I made a few dishes early in the morning and then every time we would take a break from either sledding or making snowmen in the yard, I would come in and make another part of the meal. At the very end, everyone pitched in for the final touches and the meal came together beautifully. Sela made the pan roasted brussel sprouts. She massaged every little sprout individually with olive oil before putting them in the pan. They were delicious. The rest of the menu was pretty traditional. The one problem that occurred to me about an hour before meal time was we only had one dessert, the pumpkin pie Sela made. Pumpkin pie just does not do it for me. In fact, it's kind of a big joke with my Grandpa. He likes to tease me and offer me pumpkin pie when he knows I want the chocolate pecan pie. I don't hate the pumpkin, it's fine, but I had to come up with something else. So in honor of this lovely American holiday I made a Tarte Chocolat Caramel. Nothing like a little French Tart on Thanksgiving. Oh well. I'd been eyeing this little gem in one of my cookbooks for quite some time, so I decided to give it a shot. And oh my goodness, I'm so glad I did. The crust was not perfectly formed as I was in a hurry, but it sooo did not matter. It was so good. The tart consisted of a delicate buttery crust, fleur de sel caramel sauce layer, and a dark chocolate ganache on the top. Forget the turkey, I'll have half of this tarte please!I actually guarded this little treasure for the rest of the week and just finished the last bite up last night. It's super rich so you can really only eat a tiny sliver at a time.
Sela and I chopping brussel sprouts and chocolate
Sela doing a little pan roasting
oh yeah!
We filled Evan up with some sweet potatoes and stuffing and then put him to bed just before we sat down to eat. We had such a nice dinner together reflecting on our blessings and expressing gratitude for life, health, family, and lots of other very random things the kids came up with.
Recently I read a book about the value of creating stories in our lives. Memories that stick out and moments where we make ordinary things extraordinary. We had a little moment that I know will certainly stick with me on Thanksgiving day. We decided to hike to the top of the neighborhood behind us with the sleds and the kids. They were tired but when we got up to the top we all piled in the sleds, Zig and the boys in one, and the girls and I in the other, and had this amazing half-mile ride down the soft powder. The neighborhood was totally quiet, the snow was soft, and we glided down almost side by side, just our little family. Zig had a huge smile, the kids were screaming and having a blast. Laughter was echoing through the trees. It felt like we went forever! This was such a joyful moment for all of us.The kids were just beside themselves when we finally slowed to a stop. All day long they kept saying this was the best Thanksgiving ever. Even though I had been having a tiny pity party for myself earlier in the week knowing most of my family was gathering in Texas for my cousin's wedding, this Thanksgiving turned out to be one of my favorites as well.
Zig and his 5th child. I laughed so hard. He was trying to get Kona to pose for a picture. I must have take 20 shots of Zig wrestling him, Kona rolling over, Kona running off, Kona looking away, lying down, etc. But the funny thing was Zig's persistence. I think he really wanted a photo of he and Kona. He loves that dog like I love my chocolate tarte!
SIT!
The happy couple. I told Zig this looks like an engagement photo. He didn't think it was quite as funny as I did!
Our family of snowmen.
The snowmen had a rough night.
Rollin finished them off. Happy Thanksgiving!
8 comments:
How wonderful!! It will be those simple family times that will linger ever so fondly in your heart. I love the sled story - so simply inspiring and touching. To think Heavenly Father made this enormously vast earth and is looking down on all of his precious children who are, themselves, creating precious, priceless, telling moments for eternity brings a tear of gratitude and love to my eye and makes putty of my heart!! In deed, Happy Thanksgiving. "Soon the only thing that we will be able to take home with us will be the memories, whether they be good or bad. We can make the decisions that will make the memories!" By simply creating settings of quietness and stillness (Mom's taking time to sit on the couch)the children will gather. That is my prayer for all the Mom's out there during this holiday season. Be still and see if God doesn't manifest Himself more constantly in your homes. The spirit of Christmas and the stillness of Christ's birth on that night so long ago. I wish you all enough this Christmas season.
Oh, and by the way, you need to frame the picture of Zig and Kona as it is awesome!! Engagement photo?! Ash, you are the spice in life with your quick witted little tidbits strewn all along the way! I can see Zig's response clearly in my mind's eye! Still, I know he would like to have that on his desk. Now he has a fifth child as well. Makes Dad feel better!
Kona just needed a ring on that paw! Great picture! So glad it was such a wonderful Thanksgiving :)
(We had pan roasted bruseel sprouts too with lemon and I've been craving them ever since.)
What a nice Thanksgiving at home! Sounds like a perfect day. I love the snowmen, and the engagement photo of Zig and Kona is a classic...a doomed marriage for sure (take a look at Kona's face!)
Miss you guys!
I love the sledding story. What a great memory! And the pictures with Kona...hahahaha! Boys sure love their dogs! The meal looks delicious and the tarte sounds spectacular.
sounds like a wonderful thanksgiving. so that pie story...PawPaw totally told the story to us all :) that chocolate tart looks amazing. i'd skip turkey any day to eat a piece of that thing!
evan has sweet moves in that dancing video but rollin?! that boy can move it!! can't wait for our next gathering. the dance party will be off. the. hook.
;)
What a beautiful Thanksgiving! Loves to your family.
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