Goober Family Visit Continues

I left off at Thanksgiving. But there was more fun to be had with Melissa, Mary Grace and Annabelle (aka the Goober Brigade) in tow.

On our way into the city

After looking at the weather forecast, we decided that Friday was a better day to traipse around Boston. We did part of the Freedom Trail, starting in the Boston Common, and making our way around the city. It was chillier and windier than just a few weeks earlier when my dad came to visit. I'm realizing that how we host visitors will greatly depend on the seasons and the weather up here. Walking around Salem or Boston on a crisp Autumn day is much more pleasant than walking around on a cloudy, windy, colder near-Winter day. We ate dinner in the city, in the North End, at an Italian restaurant we'd been to previously with some visitors back in August. After a lot of indulgent eating, we were more than ready to come home and relax.

In the Boston Common, near Park Street Church

At Paul Revere's House

A blurry picture of us at dinner in the North End

Saturday was a "tour our world" kinda day. We drove around Gordon College (we're still trying to convince MG that she should go to school there... and live in our spare room!). We walked around Gordon Conwell. We came home and relaxed a little until it was time to go see a movie-- Lincoln. Deciding on which movie was probably the hardest part of the whole visit. Wreck It Ralph? Lincoln? Twilight? (No Way) Lincoln won the vote, and most of us really enjoyed it. Will took a short nap. Mary Grace browsed Facebook. But Annabelle, Melissa and I were captivated.

Ready for church!

Sunday we ate at home and headed to church. We came home after church and had some leftovers for lunch before taking Melissa and Mary Grace into the city to catch the Amtrak back home. Annabelle, Will and I returned home. Will did some homework. Annabelle and I graded her high school students' tests while watching Home Alone. Perfectly restful evening.

Thanksgiving 2012

Sometimes, we have a "go big or go home" mentality around here.

Apparently, Thanksgiving was a good opportunity to adopt this mentality.

For our first Thanksgiving together, we hosted it for Will's mother and 2 sisters.

Now, a Thanksgiving meal for 5 people may not seem too extreme. Most families are around that size anyway, right?

Well, hosting Thanksgiving in a small apartment is a triumph in and of itself. Small kitchen. Minimal counter space. Small oven. Packed fridge. Making a complete meal is an accomplishment.

Add to that the fact that Will wanted to do most of the cooking. He wanted to brine his first turkey, so that was a new experience. He took some traditional Thanksgiving recipes and put his own spin on them. He did a lot from scratch (and let us talk him into a few short-cuts... for time/space/budget's sake).

And it was fabulous. The meal was outstanding.

Turkey in the bucket with the brine... and the Turkey in our oven with the electric thermometer ready to tell us when he's done!

Menu

Appetizers

Brie

Cheddar Crackers with Pumpkin Seeds

Hot Apple Cider

Hummus

Main Course

Turkey in a Ginger, Sage, and All Spice Brine

(Will dubbed this the "Wise Ginger Turkey")

Sides

Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows

Green Bean Casserole

Crescent Rolls

Cranberry Sauce

Pan Dripping Gravy

Cornbread Stuffing

Dessert

Buttermilk Pie

Pumpkin Pie

Will did an outstanding job. It was all delicious, was presented beautifully, and made the apartment smell heavenly.

Will's family arrived on Tuesday. Melissa and Mary Grace flew in from VA Tuesday afternoon, and Annabelle flew in from Tulsa later that night. They stayed in a hotel in Salem that night because I was scheduled to work Wednesday & Thursday and Will had classes early on Wednesday. To keep the morning routine relatively intact, they stayed elsewhere that night.

Then, to my pleasant surprise, early on Wednesday morning, the hospital called and said there weren't many patients and I could stay home if I wanted to. This has only happened once before, and it was the same day my dad was scheduled to fly into MA for his visit! What excellent timing! Thanks God!

So after Will returned from his class, we all met up in Salem and had lunch there. Then Will and Mary Grace split off to do homework and college apps, respectively. Melissa, Annabelle, and I wandered around Salem, took a tour of the house that inspired Hawthorne's House of the Seven Gables, and did a little shopping. We all met up at home after that, and went out to dinner that night in Beverly.

I left for work that morning, and apparently Will's sisters helped themselves to our comfy bed 

I worked Thanksgiving day. I'm used to working holidays, but in the past my schedule had always been 12 hour shifts, so that was pretty much my whole day. Not so in my current job! I spent the day with my patients, wore my turkey scrub top, and had a little free lunch provided by the hospital. My shift ended at 3, and I was home before 4 pm. I came home to a beautifully set table, a luscious smelling kitchen, and a football game on our TV. I asked how I could help, and was instructed to change clothes, sit down and relax... it was all taken care of!

My coworkers were pretty jealous of my set up. "You still get to enjoy a home-cooked Thanksgiving feast, and you didn't have to cook a thing??" Yup... my amazing husband took the reigns and amazed us all!