Eat Dessert First

Now as you notice, my blog is titled "Eat Dessert First," and Thanksgiving epitomizes this in our family. Several years ago, I read in a magazine about a family that has pie for breakfast on Thanksgiving Day. I implemented the tradition, and I wouldn't dare ever change it now, nor would I want to. It just makes so much sense. Thanksgiving dinner alone is enough calories for an entire day. Who needs the extra calories from breakfast? And if you are anything like me, I've never really enjoyed my pie after dinner anyway. I am always way way too full. Some people probably think -- all that sugar for breakfast? But as far as I can tell, it's no different than donuts and hot chocolate or pancakes smothered in syrup. We have been "eating dessert first" for several years now, and it is wonderful. The children look forward to pie for breakfast almost as much as I do :-)!!!! We actually even have pie for breakfast for two or three days in a row depending upon how long they last. Tonight, I was helping Joelle pray before bed. I say a phrase and she repeats the phrase. So I said,"We are thankful that today was Thanksgiving," and she repeated, "We are thankful that pie is for Thanksgiving........." Enough said :-). We had nine pies-- two pumpkin (for tradition's sake), two sour cream apple (Kamri's favorite), two pecan (with pecans all the way through it-- not pecans floating on top of a bunch of sugary goop), and three of our family favorite, chocolate macadamia nut. Yummy!!! I can't wait for breakfast tomorrow.

It was difficult to cook a huge Thanksgiving meal in our little kitchen. Boy do we miss three sinks, two dishwashers, two huge ovens and lots of counter space, but Rob managed to put together a delicious feast. Every year I (Mardi) complain about Thanksgiving dinner. Who wants to eat boring old turkey and stuffing when there are so many fabulous foods on this earth? Since we weren't having dinner with any other family members who might be disappointed not to have the old traditional stuff, Rob humored me and "kicked it up a notch" by googling (when did "googling actually become a word, anyway?) some wonderful new recipes. We still had turkey, but it was breaded Emeril style after being soaked in buttermilk and then fried in peanut oil. Yum!! We had mashed potatoes, but they were roasted garlic mashed potatoes. We had sweet potatoes, but it was a sweet potato souffle with coconut. We had cranberries, but it was a delicious cranberry salad with fresh cranberries, cream, sour cream, marshmallows, pineapple and toasted pecans. We also had stuffing, but it was sausage stuffing with crasins and apples. It was all very delicious, and I was very happy not to have the same old boring stuff. We even broke down and Rob made turkey carcass soup (which we usually refuse to do cause the carcass is gross), but it was turkey minestrone with parmesan reggiano cheese on top. We had that for dinner last night.

Rob is the main chef for big meals like Thanksgiving. He is a great cook. I think he should be the star of a new Food Network show called the "Singing Chef." We have a nice little arrangement (at least I think it is nice). He cooks, and I watch children and wash dishes. He does a few dishes, and I make a few things, but overall, he is the chief chef, and I am the chief bottle-washer. It's a fair trade, I think.

We had a nice day together--we even played outside together in our beautiful 74 degree weather. The little girls have colds, but that didn't stop them from playing. Well, we've entered the season so here goes my seasonal greeting to everyone.

Boo, Gobble Gobble, HO HO HO, Happy New Year!!!!!