Thanksgiving Weekend Photo Diary [2016]
I hope that you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday! Did you eat tons of fantastic food? Tell me about all of yourย best eats! We had another wonderful holiday at our home with lots of family, food and laughs (and I carved a turkey for the very first time! ??).
We spent the rest of the weekend putting up our Christmas decorations and rocking out to Christmas music. I have lot of pictures for you! :)
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Ready to get these holidays started! ?
Where did you get the chair with Josephโs name on it?
Hi Danielle, My mom got that for him last Christmasโฆ Iโll ask her and get back to you!
We had Sauerbraten instead of turkey. Itโs a traditional German pot roast recipe, marinated in a vinegar concoction for FIVE days before serving. Even my tween boys loved it!
Such adorable pictures! Joseph and Dominic look fantastic and so cute! Your turkey looked delish!
Hi Michelle, thanks so much for all the wonderful pictures of your Thanksgiving. ย Joseph looks so handsome in his big-boy pants, shoes and belt! ย And Dominic gets cuter every time I see him. ย Of course, I donโt know what your hubby looks like, but I think both boys take after you! ย My only question has to do with the deep fried turkey. ย How do you make gravy? ย Do you just use the neck and giblets? ย Iโve been wondering about this. ย Thanks again, and I look forward to your Christmas season photos!
Hi Pam! I either make the gravy ahead of time with a basic roux (this year I used duck fat instead of butter and roasted chicken stock instead of regular broth), or I sautรฉ the neck and make it while the turkey is frying.
I need help from an expert. I had some pumpkin bread at a restaurant in Detroit called Traffic and Snug. They refuse to part with the recipe. It wasnโt sweet โ they served it while you waited for your meal. I am betting your white bread recipe would be perfect for it but I donโt know how to add something like pumpkin to a bread recipe without messing it up. Any ideas? Thanks!
Great pictures, ย your boys are adorable. I made your traditional bread stuffing for the second time and love, love, love it! Itโs so close to the recipe my mom used for years. I never wrote down her recipe and unfortunately she canโt recall it for me now. ย I thank you for bringing it back to me in your version. I doubled it this year to avoid the fighting over it from last year.
Hi Michelle,
I love the pictures! You are definitely in for a treat with your two boys, my two boys are 22months apart and are now 11 and 9 but they have been the best of friends growing up, they are so close and its wonderful that they will always have their best friend so close! Hoping you can help me with a random questionโฆ I just redid my kitchen and have an amazing new range! The only problem is that this range has a convection oven, Iโm scared to death to start cooking in it, I feel like I will be burning everything I touch! Do you know of any kind of conversion chart that I can use to make the transition easier?
Hi Jessica, I have a little info about convection ovens on my FAQ page. Here is the blurb:
The general rule of thumb for converting a recipe from a conventional oven to a convection oven is to either use the same temperature and bake for 75% of the stated time (i.e. if a recipe says to bake for 20 minutes, bake for only 15 if using a convection oven), or you can reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees F and bake for the same time or use a combination of reduced time and temperature. You can check out this Convection Oven Temperature Conversion Calculator as a starting point. Also, open the oven door as little as possible during baking.
I have the same turkey fryer and find the recommended 7 min per pound is way too long to cook it. How many minutes per pound do you cook your turkey? I read 3-4 minutes on the internet. Do you inject your turkey with anything? Want to do a turkey do-over sometime before Christmas. Thank you!
Hi Amy, Oh thatโs weird, our instruction booklet actually says 3-4 minutes per pound. Thatโs never been long enough, though. It ends up being about 4.5 to 5 minutes per pound. We donโt inject the turkey with anything; Iโve brined it some years, but after not doing so this year, everyone agreed that it absolutely doesnโt need it.
