Thanksgiving Eve

As I type this, I'm currently enjoying a hearty glass of wine after a long day of prep for tomorrow's big feast.  Who knew the day BEFORE Thanksgiving was such hard work?  Both Mike and I spent all afternoon and evening preparing for the big day.

Here's a LITTLE insight into our shopping list in preparation for the big day.

24 beers

13 eggs

11 potatoes

8 carrots

7 sticks of butter

4 boxes of cream cheese

2 loaves of cornbread

1 bottle of wine

and lots of other food

This afternoon, we 

peeled carrots for tomorrow's cooking

made a cheese ball

washed, boiled and mashed potatoes to be baked tomorrow

prepared the turkey and began the soaking overnight

gotta get the gizzards out!!

made two loaves of corn bread

cleaned our house (this was exhausting in itself)

Add in the pumpkin pie and the cheesecake that I made yesterday and our refrigerator looks like this....

Both of us are pretty excited for the big feast.  Even if no one shows up, we'll still have our own feast. I've been dreaming of cheesecake and pumpkin pie all week, so nothing can stop me now.  

After all of the cooking and preparation were done and Mike and I were enjoying a nice, hearty glass of wine, we got some AMAZING news! One of my best friends, Karen, is the ultimate wanderlust.  If money wasn't an issue, I'm pretty sure she'd have conquered all seven continents by now.  We had been talking about her coming to visit ever since we found out we were moving here.  We even told her she could come and stay for a month, since she works remotely.  I wasn't sure if it would work out, but it got approved today!! She's coming to stay with us for A WHOLE MONTH next spring!! I'm giddy with excitement and Mike has been singing "Kare bear is coming to town" to the tune of "Santa Claus is coming to town.  It's a long way off, but it's going to be so much fun!  I can't wait to show her around Turkey and experience traveling with her. I'm pretty sure she thought she'd be going to places like Italy and France when she dreamed of traveling abroad, but Turkey will definitely be an adventure!

On that note, here's my days of thankfulness

November 12th: I'm thankful for family recipes.  I spent the afternoon making my dad's famous cheesecake.  His recipe in the Russo family cookbook had Mike and I laughing with all of his side comments about contacting the American Heart Association and walking off the calories you intake when you eat a piece.  That cookbook is full of great recipes, including my grandmother's beloved spaghetti sauce.  I treasure these connections to my family when I'm so far away.  I can hear my dad reminding me not to open the oven door when making the cheese cake or my grandmother swearing that Kraft Parmesan is not real Parmesan. When I'm cooking, it's almost like they're here with me.

November 13th: I'm thankful for our apartment.  After our one bedroom apartment with a tiny kitchen, I definitely appreciate this three bedroom apartment.  When I tell my students where we live, their eyes grow big and they're like "Oh you must be rich!"  I guess we are for Turkish standards, but I hope I never take it for granted.  There are definitely things about this apartment that I would change (like the boxed off kitchen), but it's such an improvement from our little home in Arlington. 

Oh, and this is totally random, but I had to share.  I'm a huge FRIENDS fan (the tv show) and I saw this online. There is an episode of FRIENDS where in one scene, for a split second, Jennifer Anniston doesn't play Rachel!!  So crazy!! I used this article as an excuse to watch this episode (and then three more...) and it's actually true!