All Manner of Pressing Issues

We have had a busy, fun-filled week! My in-laws were here for Thanksgiving this year. They came Sunday and stayed until this morning. I am certain we wore them out with all of the sight-seeing we did! They got to see all of the monuments up close and personal, Arlington National Cemetary, the White House, a wax museum, Monticello, Mount Vernon, the Kennedy Center (The Snark Ensemble), my classroom (I’m sure this was the highlight of their trip!), the Capitol, Ford Theater (Christmas Carol)… I am sure there is something I am leaving out! We took them to eat at a few of our favorite places:
Ben’s Chili Bowl, Bistrot Du Coin, Bread and Chocolate, Five Guys, and Old Ebbitt Grill.

On Wednesday, we made the trip to Monticello. This was a first for all of us. I really enjoyed our tour, but I think I like Mount Vernon better. There are things I like about each. Monticello: views, house was very interesting, herb garden. Mount Vernon: extensive, beautiful grounds, interesting museum, sheep, view of the Potomac is amazing and I like all of the bedrooms in the house.

Moving on. The Thanksgiving meal was quite interesting. I got up early Wednesday morning before we went to Monticello to get some of the cooking out of the way. I made the sweet
potato casserole, strawberry salad, cornbread for the dressing (in VA they call it stuffing) and the broccoli and rice casserole. Wednesday night when we got back, I made the deviled eggs,
Jiffy Diffy, dressing (stuffing) and pumpkin pie. Thursday morning I got up early and drove to Bethesda, MD to run a 10k. That was a blast (cold and **HILLY**, but fun!). I definitely earned my Thanksgiving meal. Anyway–I got back home and got busy in the kitchen after the race. I got the turkey out and realized I bought an entire turkey instead of a breast. Oops. No problem, I thought. I’ll just quadruple the glaze recipe and everything will be fine. I preheated the oven and doused that turkey in olive oil, pepper and a little salt. I was completely grossed out by the legs and wings. Maybe this is why I tried to stick with a breast. So I popped the turkey in the oven and set the timer for 2 hours. It was a small turkey. Hence the reason I mistook it for a breast. So the time was ticking away and I opened the oven door a few times to check on it. Each time I opened it, I thought, “That oven doesn’t feel very hot.” I dismissed the thought telling myself the oven was only on 325. After awhile I wasn’t smelling the turkey. I went in to check on it again and realized that the turkey had been in an oven for an hour and a half that wasn’t even ON. UGH!!! So not only did I buy an entire turkey instead of a breast, but I was trying to roast a turkey in an oven that was OFF. This will teach my crew to put me in charge of the meal again!!

I got desperate and went downstairs to talk to our concierge. No one was using the oven in our club room, so Mel, Brenda and I took the dressing and the casseroles downstairs to that oven. We left the turkey in our oven (which was on at this point). I thought everything was going to be fine (because Jim said it would be), but when I thought everything was ready, Richard tried to carve the turkey and it wasn’t done. We had Thanksgiving with no turkey! Thank goodness I put chicken in my dressing and we had PLENTY of other food. It’s also lucky for me that everyone was so nice about the turkey fiasco!

This year I am thankful for: my family, my husband’s unconditional love for me, our sweet Olivia, friendships and my new school.

We had a great time together. Olivia loves our friends, Jim and Brenda. She gets really excited around Brenda, but Jim has the opposite effect on her. She snuggled right up next to him, flipped herself over on her back and went to sleep!

Here are some pictures from Monticello and Thanksgiving Day.