143.8…Thanksgiving Whirlwind

OMG. The last several days have been a complete whirlwind. Our Thanksgiving holiday was jam packed and such a fabulous time!

Last Tuesday night we met some friends for dinner at Cafe Luna. My husband and I split the Caprese salad.

I ordered the Chicken Piccata.

It wasn’t as good as my beloved Firenze but it was pretty tasty! 

Wednesday morning’s breakfast was Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal and half a grapefruit.

I took the kids to school then started the prep work for the 29 people I was having over for Thanksgiving on Friday. Yes…I said Friday. Every other year we host on Friday instead of Thursday to allow family to spend time with their in-laws on alternating years.

The kids had half day so I picked them up and took them to McDonald’s for lunch. I had my usual grilled chicken McWrap and a side salad.

Dinner that night was the rest of the Enchilada Lasagna.

Didn’t look to great after being microwaved but it still tasted great! I served it with a green salad.

Thanksgiving morning I woke up early to do more prep work. Breakfast was scrambled egg beaters with salsa, turkey and cheddar cheese.

Around noon we all hopped in the car and headed to Los Angeles to have Thanksgiving dinner at my brother’s house.

My daughter took this picture and, for some reason, I felt the need to  lean way down so we’d be in the picture. :)

Dinner was INCREDIBLE. My brother’s wife, Stephanie, made everything from scratch.

I brought Pumpkin Cake for dessert (recipe to come).

With full bellies, we drove back to San Diego. When I got home I put the turkeys (Two!) in their brine and went to bed.

Friday morning I was up early again to start baking pies (four of them).

Everything was ready to go!

I set out a bunch of appetizers and little by little, all 29 guests started arriving.

I cooked ALL DAY. I made way too many thing and had NO down time. Everything turned out great but I’m going to scale back next year for my sanity.

I think I had lost said sanity at this point.

Dinner was finally ready!

Good Eats Roast Turkey (recipe to come):

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes (recipe to come):

Cognac Gravy (recipe to come):

Stephanie’s Homemade Stuffing:

Gulliver’s Creamed Corn:

The Ultimate Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Fried Shallots (recipe to come):

Creamy Macaroni & Cheese:

Peas:

The rolls escaped the camera. They were made from frozen dough. No recipe there. :) I did make a Cranberry Chutney which I think is pretty good. I’m not a fan of cranberry sauce so I don’t usually eat it but this one is good.

I had some of everything. Delicious!

Dessert was insane.

Cheesecake (recipe to come), homemade ice cream & whipped cream and four pies.

Two “Grandma Ople’s Apple Pies”. 

Blackberry Pie:

Pumpkin Pie:

I’m not a big pie fan but I tried a bit of everything.

After weeks of prep, Thanksgiving was over. Just like that. I have to say that I did give all my leftovers away. I couldn’t bear to look at them ever again.

Saturday morning’s breakfast was an onion bagel with chive cream cheese.

Then it was back to Los Angeles to attend the USC vs. UCLA football game. We stopped in Orange County at Maggiano’s for lunch.

We all split the Caprese salad:

And a Caesar salad:

I ordered the Chicken Piccata. Yes, I’m obsessed.

It wasn’t that good. Boo. 

The football game wasn’t that good either. We lost. BOO!

We did stop at Chano’s for dinner though. That was good. It’s a little Mexican shack by campus and I’d eat there all the time in college. I had a beef taco and split a bean and cheese burrito with my husband. I shared some of his chili cheese fries too. :)

Then it was the long drive back to San Diego.

Breakfast yesterday morning was another half a bagel.

Football weekend continued when we went to Chargers game!

Unfortunately another loss! Definitely not our weekend in football.

Last night was our club’s Holiday Party. I changed out of my Chargers gear into my cocktail attire!

Dinner was served buffet style. Usually this event has amazing food by it just didn’t cut in this year. Another loss. :(

Everything was really bland.

This morning was definitely difficult to get up and going after our crazy weekend. Breakfast was scrambled egg beaters with the usual add-ins.

I took the kids to school then went to Cardio Muscle class.  I went to the grocery store, then cleaned up around the house.

Lunch was a turkey sandwich, veggies and ranch dressing.

Whew! That was a lot of catching up! Tonight is Hot Wing night! Let the food craziness continue!

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