I cooked all day and all I got was a belly ache

My kitchen is finally lit again (hooray!) and I celebrated by cooking an entire Thanksgiving dinner for 7 completely from scratch- no tube biscuits, boxed stuffing or canned cranberry sauce. Being a lazy perfectionist, I wouldn't have it any other way, but I must say I am exhausted and don't wish to peel another potato until next year. The fam. seemed to enjoy my over-rated meal. By the time I sat down to eat, my mother and father-in-law had already finished one plateful and were going for a second. Good sign.

The one dish that I really didn't want to make was the hit of the table. No it wasn't snotty green beans (yuck x2) it was the sweet potatoes swimming in butter and brown sugar topped with caramelized marshmallows. I was planning to make the sweet potatoes with apples and craisins but I was outnumbered by a bunch who is just counting the days until diabetes sets it. The turkey was excellent too if I dare toot my own horn. I tried a new bird technique this year. I coated the turkey in salt (2 cups) and refrigerated for 2 days prior to Thanksgiving then washed the bird and did the usual seasoning and sage rub and cooked the whole business in an oven bag. Holy crap, that was the juiciest most flavorful turkey I have ever tasted. I will definitely be doing that again next year. Thank You Martha Stewart.

Hope all of you had a great holiday and didn't get trampled while shopping today. Yikes! I ventured out to hit a few sales and soon realized that I had made a horrible mistake. I should have thrown in the towel when only 5 minutes into the first store we had to find the nearest bathroom. Then the fighting- oh the fighting, and I'm not talking about the women hovering over the bargain bin, no no, it was my children.

I really wanted to find a bedding set because I knew that I would be able to find a great deal today. I found what I wanted but it happened to be perched up on the highest shelf of the completely crowded Boston Store. I wanted to just climb up and get it myself, but my oldest accused my of being unsafe (who me?) so I wandered around the packed store in search of someone to get it down for me. Luckily all of the employees were wearing ridiculous reindeer antlers, making them easier to spot. the woman threw down my huge comforter set and off I went now carrying this heavy over-sized bag, dragging 2 bored children behind me. I then found some bed pillows at a great price so I grabbed those with my one free hand, children now on their own and still fighting. Then I thought, I can still carry something in mouth, so I better see if I can find some matching throw pillows while I'm already in holiday shopping hell. Found the pillows, filled the trunk, and headed home.

Next year if I decide to do this again, I will be hiring a sitter.

Anyone else shop today?

Oh, and what do you think of my pink ceiling? It matches my dishes (Desert Rose- my grandmother's pattern) that I have used to decorate my kitchen. It's only paint and I can always change it, but for now I think it's pretty and unexpected.