Before and After...

Thank you, everyone, for all of your supportive words in my last post.  Today is Thanksgiving in the USA, and I want to say I'm so thankful for YOU... but honestly?  I'm not just thankful today, but every day... for your time when you read my blog, your interaction, your support and your sharing.

I have had a really good week this week.  So much to share.  But, as today is the Thanksgiving holiday, the one day a year that seemingly is all about gluttony, I wanted to share with you my family's superoverindulgences.  Is that a word?  Oh well, today it is.

First, let me share with you that The Hubs is a turkey-a-holic.  He LOVES his turkey.  Me?  I'm a bit more "meh" about turkey.  I think I get it from my dad.  BEFORE I met The Hubs, I actually detested turkey.  But AFTER I tasted one of his, I was won over.  Well, for the day anyway.  He makes a darn good bird.

The biggest challenge I have before Thanksgiving is finding a bird that is "big enough".  Most people go out to buy a turkey based on how many people are coming to dinner, doing some mathematical equation such as "X number of pounds times Y number of people equals a Z pound turkey" or some such nonsense.  At our house?  The equation is: "buy the biggest damn turkey you can find!"  This year was a small one, compared to some previous years:

But it was quite big enough for me. 

As I wasn't home while The Hubs was dressing the turkey, I couldn't snap a "BEFORE" shot of the ol' girl.  While he was preparing her for the oven, I was at my first Zumba class.  Yes, seriously, I was Zumba-ing on Thanksgiving morning with my gal pal CT.  It was fun!

However, I did get a beautiful picture of our bird AFTER it was done:

And here it is AFTER the cooking bag is removed, getting ready to be "unstuffed":

Lori, this photo is for you...

Now, to share with you our feast, but before I head to the food, here's the empty table BEFORE everything is laid out:

Notice anything?  Yes... that table has only four plates set on it.  No, there isn't a kiddie table anywhere... this turkey and feast will be served to four people.

Now let's carve the turkey... BEFORE The Hubs eats it all:

He's been nibbling at it by this point.  So much for "saving room"... he's already "tasted" so much!

AFTER he's done carving, I set the food on the table and call the kids.  Here is what it looked like BEFORE we started eating...

Holy feast, Batman!

Sadly, I was too busy stuffing my face to take any "during" shots, plus the kids would have had a fit, considering they had basically lounged about in bed watching movies all day ("I have to do my hair before you take a picture!").  I'll admit, though... we barely made a dent in it all. 

Yeah, I knew that would happen.

But the turkey looks like we gnawed her to the bone:

AFTER we took all the meat off the bone.  Two giant storage bags of leftover meat and
one full sized breast in the freezer for a later dinner, unless The Hubs pulls it out
to munch on it before I make said dinner.  He's such a turkey-a-holic!

No one was hungry for desserts, but I had a lovely apple pie and pumpkin pie ready.

Bummed my crust "fell in" on one side, but this was YUMMY!

I failed to get a photo of the apple pie after it was baked, but here's a BEFORE photo to prove I made one!

Dutch apple pie with a crumbly topping... more about this pie later...

Well, I hope you enjoyed seeing the absolute over-indulgence of our family on this lovely holiday.  We are all barely able to move here, although they have all gone back for desserts by the time I published this post. 

BEFORE I take off, though, again... thank YOU for all that you do.  I am so grateful to have you in my life.  Now go on... have a slice of pie!