thanksgiving 08

this year i hosted thanksgiving at my house. t'was super fun. mostly, because i had thought about how i would host a thanksgiving at my house, since the time i purchased it. so this is how it went...

first i had to determine where i was going to fit my 32 guests (the majority were from the tillemann-dick clan). thanks to the genius of mike and tomicah...we figured it out.

there were many drafts of this
on included the largest table you have ever seen
made by putting 4 huge tables from the church together
parallel making a square

this was the configuration that won in the end

with that done and the house cleaned, the morning was supposed to be an annual turkey trot
(usually i do the 5 miler, but i knew i couldn't manage that. this time it was a 5K)
but it was cold, and i was tired
so the morning was just for sleeping in
liz came over and we got the turkey ready to start roasting
i think i might have figured out how to make a good turkey:
BRINE.

cleaning the bird out.
she weighed 24.5 lbs.

basting the brined turkey with butter

remembering how i do this

loving this cookbook
apparently

liz and i got the bird in the oven and then had our very own turkey trot
where we focused on running with proper technique
(no heel strike -- mid-foot landing; leaning forward; etc.)

from about here on out i was only the hostess. so i didn't get all that many photos
i missed lots of photos of people, but i know you were there
i am hoping someone can send me more photos... this is what i have.

then the food started coming...

the breads
thanks shilo!
he made all this bread...

SOME of the sides

charity with SOME of the pies

some of the drinks

2 turkeys

the bird...tomicah was the master-carver

then guests started to arrive

mashed potatoes

jana making gravy

the salmon

some of the dinner

scott's plate

the feast begins!!!

thankfully, with all those people helping to eat, they were all willing to also clean-up.
it was great! we all got to relax and have a good time!

maya was particularly excited about this prospect.

leftovers

the happy throng!

i want to post some of the recipes. so, all of you who brought food, would you be willing to send me your recipes? please??