Matt Cooking Stuff, Family, Food, Friends, Holidays, Thanksgiving

THANKSGIVING EXTRAVAGANZA 2014

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Our Thanksgiving last year did not go as planned at all. Our family Thanksgiving dinner is always on Saturday, leaving the actual day of Thanksgiving open for us.  It was supposed to be my first time to host some friends, but because of the plague running through our house we had to pull the plug. But this year, plans for us to host Thanksgiving was back on the table. We were going to have Thanksgiving dinner with some of Aya’s Japanese co-workers, some of which had never experienced Thanksgiving before. And this time it would be completely legit with a roasted turkey, not a chicken, and a kids table. I always saw cooking Thanksgiving dinner to be a crowning achievement in the culinary world. With eight adults and five kids, I had my work cut out for me.

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Matt Cooking, Dad Stuff, Fall, Family, Holidays, Sick, Thanksgiving

HAPPY? THANKSGIVING

DS_2013_12_04Our big, family Thanksgiving meal is always the Saturday after Thanksgiving at my parent’s house. This leaves our actual Thanksgiving day open to do different things. We’vehad dinner with friends before, watched the parade in downtown Detroit, and even spent it at Denny’s. But this year, we were going to host friends at our house for the first time. I was going to make the whole deal. Turkey (I decided on a chicken because it was just us four adults), stuffing, Brussels sprouts, cranberry relish, mashed potatoes, etc. I even tested dessert recipes so everything would be fantastic. It was going to be my crowning achievement and induction into the ‘club.’ But little did I know, the cards were stacked against me.

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Matt Holidays, Kokomi's Korner, Thanksgiving

MMM… TURKEY…

This Thanksgiving was one of those times when I realized how much has changed this past year. Last year Ellie was just starting to walk. This year she was running, jumping, dancing, and eating. Last year she wasn’t eating real food yet, but this year, she was focused and quiet while she goggled up her mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, turkey and stuffing.

And last year, we placed her on the table like a turkey for a photo, but this year instead of being the turkey, she ate the turkey. Wow, a lot has happened over the past year and I sure do have a lot to be thankful for.  Happy Thanksgiving!

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Matt Cooking Stuff, Holidays, Recipes, Thanksgiving

THANKSGIVING: ROUND 2

Our big family Thanksgiving is on Saturday and is hosted at my parents house. My mom cooks everything except a few things. My brother made green bean casserole and I always bring the pumpkin pie. But my mom makes the 21lb turkey, stuffing (in and out of the bird), candied yams, corn, brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, cranberry sauce, bread, apple pie, and cheese cake. Whoa, that’s a lot of cooking! And a lot of eating to do too.

Matt Fall, Family, Holidays, Japanese, Thanksgiving

THANKSGIVING

One great thing about living in a multi-cultural home is that Ellie gets to celebrate both American and Japanese holidays.  Thanksgiving wasn’t so much about pilgrims and native Americans in our house this year. It was more about east meets west. Aya’s parents were in town from Japan to visit, and we were able to include her family with our regular Thanksgiving dinner this year. The typical crowd is us, my folks, my brother Patrick, his wife Kristen, grandma, my good friend Rob, and his fiance Jesse. And also this year, Aya’s parents.

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