Where were we?

Ah, yes, the big feast. If you’re a Fox Trot fan, you’ll know that Peter’s yearly ritual is to starve himself the day before so he’ll have more room for all the goodies on Thanksgiving itself. I confess that I neglected to eat Thursday while all the prep was going on – but I did weigh in today at a whopping 108, so all this food has been put to good use.

Little Boy was on the smoker, doing well.

Since we are a seafood-loving family, we broke out some shrimp and gave them a wash…

…then gave them a bath in water, beer, and Old Bay.

After they were done and cooled, I peeled all of them down to their little tails and Aubrey made the cocktail sauce. We also peeled pounds of potatoes…

…Mom made the base of the sweet potato souffle…

…and The Boy assembled Mom’s pie dough and my apples.

I finished off the crab-stuffed mushrooms – this is prior to each cap being covered in a round of provolone.

Fat Man was ready for his closeup.

Little Boy was resting after a grueling day on the smoker.

The cats remained unimpressed.

Truly.

It isn’t as if we needed their help, though. After all, we had done this:

And this:

And this:

Carved some ham:

And in general, just had food for an army of 20 or so.

The aftermath…

That evening, after pushing food on everyone as they left, breaking down the tables, cleaning up the kitchen, and packing up what food was left, it was time to relax, belly full, in front of a roaring fire.

It was a grand day. If you’re reading this and you weren’t here…why weren’t you here?

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.