Thanksgiving and a Birthday

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, as you know. It was also my birthday (did you know?). And, like a good Thanksgiving Birthday, my day revolved around turkey.

We couldn't make it home to Idaho for Thanksgiving, you see. So we did the next best thing, we coordinated Thanksgiving dinner with a few of our closest friends in Seattle. And since all of us are young, inexperienced turkey roasters, I volunteered to take on the bird. My first turkey.

I was pretty nervous. I have barely roasted a chicken. Once. So, I scoured hundreds of turkey tip blogs and watched way too many videos on the Food Network. I bought my bird a week early, and by Wednesday night I had a plan.

Thursday morning I prepped the bird with Lainy watching closely. We decided to call him Young Master Thomas, aka Tommy. While I was stuffing things and rubbing Tommy down with butter, Lainy made "observations" about him. "Mom, I have an observation," she'd say, "Do you see this little hole right here? I think it's where Tommy's head used to be." And you know what? I think she was right.

We heaved Tommy into the oven (he was 20lbs, afterall, and required heaving) and waited patiently for him to roast. Lainy and Leah checked on him often, peering through the oven window.

Finally, the moment of truth arrived. This is what we found:

Isn't he beautiful? He was good too. I am so proud. And, for the record, Lainy tasted Tommy and declared him to be "yummy". High praise from my picky eater.

We ended up having a wonderful Thanksgiving. And I had a wonderful birthday too. Some people seem to pity me when they discover my birthday sometimes falls on Thanksgiving, but I have never minded much. When I have a Thanksgiving birthday it means my day is full of family, friends, and good food - all things I love. And what's to complain about that?

Opening presents after a birthday breakfast of stuffed french toast.

My birthday sign - a Hansen family tradition

Happy Thanksgiving!