Thanksgiving excitement

I thought I'd share a little of our Thanksgiving excitement today. The festivities really began for us on Tuesday night just before midnight when Ashley, Eric and Lauren arrived after their long drive up from Orange County.

Early Wednesday morning A, L & I went to San Francisco airport to pick up our mom who had flown in from her recent trip to Mongolia. She, of course was exhausted from the long trip.

When we got home Ashley and I settled into cooking with some help from Mom, Lauren, Eric and 'Chung (not all at once of course 'cause our little kitchen gets a bit overwhelmed once it is required to hold more than two).





Thursday, of course was filled with more cooking and preparations. As we have "only" one oven (some of my clients are shocked by this horrific reality) and I wanted to be able to cook more than just a big bird in it, we decided to follow what has become our tradition to make Cornish game hens instead of the turkey. 'Chung tried a slightly different preparation for them this year (which turned out perfectly).









By 4:00 we were just about ready and people started to arrive. First, were my Aunt G. (mom's sister) and her friend A. (who always bring the most incredible wine and cheeses...mmmmm). Next came Eric's mom, step-dad, and step-sister. Finally, my cousin (Aunt G.'s son) and his wife and two gorgeous little daughters M. & E..












Dinner went off without a hitch. After starting with a hot bowl of soup and a small salad we dug into the main part of the meal.









There was lots of great food...especially Ash's delicious pumpkin souffle and Aunt G's corn spoonbread. We also had all of the usuals: mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, yams, carrots, cranberry sauce and green bean casserole.

The real excitement started just after dinner. The weekend following Thanksgiving would be Eric's mom's 60th birthday, so Ashley wanted to have a little cake (well, pie) for her and sing happy birthday. They followed this by giving a small gift to both her and our mom.


Each mother opened her bag and with a puzzled look pulled out a small object. Each stared at the pacifier in her hand for about thirty seconds before bursting into screams of excitement. Ashley is pregnant!! She's in her seventh week and should be due around mid-July.


After the excitement of the happy announcement, the rest of the evening was pretty mellow. We had dessert and enjoyed each other's company.









And at one point, a little sugar-monster decided that the whipped cream looked too good to resist.