Late XMas Post

This year I was in charge of Christmas dinner. We decided that because my apt is bigger we'd do it there. The pot got sweeter, no pun intended, when I told my mom that I would be cooking everything. Everything, meaning my very first turkey. This is no small feat. I was horrified at hearing the tales of turkey nightmares, it seems that everyone's first turkey turns out to be a disaster. I was determined that I was not going to allow that to happen.

As the days drew closer to the big day, I went to buy my turkey so that it could defrost and be ready for game time. At that point (the Monday before Christmas) I had my turkey and the cheese for the once a year mac and cheese and the cream cheese for the frosting for my very first red velvet cake. Nothing else had been purchased yet. I am a last minute sort of gal (especially when it comes to spending $$). The Wednesday before is when I felt my heart drop down to my knees. I don't live close to a good supermarket; the Fine Fare up the block doesn't count. Pathmark is my best bet when it comes to heavy duty shopping and they have the best hours (they are open for 24 hours). Well on this Christmas Eve, the bastards decided to close at 7 pm (expletive)!!! I got there at 7:18. To say that I was shocked and on the verge of tears is an understatement. I just knew that I was going to get my stuff and go about my business, no such luck. My next option was the Super Stop and Shop. I saw a couple of people in the parking lot and you couldn’t tell me that they weren’t still open. Umm… wrong again. Those assholes closed at 7pm also. At this point I thought that Christmas dinner was going to be canceled. Or at the very least we would have a turkey lol. Then an angel said to me, CTown is still open. I had no idea where it was but I took my ride or die bish (shopping cart) on the bus and went to find the beacon of hope. When I got there it looked closed and I felt the tears welling up. I began to kick myself for waiting to the last minute. But then I turned the corner and the magical doors opened. I wanted to do a dance of joy, I was so happy. It's not a super store, but hell they had what I needed.

Once I got home I proceeded to cook after resting for an hour because once I start, I don't stop until I am close to finish. For events such as this, I do all of my prep work the night before so that all I have to do is throw the food in the oven or on top of the stove. The menu was serious and was going to take a lot of work.

It was very brave of me to embark on this endeavor. But I did it. The food was GREAT. I made my mother congratulate herself on teaching me how to cook lol. The turkey was a hit (toot toot). It wasn't dry, when I cut it open it didn't start bleeding, the giblets weren't left on the inside, mom was pleased. She was the one that scared me the most. And is the hardest to please. When I got her approval that did it for me. My mother is the type that will not lie to me just because she's my mother. She's my toughest critic, next to myself of course.

*Side note: one of my besties that attended even ate some turkey and she's a vegetarian lol. All the friends that had food liked it and that made my little nurturing Cancer self happy.

All in all if I had to do it again, I would. It was a good experience for me. I've cooked major meals before but this was definitely a test of the wills. I have battle scars to prove (true test of someone that's in the kitchen a lot: burns, blisters and cuts).

On that note, thanks for reading and I hope that your holiday was pleasant.

I hope that your New Year is going GREAT!

The menu:
Herb butter roasted turkey
Roast Beef (my first one also, not bad at all)
Mac and cheese
String beans w/ turkey bacon (vegetarian friend who eats turkey bacon and other friends that don't eat pork -good compromise)
Cabbage
Yams w/ marshmallows
Potato Salad (the best ever)
Mom's Ham
Homemade Red Velvet Cake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting (very first time making)

This was proposal worthy food if I must say so myself.