Thanksgiving

Now that I'm getting over this nasty cold, I'd better post my Thanksgiving blog before it becomes ridiculously old news! UGA was closed for the week of Thanksgiving, so Stephen and I got to spend almost the whole week visiting with friends and family in Alabama, which was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, Stephen was not really "off of work" because he had to grade 84 essays while we were gone that week! Poor thing!

My mom hosted a big Thanksgiving for my brothers, their girlfriends, Mom's boyfriend and his mother, Stephen's parents, and Stephen and me. This was special for us because it was the first time since 2001 that mom, my brothers, and me have all been together for Thanksgiving.

My cute little brothers and their cute little girlfriends. And my cute hubby!


My sweet in-laws, Donnie and Jo Ann.


After being in the kitchen with mom all day at 17 weeks.


A Pie to Remember

Since Mom was hosting a big meal, and I'm her only daughter, I felt like it was my duty to provide some substantial kitchen help, so I was a little offended when I asked her what I could make and all she said was the rolls-- a 10-year-old can do the FROZEN rolls! Then she said I could get the tables ready, which wasn't much better-- I've been doing the tables since I was 12! (In all fairness to mom, I should mention that I did not let her lift a finger when she stayed with us last Thanksgiving, but still...!) A more honorable task was finally assigned to me when she started craving her mother's chocolate pie. So I got to make Meme's famous chocolate pie for the first time ever, with mom on one side of the stove and me on the other, and mom interpreting the notes on the recipe card for me. It was one of those cheesy moments when you realize that's what Thanksgiving is all about, with my mom assisting me in making my grandmother's pie, while the next generation is incubating inside me... super sappy stuff, I know, but this was the most meaningful pie I've ever made. It was more than a pie. No one ever makes special dishes for Mom, but she's always making them for other people, so I really enjoyed making something special for her, even though I couldn't eat a piece of it myself because of the raw egg whites in the meringue!



Mom was so proud of that pie that she carried it around the house to show off to everybody, then she surprised us by unashamedly eating two pieces of it after eating the big Thanksgiving meal (Mom NEVER gets seconds on dessert!). Over the next two days, she finished off the entire pie by herself, eating a total of six pieces all together! WOW! (Mom never eats like that, so I know she must have really loved it, and that makes me happy!)