Turkey Day 2011

We started the day with some power walking at the Mesa Turkey Trot. And I do like to think that Enoch and I burned a few calories by walking fairly quickly with two kids in tow on the two mile course. It was an overcast and cool morning--perfect for getting out there with the thousands of other people.

My brother, who is sporting his Shamrock Run shirt, ran the 10K. He's a runner. He runs marathons and stuff. He finished the 10K in a little under 48 minutes giving himself an average of 7:47 per mile. This was a personal best for him for a 10K, and he was pretty happy about it. I know I was impressed. I don't know that I have ever run a mile that fast, and he ran six of them. You definitely earned your Thanksgiving meal, Mark! :)

As we were leaving, we ran into a real live turkey walking around. Asher was fascinated. Mark snapped a picture that has some random kid in it we don't know. But let's focus on that big bird! He was pretty massive. I wonder what poundage this turkey would be on somebody's table. It really makes me think a little differently about the food I eat--for a minute or two.

Don't worry, we still managed to eat turkey later in the day. In fact, I brined a turkey this year. It was some work to do, but it was good. It should have been, though with the amount of butter that was also slathered on and injected into it. Unbelievably, Enoch doesn't know that it was worth the effort. I would tend to disagree because I'm a believer that things are hardest when you first try them. Having done it once, I think it would be easier to replicate. I have some idea of what I'm doing now. Too bad it will probably be a year until I try it again.

Our crowd was a bit small this year--Jill and her family, my dad, and then Mark and Mark came for dessert. There was plenty of food and no shortage of calories consumed. I made rolls, but not my mother's recipe. I elected to go with the Our Best Bites ladies rolls because I think they are about as good and not quite so time consuming. I also made an apple pie. My sister Jill brought quite a few things, but as she says herself, "I don't cook. I just assemble." Maybe I tried to hard, but I like to challenge myself in the kitchen sometimes. :)

I am thankful for good family, food to eat, a warm home, and to have so many fabulous people in my life among many other things. Life is good.