T-Day Eve

The house did not quite get a top-to-bottom scrubbing today, but it is decidedly more cleaned than it was yesterday. This included (what felt to me like) rather a lot of time on hands and knees on the tile floors after sweeping them, liberally applying 409, kitchen towels, and a razor blade. Several of the worst marks/stains turned out to be old paint drips which had attracted dirt. They've been razorbladed up from the tile, a bit trickier of a task than it sounds due to the fact that the tiles aren't glass-flat.

In addition, both types of cranberries got made up (chunky and pureed; new recipe this year for the latter, as I continue searching for the perfect one), and Wonderful Husband and Kyri took charge of making the succotash. Lunch was udon noodles in memmi broth, and for dinner we got pizza from Lui's, our local hole-in-the-wall which makes pretty tasty 'za.

Wonderful Husband and Kyri also rehung both skychairs (they found a spot for the one I thought would have to get packed away! I am amazed!) and dealt with various tasks for me, inside and out. Currently they're playing Soul Calibur 4. I finished the dress I was working on (discovering in the process that Mikaela-the-Singer-101 has stopped running; I will deal with finding the problem later, fortunately there was not much left to sew), the dishes are washed, time chart for tomorrow is done up, tables are extended and clothed... time for me to go to bed and dream of someday having a kitchen with multiple ovens.

All Proceeds Apace

Sweet potato biscuits done. Turkey in the oven. Dry stuffing sits on the counter, ready to go in later. Giblets simmering atop the stove for gravy. Mashed potatoes, cornbread, whipped cream, green beans, and carrots to happen later.

This Was (Mostly) A Triumph

Am hitting the post successful holiday crash. It is not helped by my feet hurting. But all the dishes are washed (thanks to my mom and aunt and Kyri), the tables put back to their normal positions, napkins and tablecloths going through the wash, and the fridge, of course, packed with leftovers. At least my aunt took some! My parents have their fridge stuffed with other leftovers, and thus refused. My part of the menu:

turkey (22 pounds is apparently bigger than my pan really fits; next time I'll get one of those disposable aluminum pans)
stuffing, both wet and dry (Mrs. Cubbinson's Herb, with a chub each of Jimmy Dean's hot and sage sausages crumbled in)
giblet gravy
mashed potatoes
sweet potato biscuits
cornbread (recipe is a clone for House of Blues' old rosemary cornbread)
succotash
chunky cranberries
jellied cranberries (I seem to have finally hit on a winning recipe for this)
glazed carrots
steamed green beans
whipped cream and vanilla ice cream to go with dessert

My aunt and uncle brought drinks, and my mother brought both pumpkin and berry pies. Nine people in total, and no one went away hungry. I did not end up in a food coma; I had a little bit of everything, and limited myself to one plateful. I did end up having to ask for more help toward the end than I really wanted to, but that's life. Next time I'll try to plan/prep things better.