Thankful

Ryan and I had a pretty good Thanksgiving. Even though it was just the two of us, I still cooked the standard Thanksgiving dinner. Our menu was:
Starter:
Cheeseball with crackers

Main Course:
Cider Apple Glazed Turkey

Sides:
Mashed Potatoes and gravy
Green rice
Glazed carrots
Stuffing
Rolls

Dessert:
Fall Harvest bars
Pumpkin roll
Grape cream

This is my 3rd time cooking a turkey with a full Thanksgiving meal so it doesn't make me that nervous anymore. Ryan has been watching some cooking shows on TV lately so we watched some of the holiday ones to get some ideas. After watching Sandra Lee on the Food Network I decided to do a brine for the first time. I chose her Apple Cider Brine and it was really good. The turkey was very moist and the flavor was great. It was not too overpowering with apple cider flavor either. We let the turkey soak in the brine overnight for about 12 hours and then cooked it around 2.5 hours for a 12 lb turkey. YUM!!! I can't wait to have some leftovers too!
Before


After


Thanksgiving is such a great holiday. I love that the basis is spending time w/ family, friends, and FOOD!!!! Sounds perfect to me! Even though we were not able to spend this holiday with our family and friends we still have so much to be thankful for. This year alone has been such a blessing, its gonna be hard to name just a few but hear goes.....

-my family. Especially my mom who is so patient, kind, nurturing, and loving.
-my husband. He is my one constant and my true best friend. Since all we have is each other down here in TX, we really have to rely on each other and we find a way to make it work and still love each other too.
-health. I can only pray that we are blessed with healthy, long lives.
-my friends. I have some of the best friends EVER. Even my best friend whom I have had for over 20 years so you know we must like each other! I live in different states than a lot of them and we still maintain strong friendships. It is so nice having wonderful, supportive, fun, beautiful girlfriends!
-my furbaby Cricket. She is not the best behaved but she is so darn cute and she makes me smile all the time.
-my in-laws. I have been blessed with the best in-laws anyone could ask for. They truly love me and always have our best interest at heart.
-our jobs. It has been pretty shaky with this economy and our fields were hit really hard but thankfully we both kept our jobs and Ryan has even been blessed with a new job opportunity.
-being married. I got to have a wonderful, dreamy wedding day in June and am so glad I could share the day with family and friends.


The Grays on Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!