The After-Thanksgiving Love

What a great Thanksgiving! The family does a potluck Thanksgiving and everyone has their standard offerings.

I made green beans. And not the green bean casserole with the onion pieces. I bought fresh green beans, washed  mand snapped them.  Cook a couple of slices of bacon in a frying pan. When the bacon is done, remove most of the oil. Then carefully add enough water for about 1 inch in depth. Add the green beans, cover, and cook on medium high until the beans are to your satisfaction. Sometimes I like them barely cooked, and then sometimes I like them very cooked. Remove the beans and eat them all!

Fruit salad is my other responsibility. Use a can of fruit cocktail, or a can of tropical fruit cocktail. Then add whatever else you want. I try to keep canned fruit to a minimum and focus on fresh fruit, which is sometimes hard in the winter. This year I added apples, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, green grapes, and red grapes. Gently mix them and add whip cream. You can also add miniature marshmellows or walnuts if you want. Sometimes I sprinkle in a little of the unprepared pistachio pudding mix. That adds a very light green color and a slight pistachio flavor.

K roasts and smokes the turkey. He has this down to a science and we fight over the roasted skin when it is first brought to the table. G makes twice-baked potatoes that scream “eat me!”  S makes the best pies and this year was no exception. W bakes sweet potatoes with marshmellows. There is always stuffing, rolls, olives, cranberry, and eggnog (which I don’t like, so barely mention it),

Here are some of the highlights in pictures.

This sets the tone for the fun times. It was indeed fun trying to explain the signs to the Japanese guests.

Megumi and Kanna make crane napkins.

Let's get started; pass that food around!

Pass the fruit salad please!

One funny moment was Daughter trying to explain her uncle’s nickname of Pigman. This video was posted on a Facebook page, so don’t know if everyone can see it.
Explaining nickname

And I wish I would have taken pictures of the turkey in all its glory and the desserts. Twas just so busy doing other things, I kind of forgot.

The girls all went Black Friday shopping at midnight. They got home around 4 a.m. to grab a little sleep. And they headed out again around 1 in the afternoon. I was just reading and being extremely thankful for family, company, and the chance to relax and read!!