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This Was Our Thanksgiving

November 24, 2023 By Mandy 14 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain Amazon affiliate links. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my link. View our disclosure policy here.

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Good morning! It’s the day after Thanksgiving, or Black Friday, as the retail world refers to it. My email inbox is already being inundated with sales, coupons, offers, etc.  And I am steadily delete-delete-deleting them all!  Haha!  I just don’t have the bandwidth for that today.  Probably the only thing I might want to take advantage of would be to get some hand soaps from Bath & Body Works, but I have so much already that I need to use up first.

Thanksgiving Weather

We woke up to a cool morning yesterday.  I could already tell it was chilly outside by checking my Admiral Fitzroy Storm Cloud.

Admiral Fitzroy Storm Cloud

I bought this a few years ago, and I even kept a similar one in my library at work; the kids enjoyed looking at it daily so much!  The liquid inside crystallizes and changes when the weather changes.  When it’s chilly out, it bunches up to one side.  As it got closer to lunchtime, the sun came out and warmed up to almost 60, so it was a beautiful day!

Going to the Church

We spent our Thanksgiving, as we have many years in the past, at my aunt’s little country church.  My two aunts always have it decorated so beautifully, and this year was no exception.

church foyer

 

Thanksgiving church

turkey silver platter

The food was absolutely amazing, of course! Look at this spread!

Thanksgiving food

And this was my plate:

Thanksgiving food on a plate

I ended up not making deviled eggs, but as you can see from the picture above, someone made some!  Hubby was pleased about that!

We enjoyed visiting with family, although our crowd was mighty small this year.  Over the years, family dynamics change, I am discovering.  Many of them live out of town now and have to make a choice between coming at Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Sadly, we’ve lost several.  Things can’t always be the same forever, but it was quieter this year.  I think Hubby and I were the youngest adults there, and The Teen was THE youngest.  We usually have a gaggle of kids running around, but the families with younger ones couldn’t make it this year for various reasons.   The food was fabulous, and being with family on this special day is always a blessing.

Into the Turkey Coma

We made it home from lunch around 2:30 PM.  When we left the church, we helped my mom get all of the dishes she took unloaded from her car and into the house.  Hubby parked in his recliner and was snoring before I could tell him I would be going upstairs for my nap!  Haha!  Jake flew out the door to go galavanting around the neighborhood as curious cats do, and The Teen was excited to get back to his video games.  I slept 2 1/2 hours.  It was heavenly!  We reheated leftovers from lunch for supper, although I couldn’t eat again until 8:30 pm.

We spent the evening watching the Egg Bowl (Mississippi State v. The University of Mississippi- (Ole Miss) and I caught up on some blog reading.  It was a very relaxing night.

Black Friday Morning- Literally!

Hubby left at 5 AM this morning for a short run to Louisiana.  He expects to be back home early this evening.  In the meantime, I managed to burn The Teen’s breakfast this morning!!

burned pigs in a blanket

I don’t know how in the world it happened.  I’ve made these a hundred times.  I made them the same as I always have.  I even set the timer on my phone.  When I started smelling something, they had about three more minutes to cook, so I went to the kitchen to check.  I could see a little smoke coming from the front vents on our oven door! The digital display was in an error state.  I opened the oven door, and I was left with that.  I’ve had the windows raised and the fan on the vent-a-hood going for a while now.  Bless my heart!

I’m spending the day trying to catch up on laundry and reading blogs and books.  I hope to get started decorating tomorrow for the holidays!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: Thanksgiving

Comments

  1. Carrie@northwoods scrapbook says

    December 4, 2023 at 11:30 pm

    Hello dear Friend!
    Your Thanksgiving looked and sounded amazing. Loved the decorations at church – how lovey and sweet were those. 😉
    And that long nap after the meal is so heavenly, isn’t it? Love that I’m not the only one that can burn things at times! Lol
    Change from traditions are the hardest, The way things always change when we’d love them to stay the same forever. Sigh
    Blessings on your week ahead. xo

    Reply
    • Mandy says

      December 5, 2023 at 12:35 pm

      Thank you, Carrie! Yes, if only things could stay the same! But then, I suppose we wouldn’t get those new experiences and traditions. I’ve loved looking at your Christmas decor on your blog! Everything is so pretty!

