It is the Turkey Day month again. Oddly enough (or maybe not?), I’m actually not much of a fan of turkey. I’m much more of a stuffing guy. I’m certainly in the minority at the house and each year everyone raves about the birds Mere cooks. Sophia decided she is split between mashed potatoes and turkey. I’m also not much of a mashed potato guy… Anyways, not important. What is important is taking advantage of the time carved out on the calendar and having a feast with whatever family the geographic area can produce. While Christmas is by far my favorite holiday, looking back on the last few years we seem to have more dependably hosted Turkey Day festivities which has been awesome.

Since moving back to the NoVA area, we have been fortunate enough to have visitors for the past three years (here, here, and here if you want to walk down memory lane). This year marked year number four of visitors, smiles, and good food!

Prep time began with Phil gone for a few days on a work trip (whoops) but I’ll be honest, Meredith does most of the heavy lifting around here for Thanksgiving anyways… The visitors started trickling in and the house filled up with laughter. Thursday was a busy day of carefully managed cook times (we miss the double oven) but everything came out fantastic and we even managed to get all 10 faces into the camera frame and smiling. Victory.

As is always the case, Thanksgiving weekend included the annual screening of the seventeen-time Oscar winning film “Home Alone,” plenty of leftovers (I make stuffing sandwiches), and bedtime stories from Mumsie (some tired adults don’t make it through the story).

After the Rhode Island crew departed, (and after some coaxing) Mumsie decided a carrot cake would be a delightful way to celebrate her birthday. Will and I whipped up the two cakes (over a half pound of carrots!) and cream cheese frosting; Mere and Sophia handled the detail work, complete with carrots; and everyone sang once the candle was lit. How was it you ask? Magnifique!