Thanksgiving 2023

We had the BEST time at Morgan and Olly's. We arrived on Tuesday afternoon. Morgan and Olly took us to a fancy Mexican restaurant--Ancho and Agave. I'll be dreaming about that place. We love Mexican food, but usually we go to the "hole in the wall" places. This one was really nice. The food was so good! Butch and I shared a beef burrito---I cannot describe how humongous this thing was. When we said that we were going to share it, they divided it for us. We each got a taco too---which due to the size of the burrito we didn't really need. But I'm glad we did. I got a grilled Shrimp taco that had a mango salsa on it. So, so good! Also we got some sort of side that were sweet corn tamale cakes--delish. M&O got them for the table. I've never seen those on a menu. They weren't just regular tamales. Also delicious. I could have made a meal on just those. I had a glass of homemade sangria (a little too tart for me) while the guys got some specialty margaritas. We'll definitely be going back!!

Okay, so that was the start. When we got home, we just talked for awhile. Butch and Olly ended up going to bed while Morgan and I were waiting up for Stephanie and Nicky. I loved having those few hours with just the two of us. We talked about everything!! 

On Wednesday, we did all of the prep work for our Thanksgiving dinner. I told the girls it would take about an hour. Everyone was making fun of me about how I always underestimate how long things take. I stand by one hour!! 

Here's all we did:

Morgan started her soup for dinner

peeled the potatoes for mashed

green bean casserole

corn casserole

carrot casserole

cranberries

tore the bread for the dressing

boiled the eggs

That left Morgan's sweet potato casserole, deviled eggs and the dressing for me to do in the a.m.n Olly smoked the turkey, so he got up early and started that. We had Sister Shubert Rolls too. 

With 3 of us doing the prep work, it was probably an hour and fifteen minutes. It ran over because when you are cooking in someone else's kitchen, you spend a lot of time looking for things. We clean up as we go, so that was included in the time. 

The guys went out and did some brewery thing where they went to three different places while having a beer and watching sports. 

We girls went to Michaels. They were having their Black Friday sales early--more on that on What I Buy Wednesday. They had all of their Christmas things 50% off and boy, did they have some nice stuff!!

That night, we played poker--which we hadn't done in quite awhile. There are just too. many when we are all together. 

Here was my very first hand:

This is a pretty amazing hand at any time, but with 6 people playing---5 card draw--it's nearly impossible. 

But then, a little later:

Morgan drew this hand!! Unbelievable. 2--4 of a kind in one game. Morgan was a big winner. As for me, I held my own---up, down---and wound up losing $2.00.

We took a break for dinner. Morgan made a delicious soup--Creamy Cheesy Chicken Broccoli.

On to Thanksgiving:

We always start the day with Bloody Mary's and the Macy's Day Parade. This is the cheeseball I made. I wanted to surprise Morgan with it since she's quite the entertainer. It was so easy to do. Just make your choice of cheeseball, roll in shredded cheddar and wrap in Saran Wrap. Use rubber bands to make the grooves. Add the top of a green pepper for the stem.

A perfectly cooked turkey--so moist. 

The table was so pretty. The gold chargers are from her wedding. In fact, she gave me quite a few. Really, they are perfect for any time of year.

And of course, the pictures.

Considering we were "up north," its was a pretty nice day.

I love Butch's once a year turkey shirt. He says he thinks I bought it, but I have no recollection of that. Not unusual these days. 

Morgan, Olly and "the boys!" Walter on the left, Joey on the right and Finn is on Morgan's arm. I think this would make the best Christmas card. Actually, I'm pretty sure they will use one of their wedding pictures--as they should!!

We cleaned up, napped, played Sequence while the guys watched football, and had leftovers for dinner followed by blueberry cobbler with ice cream. We all had such a nice time and so many laughs. That's sort of non-stop when we're together. 

We're all looking forward to Christmas which will be here before we know it. 

We left around 7:20 on Friday morning so that Stephanie and Nicky can have some one-on-one time with them. Turns out, that's a great day to travel over Thanksgiving. There was hardly any traffic. It only took us 6 1/2 hours including one stop. It went by pretty fast to me as I did some organizing on my computer, played a game on my phone and read my book. OMGosh! It's a good one! You'll have to wait until I give you my book review at the end of the month. Plus, I want to finish it first. Right now it's really good. I hope it stays that way!

Tomorrow, I'll share some pictures of M & O's house.