Thanksgiving

So this week has been pretty awesome.  I'm off work this week, which has been nice.  I've been really enjoying the relaxed schedule and spending some time with the Skizz.  I can tell that she has really enjoyed it too. 

So yesterday morning was my morning to wake up with Skye so that Michael could sleep in.  I pulled her out of the crib as usual and plopped her straight onto the changing table like I normally do.  She was clinging to her teddy bear, appropriately named after her Uncle Teddo.  (He got it for her for Christmas last year.)  It's the closest thing (next to her belly button) to a lovey.  She hasn't really become dependent on any one item.  I doubt that she ever will because she is such an independent little thing.  But she loves her Teddo bear.  He's nearly the same size as she, and he is always in her crib for her to cuddle.  So as I laid her down to peel off that stinky diaper, she tightly pulled him to her chest and quietly muttered "Ted-do bear!"  It was so adorable!  I think I got her to say it one more time.  I couldn't believe it!  Other than the constant "Da da da da" mixed into her regular jibber jabber, this was the closest thing that I have heard to intelligible speech!  I was so excited!  Of course, she wouldn't say it later in the day when she woke up from her afternoon nap, but that's ok.  I was one of the most precious things that I think I have ever seen.

Today was also pretty sweet.  We had a quiet Thanksgiving.  We ate late, thanks to my airheadedness.  I totally thought that dinner was at 2pm... it wasn't.  We had agreed on 1pm well over a week ago.  So you can imagine my mother's surprise when I came rolling in the driveway a few minutes after one.  I was surprised to see that the turkey was done, and mom was surprised to see that I hadn't even washed the potatoes yet.  Oops!  Thankfully my mother is a much more laid back person than I, and no ill words were spoken.  I was very apologetic, however, when I realized that I screwed up dinner.  It went something like this:

Kate: "So for the record, Mom, it's 1:55, and the potatoes are now ready.  We're right on time."

Mary Jo: "Umm... I thought that we had agreed on 1 for dinner."

Kate: "No, I distinctly remember that we agreed on 2pm."

Mary Jo: "Oh ok.  Well I must have told you different.  I told Ted one o'clock."

pause

Kate: "CRAP!  You're right!  We did agree on one!  I'm sorry, Momma!  I totally forgot!"

Mary Jo: "So for the record...?"

Anyway, so Skye again refused to eat her turkey.  She did the same thing at our Thanksgiving meal with the Halpins.  Not sure what the deal is there, but it's not cool.  And she wouldn't eat her mashed potatoes* either.  The only way that I could get some protein in her was to hide the turkey in the sweet potatoes.  She also loved the stuffing.  After dinner Michael's parents stopped by to enjoy some dessert with us.  Skye was like psyched out of her little mind to have all of her favorite people in one place at one time.  It was adorable.  Of course, she was supposed to be sleeping, but that's beside the point.  Also, she totally got a diaper wedgie today, and it was hilarious.  I, of course, got some adorable photos to tease her with during her teen years.  Good times.

So speaking of dessert, that was my part.  Well, that and the broccoli, mashed potatoes and the pumpkin bread (that I totally forgot about until the middle of the meal).  Anyway, I've been gearing up for the pie making experience by watching Martha Stewart videos online.  I finally decided that I would make a pie from scratch for the first time in my life.  My mother in law got me an awesome Cuisinart for my birthday, which according to Martha is one of the key elements to a perfect, flaky crust.  So I did everything according to the directions, but the dough would not roll out perfectly.  It was dry and crumbly, and I was having a really hard time with it.  So at 10:30 last night, after I ruined the first crust (of 4 - there was one extra anyway), I flipped out!  I threw the dough on the floor in a fit of rage.  I screamed, and I started throwing stuff.  Not my proudest moment.  So Michael came over and yelled at me to shut up because Skye was trying to sleep.  I told him off and he went anyway for a while.

So I got the apple pie crusts to an acceptable, workable point and refrigerated them while I prepared the apples.  Michael quietly came in to inspect the damage.  He picked the dough up from the floor and asked, "What should I do with this?"  "THROW IT AWAY!"  He looked back at the floury mess on the table and asked, "Would you like me to clean this up?"  I politely (not) told him to get out and leave me alone for now.  I finally put the pie in the oven and sat down with Michael in the living room.  I apologized for my outburst, and we laughed about it.  I felt pretty bad about it.

I was totally frustrated because Martha never explains what to do when something goes wrong because for Martha, everything is perfect.  But I think I was also frustrated because sometimes I feel like my life is kind of messed up in a few areas, but when it comes to baking and cooking, I've got a pretty good handle on things.  So I just expected that everything would be perfect, and it wasn't.  It also didn't help that I had just lost 2 consecutive games of "Scene It," during which the announcer continued to elaborate on how badly I sucked.  Even when I won a round, he said, "Hey red team, showing some signs of life over there!?"  I mean, what the crap?

So, after tasting the pies I have determined that it's NOT worth the aggravation of making my own crust from scratch.  Everyone else said that it was good and flaky, but I wasn't impressed - and I'm a pie crust fanatic.  I'll just have to keep experimenting with different crust recipes.  I am determined to be able to make a good pie! 

And with that, I'm out!

*The mashed potatoes were AWESOME, BTW.  Mom got me a potato ricer for my birthday.  It was pretty messy, but the potatoes were so smooth.  It was way easier than using a masher, and less cumbersome than getting out the Kitchen Aid.  I HIGHLY recommend using a potato ricer for mashed potatoes.  I'm sure that the near 2 sticks of butter added to the creaminess, but there were literally 0 lumps.  Mmm.