Thanksgiving Scenes

TURKEY REPORT: We hope everyone in the U.S. had a pleasant Thanksgiving break. Ours wasn't the greatest, unfortunately.  CJ and Annabelle were both pretty sick with a nasty cold. It made us change our plans and stay home on Thursday (and for most of the weekend, for that matter).

However, that didn't stop us from sending our gelatinous blob (see previous post) out into the world. We delivered it to Kennedy, who took it to a family gathering up north. I asked him to send photos, and that he did. Below, he readies to plop it onto a plate.

 And there it was in all of is unmolded 'glory.'

 A top shot. Yes, those *are* hard boiled egg whites. 

Ken was kind enough to even send some short videos to us. Let's just say the mold was met with shock and awe and revulsion. They laughed so hard they cried. And choked. #MissionAccomplished.

We also sent along a much more benign little mold - a can of pineapple rings encased in green gelatin.

Compared to the other monstrosity, it was actually kind of pretty.

On Saturday, we had a couple of friends over for a Friendsgiving. (Poor coughing CJ was confined to his room for the 'party'.)  

We didn't make another big blob, but we did decide to do another pineapple 'treat.' I love the look on Annabelle's face as she's trying to coax it out of the can.

 Easy does it ... 

 And, voila! Look at those glistening gelatinous gems! So festive! ;)

Speaking of festive, I went ahead with a Star Wars-inspired table setting, because nothing says Thanksgiving like Star Wars (ha ha).

Our friends were bringing a smoked turkey and pastrami, so we cooked up a bunch of side dishes. They included butternut squash souffle, wild rice and shiitake mushroom stuffing, deconstructed green bean salad, mashed potatoes and gravy (of course) and rustic rosemary scones.

For dessert, it was harvest ale cupcakes, German chocolate cheesecake and some gingerbread people. 

Annabelle and I had fun decorating those. There was the requisite Seahawks football player, plus a girl in a poodle skirt. One of the cookies had a bunged up leg, so Annabelle cut it off and made the cookie look like it was part eaten. Very cute. 

 I wasn't sure what to do, but within a couple of minutes, I found myself making a Freddie Mercury. And then another Freddie. And another, and another. ... 

 After five Freddies, I ran out of cookies. I could have gone on and on!

(The Freddies were a hit with the Official International Queen Fan Club, by the way. I posted the photo there and it had over four hundred likes in a few hours.)

Food wasn't the only thing we did over the weekend. The weather was pretty decent, so I encouraged everyone to get outside and get some fresh air for a bit.

I also encouraged them to gather up dead stuff from the driveway strip.

The photo below made me chuckle. The way they're standing, the kids kind of look like those goats you can rent to help clean up your property. :)

I'm impressed that we're in December, and there are still a few blossoms in the yard, including this bright yellow beauty.