Monday, November 27, 2017

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap

My favorite holiday of the year has come and gone! Here's how I spent my 4-day weekend!

On Thursday we gathered at my brother's to celebrate Thanksgiving. My parents and both my brothers and their families were there. So it was a 'smallish' group (13 total - when my whole family is together there's 19 of us!).

My nephews Matthew (9) and Kolin (10)
We waited until after the Vikings/Lions game to eat (the Vikings won but they made it a nail-biter, as they are wont to do). We had quite the spread! My mom made some GF stuffing for me. Stuffing is probably my favorite Thanksgiving dish so I appreciate that she always makes me own little crockpot of stuffing. I brought the vegetable tray and dips and this brussel sprout salad (which is so good!).


After dinner we lazed around. My dad made a blanket out of newspapers because he was a bit chilly. What can I say - he's a quirky guy. He claims that he felt warmer covered in newspapers. My dad and I are both always cold but I opted for a blanket!


On Thursday night I came down with a flare in my knee. I've never had a flare in that joint before. It was very painful and made it difficult to sleep on Thursday night. So I was very glad that my mom had planned to come over on Friday afternoon to help me prep for the dinner I hosted for my family that evening. I was hobbling around since I couldn't put my full weight on my left leg, so I was very happy to have her help! I had made and froze a meat lasagna the previous weekend so she helped me make the veggie lasagna. Both turned out great!


Our house is really small - about 1300 square feet, so it was a little bit crowded with 12 guests, but we made it work!

The kids table!
My knee felt much better by Saturday morning so it was a short-lived flare. Since I was feeling better I spent the day turning 18 pounds of roasted tomatillos, which I harvested from my garden this summer, into salsa verde! It was kind of a putzy job since I had to chop a lot of onions and cilantro and I had to roast the garlic and jalapenos. But it was fun to spend some time in the kitchen.


With my mom's encouragement, I used the pressure cooker to can the salsa instead of using the hot water bath method. I have an Instant Pot and am not intimidated by that at all, but I was intimidated by the stove-top pressure cooker! After reading the instructions it didn't seem so bad. The Instant Pot had introduced me to how pressure cooking worked, so it was less intimidating. And I knew my mom was only a phone call away if I needed help!


The first batch of process jars
By 3:30 pm I was done and had canned 12 1.5 pint jars of salsa. We are looking forward to enjoying these over the winter and will share some with my family at Christmas. I was really proud of myself for figuring out how to use the pressure cooker. I know my mom's mom, Grandma Val, would be so proud of me for carrying on the canning tradition. My mom grew up canning with her mom, and then I canned with my mom. Hopefully baby Segner will pick up this tradition and carry it on when he or she is an adult!

I was pretty wiped out after being on my feet for so long so I laid down on the couch and Oscar promptly jumped up for some snuggles. I think she knows something is going on in my belly as she kind of avoid sitting on my belly. When she does sit on my belly, the baby will kick!


I had leftovers for dinner and watched another Hallmark Holiday movie. Phil came home (he had spent the day at his mom's) when there was about 20 minutes left and figured out the plot line in about 5 minutes .  ;)  I know that Hallmark movies are predictable and cheesy but I just love them.

We settled in and watched Allied on Amazon Prime which was really good! It's set during WWII and is about a Canadian intelligence officer that begins to suspect that his wife is a German spy.

My loves
I'll talk about how I spent my Sunday in another post as it was a "shouldless day" for me. How was your weekend?

13 comments:

Marlys said...

I'm hungry all over again after seeing the pictures of our Thanksgiving meal! It was so good! I am so poor about taking pictures of family when we are together! It shouldn't be that hard when one is carrying their phone with them 24-7!
It was a great weekend and I really enjoyed our Friday afternoon together making lasagna. It is fun to have one on one time, and am thankful I got to meet "Zipper" the squirrel! LOL!

thetalove said...

The lasagna looks delicious! I'm glad your flare didn't last long, sounds like you made great use of your time over thanksgiving!

Carolina John said...

Happy thanksgiving! Glad you had such a fun time (with the flare exception)

Charbelle said...

I love Thanksgiving! All the food looks so amazing!!! I'm so sorry about the flare in your knee, that is awful!!! I'm glad it went away quickly!!! The lasagna looks SO delicious!!! I love that your family was able to come to spend time at your house, and your mom was there to help! Way to go on the salsa!!! I remember my mom using the pressure cooker and it's definitely intimidating!

Animals definitely know when you're pregnant! They have a sense about it! I'm glad that y'all had such a great holiday!!!

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

That is so nice that you got Friday off; we had to go into work and it definitely chops up the four day weekend! I am so glad that you figured out how to use the pressure canner. I got one several years ago and once I figured it out, I was hooked. I used mine to can beans and it really was so fast! It really cuts the canning time down significantly. Also, in this day and age, it is safer! The first batch of pickles I ever made, we just put the hot vinegar in and turned the jars upside down and voila, just the way grandma used to do it! But now, many new things have come to light!

Jeanie said...

They are predictable and cheesy and I watch them all the time. It's like guilty pleasures or eating potato chips. (Sometimes they go a little too far, I'll admit, but I've shed tears more than once!)

Your family is wonderful and I love how you are together. It looks so happy. Sorry you had to deal with the flair, though -- glad it was short-lived. You were so productive with the tomatillos! Bet they are terrific!

Nora said...

Hallmark (and Lifetime) Christmas movies are a staple in my house this time of year. Predictable? Yes. Does everyone always wear ivory or red and green? Yes. Do I love them? Yup!

Our weekend was different than we anticipated but it was lovely just the same. My favorite part was going to see The Man Who Invented Christmas - it was so good!

Gracie said...

Salsa looks amazing, and I still plan to try it roasted some time: I always make my salsa verde fresh, but roasted fruits sounds delicious.

Stephany said...

Looks like such a lovely Thanksgiving weekend for you - your last one without a baby to take care of! Wheeee. :)

I love Hallmark Christmas movies, too! I haven't watched any this year, though. They are harder to find without cable. Netflix has some cheesy options, I noticed. Those might be my only option - womp!

My Thanksgiving was SO wonderful and it was fun hosting it with my mom. We had a great spread and I was soooo full from all of it that I could barely stomach any dessert. The travesty!

Cherry Blossoms said...

The salsa/ sauce you made looks so good. Reminds me of the one Chris made during Whole 30!

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

Those lasagnas look amazing, and a brussels sprout salad sounds absolutely delicious! We watched one of those cheesy Christmas movies last night, and I swear they used a green screen for almost all the backgrounds, haha! It was cute though.

San said...

What a lovely Thanksgiving. I need those lasagna recipes! :)

Amber said...

Sounds like an amazing Thanksgiving weekend! Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday as well. I love the food and time with family without all the hoopla that comes with Christmas. I'm so glad your mom was able to help you with the veggie lasagna on Friday - that's fun you guys hosted all of your family.

Oh and the salsa verde looks AWESOME. I didn't get enough stuff from my garden this summer to do any canning. Hopefully next year!