Thanksgiving Time

Thanksgiving time is usually my favorite season to be home for the holidays. My mother makes the best Thanksgiving dinner, complete with all the trimmings and traditional foods. There's the turkey she starts cooking at 6am, the homemade stuffing, the sparkling apple cider, the mashed potatoes and homemade gravy, homemade rolls, green bean casserole, 7 layer salad, cranberries (from the can of course. Cranberry sauce always has that fresh-out-of-a-can look on the nice platter), and sweet potatoes (not a fan but mom makes them for her). Then for dessert there is the classic Marie Calendar's pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and minced meat pie with mom's homemade whipped cream. Does life get any better than a bursting stomach of all this goodness, followed by a long siesta in front of the television??

Unfortunately, I didn't get mom's cooking for Christmas. Was I disappointed? Obviously yes. How can anything compare to the above mentioned fabulous meal? Instead, Ramon and I stayed in Austin and were invited to his sister's house for turkey day. She was nice enough to handle all the food on her own and added in a little spin of her own on the classic meal. There was turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, potato salad, fruit salad, pumpkin empanadas, and a variety of the classic pies. Though it wasn't mom's classic meal, it was fun to see a different kind of spin on the traditional meal. Along with nephews running around, family, and a few friends it was quite the feast. The only problem was there were no left overs. So I may have gone to the store to get my own supplies so I could have left over turkey sandwiches on rolls with stuffing and gravy. Yes, I do love food.

So the long awaited for turkey day is over. Now what to do for the rest of the weekend? I've never been into the black Friday shopping fiasco, but this year I made an exception to see what all the fuss was about. Ramon wasn't too thrilled about it, so I ended up going alone. Yes, I waited in line for 45 minutes in the dark and cold of the morning for a 5 dollar gift card to the bookstore. I then hit the crowds at the fabric store to buy material to re-upholster a fold out couch complete with pillows. That was enough for me so I headed home. Yes, I am a major black Friday shopper.

The rest of the weekend was spent making the aforementioned pillows and what nots while watching movies, and finishing up a painting I started months ago. It may not be the most exciting time off, but no one can say it wasn't productive.