Thanksgiving

notice the perfectly cooked bird in the foreground:)

The JAS wanted to do a traditional American Thanksgiving with a turkey and all the trimmings, so we had a Fiesta de Gracias Friday for our activity last week.  Steve ordered a turkey--the whole bird is not available in the grocery store until close to Christmas--so we planned a week in advance and ordered one from the butcher/carneceria.  We weren't sure how it would come to us, with the head/feathers/etc. all still on, or if it would be cleaned and ready to go.  So, we were very happy to pick it up, cleaned, no head, in a plastic bag on Thursday.  I got it out of the fridge Friday morning to start the prep and reached inside--like I always do to get the magic bag of "parts" out before I wash it--and pulled out. . . the HEAD!!! I screamed and freaked when I saw its little eyes and beak, but then started to laugh and chalked it up to one more adventure in cooking here.  The neck was still attached, so Steve cut that off for me and I had a little more feather cleanup, but all in all, the bird was perfect and tasted delicious!  We made mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, yams with marshmallows, and green salad, with walnut cookie bars---couldn't find pecans--for dessert.  We had a great time eating and visiting, then eating some more.  The best part was talking about our blessings and what we were grateful for. . .mostly friends, family, the Gospel, and most of all each other!  Another memorable night together.

thankful for all of our blessings!