From Texas To China With Love

This was our first Thanksgiving at the Bay House. Scott and I were planning on having Thanksgiving at the "city house", but after some thought and a few calls to our guest, we all agreed it would be a nice change. Most of the guest traveled from Austin and one from Texarkana. Imagine driving your ass off for a Thanksgiving meal?

I planned everything down to a "T" and made everything from scratch, except the dinner rolls. Dinner rolls were the self rising kind, but they have their own challenges. One year the rolls came out dense and flat. Another time they came out too hard and you could knock someone out with it. I made almost everything half way cooked on Wednesday and spent Thursday cooking the food. I wasn't stressed at all because I planned well. Scott and I celebrate Thanksgiving lunch rather than dinner. This year we invited family from both sides. This was the first time many have met or seen each other since our wedding. Everyone got their fill and family laughed about nothing and everything.

After we stuffed ourselves like turkeys, the the women watched movies (and stared out the window looking at the water) and the men went to the pier and fished their Thanksgiving meals away. Here is a picture of my stepdad with a sheepshead he caught.



















I don't know why that type of fish is called that, but I think it makes a "baa" sound in the water. After snapping this picture, he released it. The men fished until the sun went down which was about 6pm. Then our guest made the mad dash for leftovers to fill their tummy before the long drive home. We didn't have any food left over. Mom was very impressed with my cooking skills. Wish I had a picture of all the food I made. I was engrossed with the cooking and the men were so engrossed in fishing while waiting for the food to hit the table that no one remembered to take pictures of the food, the guest, or generic chef.

As the guest departed, we looked out toward the water and saw dusk. This was one of the best Thanksgiving get togethers my family has ever had. The weather was a lovely upper 70's and not too windy. We even had all the windows open in the house to breath in the nice sea breeze. They were relaxed and I WAS relaxed. I think we will do this again next year.