn't sit down to all eat together, at least we could all eat. We were able to eat lunch with my parents, my sisters family, my grandmother and my aunt Cheryl and my uncle. We'd just settled in to our meal when the phone rang that Aunt Marvine had passed away. I wondered if Thanksgiving would ever mean the same thing to me afterward. I made up my mind, right then and there, that her passing couldn't ruin a day of thanks and that made me MORE thankful for the memories I had with her. I miss her every day. But in these cool, crisp, fall-ish days (if you can call them that in Texas!), I feel her with me. I feel her watching over me and comforting me and nudging me on, as she would have if she'd been here still. I feel her watching Reagan growing and telling me how amazing Reagan is. I feel her here. And I love Thanksgiving even more, because that means I remember her. Even more. Even more real. Even more loving. Even more than ever. And I miss her every single day.
This year, we're back with Kyle's family and while that does mean no Bippy gravy... it also means we get to see all the cousins, aunts and uncles and grandma! And maybe my mother-in-laws dressing?? Or at least the same recipe?! Maybe! Since we won't see my parents for Thanksgiving, and since I MUST have Bippy's gravy, I invited my mom and dad to visit us and eat Thanksgiving at our house. We had a wonderful day and an even more wonderful meal. I don't toot my horn too often, but man... I rocked that meal! And with the help of my awesome husband, we served a perfect meal and ON TIME!
So, Thanksgiving means more to me than just a day with a bird! It means family and love... and memories made! It means remembering what we have been gifted and thanking God for the gifts in our lives. And... it means GREAT food!
I am going to post individual recipes and reviews so that I can easily link them to the blog, but here is a recap of the menu:
Herb Roasted Turkey
Cornbread Dressing
Turkey Giblet Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Steamed Carrots
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Fresh Cranberry Sauce
Dinner Rolls (not homemade)
Pumpkin Mousse
P.S. I didn't get a ton of pictures... guess I need to tweak my schedule next year to include photography time! HAHA... but I did get a picture of the end result and I'll provide detailed instructions. Hope that works! LOL
Yum! But girl you need to use homemade dinner rolls. I have a yummy recipe on my blog.
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