We were supposed to spend Thanksgiving in the booming metropolis of Malad, Idaho at Jeff's brother's house. There was just one, small problem.
Roy forgot to tell Cindy he had invited everyone over.
So we ended up at Jeff's parent's house instead. I think it's charming how Jeff's mom uses her nice silver and decorative paper plates, napkins, and cups. I'm serious. I love it! Easy clean up, gives me a laugh, and the kids like all the turkeys. And we serve things buffet style. Yum.
We haven't seen much of Jeff's nephew, Ty, for a few years. We were happy to have him around again! Even if it scares the crap out of me how much he looks and acts like his dad... my Redneck brother-in-law.
Love this adorable little boy of mine! And he was the only one who actually looked at the camera. Apparently fear of having important milestones and memories documented runs in Jeff's family because not a one of them would look at me or smile.
Love this adorable big boy of mine too.
See? See! Not a single one of them would look at me! Roy tells me I can get a picture of him in his casket.
Thanksgiving tradition. Uncle Roy squirts whipped cream in all the kids' mouths until they start giggling or choking... inevitably leading to them spitting that whipped cream all over the place. Or me. Not only did Pearl get whipped cream in my hair but Jeff started choking and laughing so hard he spit it all over my pants. It was pretty fun and I did get a nice apology, whipped cream tasting kiss out of him. From Jeff. Not Roy. I wanted to make that clear:)
My assignment was pies. I went with an apple pie and a pecan pie.
Pies are a funny thing. I actually really like making pies. They smell
good. They look beautiful. It's kind of relaxing rolling pie crusts. And it reminds me of my Grandma Peacock.
But I don't really like eating pies. Unless they are covered in ice
cream. Then I like pies... a lot.
Jeff likes pies though. Especially pecan pies.
I
spent hours searching for the perfect pecan pie recipe to try. The
pressure was on to not disappoint Jeff. Or his brother. Or mom. They all
like pecan pie.
It came down to The Pioneer Woman's recipe or Cook's Country Old Fashioned Pecan Pie.
I went with Cook's Country. A friend who sent me the recipe is an
amazing cook and after comparing pecan pie recipes, I decided all of the
corn syrup and sugar most recipes called for just sounded overly
sickening sweet. The only problem I ran into was trying to figure out
just how jiggly a pecan pie is supposed to be when it's done baking.
I
did pretty good. Except I over baked it. Not burned... just not as
ooey-gooey as Jeff likes his pecan pie. But man it sure was pretty and
the taste was sweet but not sickening sweet. Especially when balanced
out with some ice cream or whipped cream.
The kids prefer their pie with just ice cream. No pie.
My first try at pecan pie must have gone OK because there wasn't much left on Jeff's plate.
