Thanksgiving and Maia's New Room

We decided to order a turkey from Clifford Farm's this Thanksgiving--and what better thanksgiving turkey than PEKING TURKEY?? I (Ben) decided that it would actually be a good idea to try a fusion thanksgiving and made Peking Turkey with Lo Mai Gai stuffing. This task started on Tuesday when I picked up the turkey at 2:00 PM. I received a turkey in a trash bag, freshly killed. It was an interesting experience to say the least as I'm used to neatly packaged dead animals. Anyway, wednesday, I started to prepare the turkey by separating the skin from the fat (you don't want to know how) and glazing it with a mixture of soy sauce, red vinegar, honey (and others). This went on in the basement (see pics) and when thursday morning came around, I started cooking this beast.
All in all, it worked out fair...I learned a lot of things about turkey preparation (and how it differs fairly significantly from duck preparation) as well as a few reasons as to why fusion cuisine should be used in very limited situations (family holiday's not being one of them).




Ashley did brave Robert's Crafts for a 50% off Christmas tree on Black Friday. It may have been worth it. Maia was happy, she got a pink balloon and we were there less than 15 minutes. Maia has been asking us to buy a tree for about a month. She also talked us into decorating the tree, the little rascal.



We also had a great dinner with some of Ashley's family at Settebello. We really need to get the cousins together for climbing!

Maia's room is DONE! We have been working on it a lot in the previous two weeks and surprised her with a completed bedroom on Saturday. We (Joan, Ashley, and Ben) felt like we were on one of those reality TV shows where they are still painting when the family has arrived at their 'new' house because that is literally what we were doing when Lois was putting Maia in the car to come over. When Maia got came in her bedroom door, we were waiting and said, "Surprise!" She really was surprised. It took her a minute to get comfortable enough to start looking around. She noticed and pointed at everything. Later that night, she asked to go to bed at 5pm, just so she go hang out in her room! We are happy that she loves it so much!!
We definitely owe some thanks to her bedroom contributers!
Kenny and Leo, who spent 2 days working on adding support and drywall to a hole in the ceiling and working on really bad electronics.
Joan, who made the curtains and bedspread without a pattern, contributed the twin bed frames, and helped to paint the butterflies and flower in her room.
Lois, who watched Maia for many hours while we were busy working on the room.
Papa Jake, who expertly helped Ben build the bookshelves.
Ben, who spent days cleaning, puttying, sanding, and painting.
THANKS A BUNCH!!!