The Fennels: Thanksgiving Food Coma

A food coma!!

That's why I've been away so long!

................. not really.

But really. Its been forever. The last time I posted a blog was on November 17th! Almost a month!! Tis the season to be super duper busy. I feel like it was just Thanksgiving-- but here we are-- almost 10 days away from Christmas Eve! Can you believe it? I sure can't.

Now I know you're thinking, "How was hosting Thanksgiving for the first time?"

In a nutshell: Wonderful. It was so incredibly nice to have all the Smith side together for Thanksgiving in our house. The food was great. The company was great. And we were even able to celebrate my dad's belated birthday and my mom's birthday a week early. To top it off, Matt's parents came up the next day to visit and eat some yummy leftovers. So like I said, it was wonderful. Perfect. Everything I could have imagined.

That's in a nutshell.........

If you want the reaaaaal story -- the literal truth --- there were a few mishaps.

To keep the story short I put my dilemmas in bullet points: (I have two other posts to write tonight people!)

I melted a plastic lid in the oven. Yikes. Its like I was an amateur or something.
Including the one time I went with him-- I sent Matt to the Piggly Wiggly four times on the day before.
Most of the fresh food we bought the Saturday before was rotted by Wednesday, so we had to go shopping again -- hence going to Piggly Wiggly four times.
And for the first time ever, I experienced the uneasiness feeling of when the turkey is done cooking. AKA how every guest/visitor unconsciously makes their way towards the kitchen the second they see the turkey out of the oven. You guys. It has to rest for thirty minutes. Calm down. Get out of the kitchen. And more importantly, get the hell out of my way. Oh, and Happy Holidays!

Needless to say, I was a little tired and a little WIRED by 12:30pm. I needed my space to finish my five billion dishes and I felt just a little crowded. That's when I lost my cool. And by that, I mean, I yelled:

GET OUT!

My mom then said, "Jaclyn, calm down. Its the holidays. Be sweet."

I sipped my wine, thanked God for anxiety medicine, and continued to proceed.

My hardest day was actually the day before. Luckily, I woke up on time on Thanksgiving morning (at 5am), put the turkey in the oven on time, and managed to not burn the house down or seriously poison anyone by dinner.

Thank Heavens for my sister and Matt who know how to carve a turkey -- because I totally didn't think about that.

Following dinner, we lit some birthday candles, sang Happy Birthday, and ate my parents' store bought birthday cake................................ I never said I was a baker, ya'll.

Enjoy the pictures:

Appetizers

Dinner

Carving the bird!

Eating Dinner

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM AND DAD!

Present time!

Along with the store bought carrot cake, we had three other pies to eat. It was food overload. And it was all so good and so yummy. I loved spending time with my family and it was absolutely amazing to host them all for once.

So now, I bet you're thinking, "What about Ernie and Lulu? What did they eat?"

Who am I kidding? You're totally not thinking that. But since the topic has already been brought up...........

FRESH SELECT CAT FOOD!!

AKA

Expensive Cat Food.

Their website says:

"Who knows how long that can of cat food’s been sitting on the store shelf? Who knows if the expiration date is even correct? If these are the things worrying you whenever you go pet food shopping, then maybe it’s time to make a switch to something different, something fresher, something like Freshpet Vital™ Complete Meals Fresh Cat Food. This food is grain-free and fresh, filled with high-quality proteins like real chicken and antioxidants sourced from carrots and spinach."

They loved Thanksgiving, too.

After my family left, I crashed on the couch by 7pm. I was so exhausted. Which it really worked out to be PERFECT because I woke up around 11pm -- which was just in time for............

BLACK FRIDAY!!!!!!

(That is totally me in the video. I love Black Friday more than Thanksgiving).

Yeah, I said it!

ITS CHRISTMAS TIME, YA'LL!!!!!

PS: Now that we've successfully made a really good, really moist turkey -- Matt and I will be taking on a baked ham with holiday glaze! Yum!!

I already found the recipe and it will be made next week. Mmmmmmmm

My mouth is watering already.

PSS: I could have NEVER done this without my darling husband. He was my number one cheerleader and chef's assistant, the best food taster and giblet remover, and the only one in the room that could truly calm me down and keep me on track. Thank you, darling.

From this: