I'm Ready for Food Network

Yep, you might have heard the rumors, I...Andrea Elizabeth Mitchell...did Thankgiving all by myself. I didn't spend it by myself...nope, I cooked it all, again...by myself!! I made the turkey, the dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes (minor disaster here), green bean casserole, corn, cranberry relish and rolls. It all actually turned out REALLY good, according to my husband and in-laws anyway. I feel pretty dang proud as I sit here in a clean kitchen with leftovers in the fridge...leftovers that are actually good enough to eat AGAIN!! The timing of everything will need to be honed over the next few times I try this feat, but I am still pretty impressed with myself...and my wonderful husband keeps telling me how proud he is of me...which doesn't hurt. I will tell you, getting up at 6am to stuff a bird that is cold and raw is NOT my idea of a holiday, but after we were all sitting down and eating it was totally worth it. I also know why chefs wear clothes that look silly but comfortable, especially the shoes...8 hours of cooking nearly killed me...oh, did I mention that I'm 7 months pregnant!! My son has decided to sit on a nerve in my hip and today I think he thought it was a good idea to dance on said nerve...silly boy. If we had hot water on the west side of our house I would be soaking in a bath instead of typing, but alas it's been 4 weeks now and we still haven't gotten anyone to fix our "issues" with that. Back to Thanksgiving...it went wonderful. The 5 of us talked and laughed and played with Ella, we ate a ton of food and watched some football...at least 2 of us took a nap (Andrea and Ella) and we just talked about how thankful we are for each other in specifics...Joe wanted to make sure and start that new tradition.

I feel like I should write a picture disclaimer...I'd been up for 8 hours cooking, mangaged to squeeze in a shower at some point, realize that I look 9 months prego when I'm not wearing makeup or have my hair done, not trying to impress the turkey at this point:

Mashed Pototoes whipped and ready for the table

The Bird ready to be carved

The last 3 deviled eggs...Joe started late on pictures

Sweet Potatoes On-Fire...okay, they weren't SUPPOSED to be on fire, but Joe fixed it and they ate them anyway...this totally freaked me out, we had FIRE shooting out of our oven! (Joe would like me to note that he stood calmly to the side, taking pictures, and then took the flaming dish out and fixed it)

Ella getting ready to consume her Thankgiving meal.