degroff, party of 9

today i learned that hosting 9 people for easter dinner is a lot of work.

but it was so worth it. i could think of no better way to spend the day that we celebrate the resurrection of our lord and savior Jesus Christ.

we woke up early, got dressed in our "sunday best" (i got to wear my new dress!), and went to church with my in-laws. it was a beautiful, uplifting service with incredible worship and an awesome message. then my in-laws took us out for a quick brunch (my favorite meal to eat out), and after a gorgeous, windows-down drive through west reading, we arrived home around 11:30.

which is when the real work began. even though i spent a good part of yesterday getting some of the prep work out of the way, including shoving the leaves in our dining room table, hard boiling the eggs, chopping the veggies, and making the bruschetta, there was a lot left to do. my saint of a husband began cleaning right away as i started my gf bread in the bread machine, deviled the eggs, scrubbed and chopped the potatoes, unloaded the dishwasher, etc etc etc. i was rolling along, right on schedule, things were great.

and then it was turkey time. i have to say, it actually went surprisingly smoothly. i pulled that 17 pound bird out of the fridge and plopped it right in the freshly rinsed sink. after reading the on-the-label instructions for the 23rd time (just to make sure), i pulled the trash can over and proceeded to unwrap it. i found the neck inside first, and then searched all over the place for the giblets. i even stuck my hand inside that sucker and felt around before i figured out that they were at the other end of him. ew. i know you can use them to make soup or other... things... but for me, the only place they belonged was the garbage. the next step was to rinse, at which point i felt like i was bathing one very large, very grotesque infant, but i did it anyway, and then plopped it right on down in the roaster. i put some water in the bottom of the pan, slathered him up with butter, tented him with foil, and popped him right on in the oven.

and from then on, it was smooth sailing. the turkey came out brown and crispy outside, juicy and tender inside, the mashed potatoes were flavorful, and even the crescent rolls i did for my hubby (the only non gluten free item) came out golden brown and soft (and luckily, got eaten all up so i didn't have to worry about storing them). i did, however, begin to feel very anxious, shaky, and light headed while i was rolling them out because all i could think of was that my hands were covered in bread dough, a psychological reaction that thoroughly surprised me. after getting them in the oven and washing my hands about 18 times, however, i was good to go. and even though i didn't sit down for more than 10 minutes to eat my own dinner, i couldn't have been happier. i was surrounded by the people i love, and who loved me enough to make yummy noises from the time they walked in ("wow it smells great in here!") to the time they left, my husband couldn't get enough (which i love), and everyone seemed to have a genuinely good time.

so with a heating pad on my very sore back, and sam on my very swollen feet, i am announcing that my first holiday dinner was a success.

the next one will have to wait for a year, until i regain my energy.

*sidenote: today, i also learned that you can control the color of your hydrangeas by changing the acidity of your soil. there's just no good story to go with it. i'm considering planting some hydrangeas behind our deck now, although hopefully tomorrow i will learn how to go about changing the acidity of my soil so i actually can control their color.