Thanksgiving. Some remember it for a time to be with family and celebrate life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Others about Pilgrims, Native Americans, and the harvest. Still others choose to celebrate the Holiday strictly for the eating of delicious foods that make you pass out while watching football. Whatever reason, a day for thanks.
This year's Thanksgiving was unlike any other. For starters, it was the first time Christine and I made our attempt at cooking a turkey. For seconds, Justin and Jennifer Little also graced us with their presence for the Great American Holiday. Just look at them. Who wouldn't want to let them live with you in a small apartment for 5 days? Well, I guess we did anyway. Little (no pun intended!!!!) did we know, that this would come back to haunt us....
What can now be considered "par for the course," the Little's arrived at our apartment after hours (for those of you who don't remember their visit last year, see this post). Once again, I tried to stay up for them, but it wasn't happening and I fell asleep on the couch. But, they arrived without a hitch, and pretty much went straight to bed. The day before Thanksgiving was surprisingly an easy day. Christine had to work (bor-ing!), so JJ and I went to the store for some preparations and hung out in the City. It was fun. It was kind of rainy, but, you know, "fun." A mostly uneventful day, we made our way to the main event...
The morning was brisk. As the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, Jenny and Justin were up and heading down to watch the infamous Thanksgiving Day Parade. Personally, Christine and I were more than content with watching it on TV...with our pajamas on...in the warmth...with a cup of coffee...and with personal space. Anyways, we had a grand task to take on of our own: The Cooking of the Great Bird.
I'll go ahead and say it. I didn't know what I was doing. I don't think Christine really did either. But hey, we can cook, so how hard could it be? Duh duh duhhhhnnnn!
The first step is to scoop the innards out of the turkey. This is gross/not gross depending on how you look at it. It really wasn't that bad, if you ask me. The biggest problem was that I had hardly any help on the matter because Christine was "totally grossed out, Eric!!!!" Good thing I'm a man and can handle literally anything. So we de-gut the bird and put it in the oven, leave it for 6+ hours, taking it out every once in a while to make sure it's "moist." Repeat until ready. This is about the time that Jenny and Justin returned from the parade. I sadly gave up my cooking duties and went out and unfortunately had to watch football and eat hors d'oeuvres with Justin. Justin and I also had "grocery store duty," which means we made no fewer than 8 emergency trips to the store in order to save Thanksgiving.
Benjamin Franklin Wietmarschen and Jenny-Beth Thomas were kind enough to join us, looking dapper as ever. Cute as a button, those two are.
After some delectable finger food that Christine made perfectly, it was onto football time for the dudes. It's not a big deal or anything, but I dominated Justin and Ben. DOM-inated. But, after about an hour, we made our way back to the apartment to help with the Holiday preparations.
Then something happened. Something that will forever stay in our minds for the rest of Thanksgivings to come.
"Christine, I don't know what the deal is, but every time I pull the turkey out of the oven, it seems to be dripping all over the place. Am I that uncoordinated?"
*rolls eyes* "Just put the turkey in the oven."
"But this smoke - what's going on...oh my GOSH!!!!!! there's a leak in the turkey pan! Call the fire department, this one's out of control!"
Yes folks, you read correctly. We were almost smoked out of our small apartment with this mishap. To make things better, the food wasn't done, so we had to sit in the apartment while the smoke just pumped out of the oven. But, to look on the brightside, us men were called into the kitchen to save the day ONCE AGAIN. We looked cuter than ever in our aprons. Our Man-prons, if you will. And, we saved the turkey.
The food was great. The smoke may have caused us eye and lung problems, but the food was fantastic. Take a look at some of the pictures and try not to salivate.
What a fun Thanksgiving! Although we missed the family dearly and wished we could have home with everyone, it was still nice to feel a little like home with such great friends to visit. And it was sad to see Thanksgiving end, but you know what season starts as soon as Thanksgiving ends...........CHRISTMAS!!!! We'll see you all soon!
