A fun day at School

Today was quite a day for the children. Mr. M had treated the children to Chinese food for lunch. He decided since they were reading a book called Chinatown he would have them all eat Chinese food.

The Class has been working on counting money. Today he came up with a very clever way for the Children to get motivated with counting money. He started all the children with $2.76. Then he opened up a store for them to shop in. They were all so excited to make some purchases. They all had so much fun and spent all their money. Mr. M spares no expense when it comes to the children in his class.

Enjoying Grandma and Grandpa's visit.

As I was carving the turkey and putting all the leftovers away, I made sure I got the wish bone out so he Cisco Kid could make a wish.  The next day the wish bone was ready to make a wish on.  The Cisco Kid and grandma had some pretty wonderful wishes.  The wish bone broke in The Cisco Kids favor.

The Cisco Kid wished a little girl Geri would get her casts of her legs soon. She goes to school with him.  She has club feet and her family along with the doctors has been working for months to straighten her feet out.

The Cisco Kid asked grandma what her wish was and grandma said she wishes Susie would get better. The Cisco Kid said oh yea! I'm sure from the expression on his face he wished that was also one of his wishes. 


Grandma wished that her daughter would get better. She found out she has breast cancer and has had a hard time with chemotherapy. She lives 14 hours away from her parents.


I believe both of their wishes will come true.

 

Sitting down to Thanksgivings feast.

After the Turkey was carved and everything was on the table we were ready to eat.  But first we have to take some pictures. 

Grandma and the Cisco Kid were inseparable.  I snatched him away for just a moment so I could have him take a picture with me.

 The Dinner is on the table and ready to be eaten. 

After taking a break for a couple of hours to rest we still were not done.  We had to complete the meal with dessert.   

Here the Chief and his father find a little R&R on the porch reading their Nooks. 

We had the dessert table filled with all the dessert's. Apple pie, Coconut cream pie, Banana cream pie, pecan pie, Key lime pie, fresh fruit, mixed nuts, chocolate dipped apricots, pineapple and cherries & Apple cider.

Starting our Thanksgoving feat at 11: 00 a.m.

Our traditional Thanksgiving is starting the festivities at 11:00 a.m. We continue all day through the evening. The Cisco Kid loves to help out in the kitchen. Of course I am more than happy to have him help. He will always remember how we spent this holiday and he will be more likely to do it for his family.

He helped me inject the turkey with and injectable Creole butter marinade. I used this product a couple of years ago and it was wonderful. It gave the turkey a wonderful flavor. After we were done prepping the turkey we put it in a turkey plastic bag and baked this 22 lb. turkey for four hours. I just love those bags. It guarantees a perfect turkey every time.

 All the wonderful food!  Brown sugar and spiced Ham.

Eggplant parmesan.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Rosted red pepper and basel cheese cake.

Cream of Mushroom soup.

Antipasto salad.

Brown sugar and spiced carrots.

Deviled eggs.

Grandmas and Grandpa coming into town

Grandma and Grandpa arrived Wednesday.  Thursday morning we started the day by all three of them sitting at the counter eating their morning cereal.  But first let's kiss everyone good morning. 

Now they can eat. 

 During the holidays there is always something for the Cisco Kid to do. He loves helping me in the kitchen. He enjoys cooking just as much as I do. Here The Cisco Kid and Grandma are dipping apricots in chocolate.

 Tomorrow you will see much more of our holiday.

The weekend following Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving wasn't just Thursday for us. It went through the weekend. My in-laws came up from south Florida and spent Thanksgiving and through the weekend with us. We always look forward to their visit. The Cisco Kid not only looks forward to their visit but jumps out of his skin with anticipation on when they get here.
Last Thanksgiving I posted many recipes of my dinner. Now I have some more that I will post over the next few days. Deviled eggs, brown sugar spiced ham and carrots, stuffed mushrooms, eggplant parmigiana and cream of mushroom soup.
The Italian traditional thanksgiving starts at 11:00 am and doesn't end until late evening. We start with the antipasto. That consist of... Cream of mushroom soup, eggplant parmesan, Roasted red pepper and basil cheese cake with pesto, stuffed mushrooms, deviled eggs, antipasto salad, black olives, green olives and sweet gherkins. Later that evening we have the traditional turkey, stuffing, pashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, turkey gravy, braciole, sausage, mozzarella and tomato salad and rolls.

The desert table was loaded with everyone’s favorite. Pineapple & cherries, apricots dipped in chocolate, fruit, apple pie, coconut custard pie, banana cream pie, pecan pie and assortment of nuts.
For me, it is the leftovers I look forward too. It took me three days to cook the Thanksgiving dinner. I buy and extra large turkey so I have some leftover. This year I got a 22 lb turkey. I like the Turkey cooking bags because it cooks that size turkey in 4 hours. I also don't have to worry if the turkey will be dry. It is always cooked to perfection. The up side to all this cooking and abundance of food is I will do very little cooking all week long because of those leftovers. I could make a quick variety of things with all the leftovers. I will make..... Turkey Croquets, turkey pot pie, turkey stew and turkey salad.

My Deviled eggs.
When I make Deviled eggs I always make at least two dozen eggs. These egg's don't last long at all. They are very simple and not many ingredients are used.

I start by putting the eggs in cold water and bringing the water up to a boil for ten minutes. I then turn off the stove and let them sit in the water until the water becomes room temperature. Approximately twenty minutes.

I then peal all the eggs and cut them in half. I use the yoke and any broken egg whites for the creamy mixture. Put all the egg yolks and broken egg whites in a bowl and mash. Add 1 cup of mayonnaise with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Once they are done sprinkle with paprika.
 

I use a fork to make this creamy mixture.

 Tomorrow I will post some more recipes.