      Reply
  2. Bless says

    November 30, 2023 at 2:18 am

    Sounds like you enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving, even if the gathering was smaller.
    Oh, my! Those sausage roll ups certainly got burned! You might want to check the oven thermostat!

    Reply
    • Mandy says

      December 5, 2023 at 12:36 pm

      Haha! Leave it to me to burn something! I must have put them on a higher temp. So far, I haven’t burned anything else, thank goodness! I guess I was just being absent-minded that day!

      Reply
  3. Linda says

    November 29, 2023 at 11:04 pm

    I need a storm glass.

    Maybe your oven thermostat is off. I bought a new stove about thirty years ago and never could bake anything right. Finally, I used an oven thermometer, and the thermostat was off about 75 degrees. No wonder! I turned on the broiler and forgot to turn it off. Well, the stove was so hot I could not touch it. it had just kept heating. I called the fire dept. They said it was dangerous and unplugged it. I replaced the thermostat. Just beware.
    A nap is a really good thing!
    Practical Parsimony

    Reply
    • Mandy says

      December 5, 2023 at 12:38 pm

      Oh goodness, that is scary! Yikes! I think I just punched in the wrong temp setting. I probably did it at 450 instead of 350. Thankfully, every time I’ve used it since all has been well, but that’s good to know about the thermostat! I will keep that in mind!

      Reply
  4. Aritha says

    November 27, 2023 at 2:07 pm

    I stopped reading when I came across your storm glass. How fun is that! I immediately Googled if it’s available in the Netherlands.

    And then I returned to your blog. What a beautiful decoration in your church, and those burnt things in your oven… haha, I thought I was the only one doing such things.

    Yes, very good en interestingto read about how Thanksgiving unfolds in your country
    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Mandy says

      December 5, 2023 at 12:39 pm

      Hi Aritha! I hope you found a storm glass in the Netherlands! I’m still so thankful for Google Translator so that we can read each others’ blogs!

      Reply
  5. Kim says

    November 25, 2023 at 9:03 am

    It sounds like you had a wonderful day, if different. The food looks delicious though. It’s the same around here lately, I used to host 35, but now the kids – nieces and nephews – have kids and in-laws and other obligations. So the holidays are small, but I suppose the holidays will get bigger again when my kids settled down, with a brand new batch of littles! Oh and yes, delete, delete on those sales. We just relaxed and napped, too!!

    Reply
    • Mandy says

      November 26, 2023 at 9:52 am

      Yes, things certainly change and go in cycles. It won’t be long before you have a very full house someday. Glad you could relax and enjoy a quiet Thanksgiving!

      Reply
  6. Live and Learn-Toss and Turn says

    November 25, 2023 at 8:01 am

    As we age, we find some of the family events are much smaller than they used to be. Kids grow up and have their own lives and don’t have the same connections as we did. It’s kind of sad sometimes, but it is the way of life. However, it’s always fun to get with family, no matter how large or small the crowd is. It sounds like you had a good day. A long nap sounds like just the way to finish it. 🙂

    Reply
    • Mandy says

      November 26, 2023 at 9:54 am

      I’ve noticed our crowds getting smaller the past couple of years, but like you said, people have spouses they have to share family holidays with, distance, etc. I know it can’t stay the same way forever, but I’ll always have the memories of those bigger gatherings. And yes, the nap is always one of the best parts of Thanksgiving! Haha!

      Reply
  7. Hawaii Planner says

    November 24, 2023 at 5:28 pm

    Those are some seriously blackened pigs in a blanket! 🙂 Glad you had a nice Thanksgiving. We had a great day, and it was relaxing & fun. The teens are comical to have around, and we did a turkey trot in the morning, chilled a bit, and then prepped the meal. We keep things pretty easy, as it’s just the four of us. M grills steak, as no one likes turkey much. It was delicious, and fun. The teens had sparkling cider, and we had martinis for “happy hour”, where I made goat cheese crostini. This year, I drizzled cranberry sauce on some of them, and it made them delicious. I’ll have to remember that for future years.

    Reply
    • Mandy says

      November 26, 2023 at 9:56 am

      When I read your post about the pomegranate martinis, I was like, YES!! Haha! They sound delicious! I’m glad y’all had a great Thanksgiving. And yes, I can’t believe what I did to the pigs in a blanket! I was so mad at myself. I just hate food waste. I’m hoping tomorrow morning’s batch will turn out MUCH better! Haha!

      Reply

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