Thanksgiving Weekend 2012

I got a little bit of a late start this morning.  I woke up, got some work done, and went back to bed for “15 more minutes.” Well, fifteen minutes turned into almost two hours.  Apparently my body needed rest!

This weekend flew by at warp speed, and the week looks like it is going to go by even faster.  I have been given a few awesome opportunities lately, and am excited to share them with you soon.  Until then, all I can say is I have been spending less and less time at home.

It is probably a little odd that I am just now getting to recap our Thanksgiving, but I took so many photos that I had no choice but to split it up into a few posts! So, here we are… get ready for a whole ‘lotta unconventional holiday food and a few stories.

I hope none of you get offended by the following photo.  Scott’s parents brought home the apron Scott is wearing from Italy, and it resembles the statue of David (<- use your imagination).  Scott later brought me a similar one home from France.  We tried to cover what would be deemed inappropriate to post, but instead it turned worse.  Enter the pumpkins. 😉

Happpppppy Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving Day

We started our holiday extra early this year, to head out to America’s Thanksgiving Parade in downtown Detroit.  We had a great time and you can read all about the parade in yesterday’s post.

After a quick (and small) bite to eat, Scott, his father, step-mother and I headed home to start cooking.  Before they got here, we already decided that we were not going to do the traditional turkey, stuffing, dressing, etc.

They had a big Thanksgiving celebration at their house the weekend before, and Scott really wanted to make one of his specialties, so I agreed to go completely off the norm too.

The only thing I required was that we have pumpkin pie.  That is a tradition I will never break, and this year I finally made my very own!

I was so proud of myself! The the recipe was a cinch, and I got it directly off of the back of a Libby’s pumpkin can label.  It was very easy to understand and I now know I can handle bringing it to future Thanksgiving gatherings.

Since the main dish takes about five hours or so to cook, we decided to go against the Thanksgiving grain once again and make homemade guacamole and salsa dips as appetizers.

I have not posted the recipe for Scott’s famous homemade salsa yet, but I will someday with his permission.  He is very proud of it.

While waiting for the main course, Scott’s step-mother, Kay, had me assist in making homemade pumpkin cheesecake.  It needed to sit overnight in the refrigerator, and that was probably a good thing with all of the food we were about to dig into!

Scott’s Spicy Brisket Chili, here we come!

This batch was even spicier than normal, especially paired with his step-mom’s homemade jalapeno cornbread.

It was definitely a spicy afternoon and evening. Whew!

In true Thanksgiving fashion, we were all completely stuffed and decided to go outside with Roadie to walk it off.  We ended up walking three miles!

It was just long enough to make room for a slice of pumpkin pie.

Mmmmmm!

Black Friday

This year, Scott and I did not take advantage of any Black Friday deals.  There was not anything jumping out at us that we really need, and our purchase priorities for the winter are new tires for the snow, winter coats, and things to set up our new home.

We planned to spend the day together and started it by stopping into a cider mill.  You might remember my first trip to a cider mill with my family the week I moved up here.  This time, I wanted to explore another and suggested we visit Rochester Cider Mill.

It was very cute inside, decorated with fresh produce and fall decorations.

It was a great place to pick up fresh cider, but nothing like the mill I went to before.  This one had more of a shop feel, where Yates took us behind the scenes with how everything was made.  Both, however, produced really really good cider.

Meadow Brook Hall

After the cider mill, we did not have any plans for the rest of the afternoon.  While driving around our neighborhood, Scott wanted to stop by Meadow Brook Hall and show his father and step-mother the historic mansion built by Matilda Dodge Wilson.  As in Dodge, the automotive company.

Meadow Brook Hall exists by the good fortune of Matilda’s first husband, automotive pioneer John F. Dodge, co-founder of Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company.  The majority of you already know that Detroit is known for the automotive industry and acquired the nick names Motown and Motor City.  There are so many dealerships and corporate headquarters right around us!

(Don’t mind us… just pretending we live here).

This fortune not only built the estate, but also supports numerous Detroit charities and organizations.  The rest was put towards the founding of Oakland University.

We thought about taking a tour of the home, but found out we stopped by on the most expensive weekend of the year.  I guess pictures of the inside will have to wait until next time, friends!

Even the details in the design of the outside are incredible.  There over seventy-seven fireplaces and each one has a different, intricate design.

No big deal.

We spent a good twenty minutes walking the property and want to come back on another day to see the rest.

The rest of the day included driving around and we even braved the Somerset Collection mall for a few hours.  I was pretty proud of myself for only purchasing a few items, and they were all things we needed from Crate & Barrel for our home.  Black Friday success!

We finished the day by going to a Detroit Pistons game and Scott’s parents had a great time!  We were excited to have them here for our first holiday in our new home and look forward to when we can go visit them next.

Questions of the Day

• Have you ever had a non-traditional Thanksgiving?

• What was your favorite part of this year’s celebration?

I thought the parade was pretty neat.  I also enjoyed making my first pumpkin pie and having help with my first pumpkin cheesecake!  I am very thankful Scott’s parents were here to celebrate with us and am looking forward to when my mother is coming up to visit in late December.