Beautiful pictures, Michelle! And they totally convey the atmosphere of love and joy that you obviously have in your housefhold. The picture of you holding both boys, where Joseph and you are looking so lovingly at each otherโฆ aahhh! Touches my heart. From the pics of the other family members, I could tell that people feel very comfortable around each other โ so much peace coming from these pictures. Iโm glad you had a nice time, and are now in full swing for the Christmas holiday. (The Germans celebrate the whole month of Advent, beginning with the Advent wreath last Sunday โ one canlde is lit per week โ lots of Christmas cookies, Glรผhwein [a hot, red wine/tea/orange/cinnamon/spice drink that tastes best in a mug OUTSIDE on a cold day while visiting one of the many outdoor Christmas markets]. Iโve been in Germany a long time now, and really appreciate how they celebrate this whole Christmas season. Then again, they kinda have to make up for not getting the awesome Thanksgiving holiday that we have, right?! ;-) )
P.S. Congratulations on the great blog make-over! (Although it didnโt need it. :-) )
Great photos! Trust me when I tell you that someday you will look back at these pictures and say, โThose were the best days /years of ย my lifeโ. ย Question: I want to try the deep fried turkey for Christmas.. โฆ.what brand of turkey fryer do you have and what kind/how much oil do you use to deep fry it? How long does it take to cook a 12 lb. bird that way? It looked delicious. Thanks.
I so believe you when you say that! I have the Butterball XL Indoor Turkey Fryer (http://amzn.to/2gE5r86). It uses a little under 3 gallons of oil. Weโve never cooked a turkey that small โ we usually have a 20+ lb turkey. This year it was 20 pounds right on the nose and it took about 90 minutes. The instruction booklet says 3-4 minutes per pound, but we always have to add time to that when we check with the thermometer โ itโs usually more like 4.5 to 5 minutes per lb. I hope that helps!
Good food and cute babies and dogsโฆ What else do you need?! Happy holidays! :)
Beautiful pictures! It looks like your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving. The close up of Dominic, reminds me of his big brother. You have some handsome boys! Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful pictures thanks for sharing.
Hi Michelle!
Great pictures!
I have a question about chestnuts. I love to put them in my stuffing, this year my sister made my stuffing but omitted the chestnuts. Iโm never sure how long to leave them in the oven. Is there rule of thumb. One year I undercooked the chestnuts, that was not a good thing. Another year I totally overcooked them, luckily our vegetable store was open and I was able to get more on Thanksgiving. I donโt like the โhit-or-missโ method. Thank you.
Hi Allison, My family has been roasting chestnuts on Thanksgiving night for as long as I can remember. Use a paring knife to score an โxโ on the rounded side of the chestnuts, then put them cut-side-up on a rimmed baking sheet and roast at 425 F until the skin is curling away from the โxโ (you can see that mine are doing that in the picture) โ usually 20 to 30 minutes. I hope that helps!
Love your pictures! The weekend always goes by too quick. We had lots of family time and way too much to eat. I am old school โ love my broccolli/velveeta/ritz casserole ? I have same question about indoor fryer. Do you love it? My family uses outdoor one and it seems like so much work!
Hi Diane, We do love it! Itโs really easy to use and the cleanup isnโt all that difficult. This is the one we have: http://amzn.to/2gE5r86.
Adorable, adorble family! Thanks so much for sharing, Michelle. And you look GREAT!! :o)
Aw, thank you Kathy!
great pictures โ how do you like the indoor turkey fryer? I used to have an outdoor one, but where we live now canโt use it
Hi Nancy, We love the indoor turkey fryer! (this is the one we have โ http://amzn.to/2gE5r86) Weโve used it for probably five years now โ the turkey is always a hit!
These are such wonderful pictures! It looks like everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I love how you set your table, the white tablecloth was perfect to set off the festive colors of the pumpkins and dishes. The little guys are so cute, Joseph is doing a good job with his little brother, he looks very handsome in his Thanksgiving outfit! My only complaint about this long weekend is that it is now over and it is back to workโฆoh well, Christmas is right around the corner and there is certainly lots to do between now and then. Have the kids been to see Santa yet? That is going to be a lot of fun for them!!! Happy Monday!
They havenโt seen Santa yet; weโll get there at some point! :)
I just love this photo diary Michelle.
Looks like you really had a wonderful holiday and big thumbs upโฆyour turkey looks to die for :-) as well as the rest of the food.
Joseph is just so adoable, he is an awesome big brother and just by those pictures, you can certainly tells he loves his little brother so much!
I can definitely see you are in full swing with the festive season in your home. Christmas is my favourite holiday too