Over the River and through the Woods to Kade's House I went

It's been two weeks now, so I had better get on the ball with this posting about my Thanksgiving. Since my best friend and I were too poor to fly back to Utah, we decided to stay on the east coast (I actually consider North Carolina the South, even though it is on the coast) and have Thanksgiving. To add to the fun, our favorite 5th-grade school teacher from Tucson, AZ, Cammie Jan. Flew out to meet us. So, the day before Thanksgiving I headed south, down I-95, with about one million other people. Traffic was miserable until I got past Richmond, but ultimately I made it to Raleigh on Wednesday evening.

Cammie Jan wasn't set to get in until Thursday night, so this meant that our dinner wouldn't be held until Saturday. So I had a very traditional Thanksgiving feast on Thursday that consisted of a breakfast from Bojangles (bo-berry(sp?) biscuits of course). That afternoon, Kade and I went to the gym, while I was running, Kade futzed around, listening to his "Gospel Walking" CD and "worked out" on multiple pieces of equipment. By work out, I mean rode the bike for three minutes, used his hand as a fan complaining about the heat, and got some water, then repeated a similar routine on the eliptical trainer and the other treadmill. All that exercise served us well for our dinner, which consisted of Sweet and Sour Chicken, and General Tso's Chicken from Chinatown Express for Kade and me respectively. For dessert, hot fudge sundaes from McDonalds. See what I mean--traditional. Cammie Jan arrived safely that evening. And the next day, she and I went running in the moring while Kade went to his place of employment. That afternoon, we attempted to take advantage of Black Friday sales. I bought the least, purchasing two ties from Belks.

On Saturday, after Kade and Cammie got up around noon, we got to preparing out meal. In true southern style, Kade and I donned our mullets and got to work--however, if it were true southern style, the mulleted men would be on the couch the entire time watching football and drinking beer--but I digress.

Oh what a feast we had. The menu (prepared by Kade), consited of:

Appetizers:
Blue Cheese-Ricotta Dip with Apples and Crackers
Seasoned Oyster Crackers
Bread:
Whole Wheat Yeast Rolls
Sides &Vegetables:
Orange Cranberry Sauce
Orange Scented Green Beans
Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta
Sweet Potato Casserole
Mashed Red Potatoes with Brown Gravy
Main Course:
Peach Glazed Cornish Game Hens with Cranberry Cornbread Stuffing
Turkey Cutlets with Pan Gravy
Desserts:
Miniature Lime Curd and Meringue Tarts

Too much food for all of us, but hey, that's what Thanksgiving is all about right?

This posting couldn't be complete without a mention of our little furry friend, Matza. She was our very needy helper in the kitchen.

So, that's that. I spent Thanksgiving with some of my favorite people, and had some tasty vittals--only a couple of days late. It would have been nice to be with my family, but in my humble opinion, having Thanksgiving with your best friends when you can't make it home is almost as good (and in this case, maybe even tastier).

P.S. I will make a mention that I did watch a football game during the meal preparation. However, I did my part to help out.