Had a great Thanksgiving yesterday.

Denise got up at 6:30 to start cookin' the bird. We'd gone to Wal Mart a week ago and picked up the bird and a spiral cut ham. Mom was gonna need the bird later so she could stuff it and make her wonderful cornbread dressing. So Denise cooked it in our oven for about three hours, and then I drove it over to mom's place.



About 3PM, Denise and I went back over to moms for the big feed. By then, Denise had cooked mashed potatoes and a lemon Meringue pie.



When the time came, I pulled the bird out of the oven and started carvin' it. It was a huge, succulent beast.



While I did that, Denise started cutting on the ham. She found a wonderful spiral cut boneless ham at Wal Mart. Boneless. What will they think of next? Next to mom's cornbread dressing, this is my favorite thing about thanksgiving. I could give or take the bird, but I loves the pig.



Pretty soon, with the peas, carrots, brussels sprouts and gravy made, it was time to start diggin' in. There was just the three of us this time, Denise and mom and I. We'd invited our friend Kay to dinner, but she'd been puny and begged off.



Here's a shot of my platter (er, my first platter). There's nothing in the world like my momma's cornbread dressing and gravy, with peas piled on tip. Bliss.

Everyone ate their fill, and drank some nice Asti Spumante Ballatore. And then we sat back with a piece of mom's pecan pie and watched the Cowboys play New Orleans. It was a good game, but it didn't end the way we wanted. Close, but no cigar. But that didn't ruin the evening.

In the end, Denise and I piled our share of the leftovers into the trunk and took them home, where I took the rest of the meat off the bird and stored everything away.



Here's the after shot... like a bunch of vultures went after it.



There's a container of white meat for Denise, and another with dark meat for me.



Since Denise doesn't like anything to do with corn, all of this is mine. I covered it with gravy before I closed the lid and put it in the fridge.

The rest of the goods were stored away and everything cleaned up and washed. By the time I was done you wouldn't know all this cookin' and eatin' had happened at all.



The last thing to do... In the rush to get the ham and stuff to mom's place, Denise and I had accidentally left the lemon meringue pie in the fridge. Oops.

After taking care of the left-overs, I rewarded myself with a slice of pie. It's wonderful! Then I wrapped it in foil and tucked it away in the fridge. That sucker's full.

Believe it or not, the left-overs are safe for a while. We all did a little nibblin' this morning, havin' a ham sandwich for breakfast. But the dinner menu is gonna be a different.

Today is mom's 83rd birthday. She's got a doctors appointment this afternoon at 3:30, preparatory for her scheduled hip replacement in a few weeks. I'm gonna go over there and escort her to the hospital, get her to the appointment and back, and then we'll drive back over here, pick up Denise and head over to the Texas Roadhouse. Momma wants a steak dinner for her birthday, so that's what we'll have. then we'll drop by here for a slice of lemon meringue pie, and maybe an after dinner tipple. It'll be great.

So, I hope you all had a great feed and family time yesterday. Cheers!