Thanksgiving

I don't think any single event has exhausted me this much in my life. Except our wedding.

Even starting on Tuesday, I wore myself out. I don't remember being this tired last year, and I did just as much work and most of it day-of. Mysterious! I guess I will have to blame the fact that I am pregnant. Shelby certainly saved the day mid-dish washing by giving me a back rub.

Dinner was excellent. Every guest was a new one; none of last year's guests were here this year. I missed absent folks, but the seven guests we had were just perfect. Chris & Elise, Shelby & Briana, Patrick, Rich, and Dan (who we'd never met before, which only gave me a couple of hives).

The belle of the ball was my macaroni and cheese, which I made from Martha's recipe, slightly modified (I replaced part of the cheddar with Monterey Jack because the cheddar I bought was extremely sharp and I wanted to cut the flavor a little, and I used a combination of store-bought breadcrumbs and homemade croutons on top). I am so pleased to have had another vegetarian to feed, because otherwise I might not have made the "macamoni" and that would be a tragedy. Everyone loved it and Will and I have been eating the leftovers all day.

The pumpkin soup also came out very nicely. I'll be adding notes on the recipe to the post below.

Despite a minor disaster first thing in the morning when we discovered that our fresh Willy Bird was partially frozen inside, the turkey came out good (I hear) and the dressing was all eaten and the gravy was apparently very good (I added bourbon).

Shockingly, no one really touched the brussel sprouts. OK, I'm not shocked at all, but slightly ashamed. They are delicious!

The salad did, however, make Elise cry with joy.

Desserts were a big hit, to no one's surprise.

We are in talks to make more macamoni for tomorrow's dinner guests. Is that wrong? Oh, don't tell me. I don't want to know.