Friends-giving

Happy Friends-giving 2011!  As some of you know, Matt's favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.  I mean it's not that hard to figure out.  The man is an eating machine.  And turkey, puh-lease, it is his favorite (except for bacon).  So when we moved in together (4 years ago) we decided to celebrate with an open house (not everyone had made excuses to see the house) and turkey.  And this is how Friends-giving was born!

Year 2 was skipped.  We got married the first week in November.  It is my favorite time of the year, not too cold, not hot at all.  And beautiful in CT with the fall leaves.  Then we went on our honeymoon over Thanksgiving so we didn't have to use all our leave at work.  We came home on Sunday, and on Monday Matt was upset that there wasn't any turkey for Thanksgiving (because we were out of the country).  So I made crock-pot Thanksgiving for the two of us. 

So to celebrate our anniversary with all our friends, we have Friends-giving.  This is the event we both look forward to every year.  I start thinking about it as soon as school starts in August! I cook the turkey, dressing, and gravy and our loved ones bring the rest.  and I don't want to brag, but my turkey is pretty awesome! I will admit that yesterday's turkey, George, was a little dry.  We had an issue with the thermometer that I melted and couldn't check the temp.  So I did overcook it by about 30 minutes.  My bad.  But George was still delicious.  And the recipe I have is so easy!  Check it out in the Reese Kitchen.  Don't know what that is?  Oh it's just where I put my most favorite-est recipes.  It is a work in progress, so check back and see if there is a recipe you want. 

So yesterday.  I was up early but not to cook George yet.  I was just up because I was excited!  I prepped all the veggies Friday night with Emily, so in the morning all I needed to do was a rub.    Last year carving started at 2, but Matt had a graduate class during the day, so carving was at 4 this year.  And the special surprise, Matt carved the turkey!  Gotta love that electric knife! Friends started arriving around 4 and stayed until morning.  (Thank goodness for daylight savings!)