Friday, November 28, 2008

On Thanksgiving, We Were Blessed

Thanksgiving proved a great experience for our aspiring homemaker. With lots of support, she triumphed in the kitchen and was thrilled by the whole experience. The meal was tasty and beautiful. We all wanted to kiss the cook. After the meal was over and the kitchen cleaned, she and I curled up together on the couch and fell asleep!

Her first task that morning was to make the stuffing. Then Emma donned plastic gloves to stuff the turkey.

By watching the Martha Stewart Thanksgiving video, Emma learned how to truss the turkey.

Grandma Haught showed Emma how to make a sling out of kitchen twine.

Armed and dangerous: Grandpa Haught wields a cue stick and a camera.

This cheesecloth was soaked in butter and white wine, then draped across the turkey. Emma basted the turkey every 30 minutes with the butter-wine mixture.

Vastly relieved that all the messy parts are over, Emma presents the turkey in the roaster.

Grandma Haught supervises as Emma pours on the sweet potato syrup.

The candied sweet potatoes are ready for the oven.

The homemade vanilla ice cream is ready to go into the deep freeze until time for dessert.

Emma completes the braiding for the pumpkin pie crust.

She brushed the completed braid with egg before baking.

Martha Stewart said to "decorate" the pecan pie with pecan halves, so Emma meticulously placed each one and seemed to derive enormous satisfaction from it. She finished the crust with a little bowtie. (Correction: Emma says it is not a bowtie; it is a "girly bow".)

Pleased as pumpkin. Emma removes the first pie from the oven.

Grandma Haught teaches Emma how to season mashed potatoes.

Voila! The cooked turkey smells and tastes fabulous. Emma was a little disappointed about the dark spots that were caused by contact with the electric roaster. She wants to cook the next one in the regular oven to avoid that.

Emma prepares the Brussels sprouts in lemon vinaigrette. They hopped around in the pan like popcorn popping. Luckily, they didn't leave the pan.

The grandparents visit while waiting to be called to the table.

Let's eat! Emma made a centerpiece out of a bowl filled with water, lemons, cranberries, and a candle.

1 comment:

Fotofule said...

Emma, your table was beautiful and your food looked fabulous! Wish I could be there to taste it, too! And grandma looks like she's old enough to be your mother, not grandmother. Jeepers, when is she going to age?! :)

Love and misses from B'ham