My Mom and I once, and only once, got up at like 3:30 in the morning about 15 years ago to get to Best Buy to buy me my first computer.  If I remember correctly the sale price was around $500, which was cheap back then, and each store only guaranteed 10 computers per store.

We waited in line for probably three hours before the doors opened.  And then we see a guy park his car and walk right in the front door without even questioning the long line of people to his left!  We knew where the computer department was and I remember running, not because I was that excited about possibly getting my own computer, but everyone around me was running so it was run or get run over.

In the end, we did get the computer, but we both vowed we would never do it again.  Even after telling Hannah this story, this did not deter her.  We have a 24 hour Wal-Mart, but they had great sales starting at 10:00 p.m.  So Hannah get her shopping face on and left around 9:45.

I guess she got back home around midnight – she said people were pretty crazy, and they changed the location of things, so DVD’s that she wanted were in the garden dept.  One of the things she was trying to get for me was a small electric chopper – sometimes there are times when I don’t need to drag out my heavy food processor.  Just as she was about to reach for one, a woman takes her arm and scoops all 20 into her basket.  So crazy!  In the end she said it was worth it, she got some other things. šŸ˜€

We had a wonderful, laid back Thanksgiving yesterday.  Usually I try to make really complicated dishes that take days to prepare in advance.  This year not only did I not have time, but my energy was tapped out.  I didn’t even start to cook anything for thanksgiving dinner until 10:00 a.m. yesterday!

On our menu?

  • smoked turkey breast with a spicy rub
  • pork loin with lemons
  • tater tot casserole (Hannah makes it every year – its amazing!)
  • mashed potatoes
  • sausage stuffing
  • gravy
  • cheddar drop biscuits
  • pecan pie
  • pumpkin pie

For the turkey I made this dry rub:

  • 1 tablespoon dry mustard
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
  • 1.5 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1.5 teaspoons onion powder (left out because we hate onions!)
  • 1.5 teaspoons celery salt
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

I only used about 1/4 of the dry rub because our turkey breast was only 4 1/2 pounds.  We smoked it with hickory wood chips – and we also used the water pan so it steamed and cooked the turkey at the same time.  The smoker is low and slow – it took about 3 hours to cook, the last half hour I removed the water pan.  It was so tender and juicy!

Then we did a ham/pork on the gas grill with lemons, salt and pepper.  I threw out the wrapper, not exactly what cut this is, but it really tasted more like a pork roast then a traditional ham – still very tasty – and only $8 for this whole thing!

But I have to tell you, even though we had all this delicious food on the table, what I really wanted was . . . PIE!  I found these little non-stick pie pans at a thrift store.  I only had 3 so I had to make two batches, but they came right out of the pans.

Wanna know the secret to my pie crust??  BUTTER!

Best Pie Crust – enough for two 9 inch pies or 8 mini pies

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons half and half
  • 3/4 cups butter (1 1/2 sticks!)
  • 1/4 cup ice cold water (plus up to 4 tablespoons depending on how it feels)

I put the flour and salt on a big mat.  Make a well in the center and then add the cream.

Then using my bench scraper, I bring the flour into the middle and run the sharp edge of the bench scraper back and forth breaking up the pieces of butter – then slowly add the water and keep cutting the water and flour together – this process takes about 10 minutes, but its worth it.  Then I dump the mixture into a bowl – you know its the right consistency when the dough holds together and isn’t crumbly or too wet.

I made the traditional Libby’s pumpkin pie recipe.  I should have halved the recipe because now I have a huge jar of pumpkin pie filling!  I’ll have to be creative with that leftover! šŸ˜€

Fill the pies and for the pumpkin, I baked at 425 for 15 minutes, reduced the heat to 350 and cooked another 20 minutes, or until the middle is set.

Doesn’t that look so cute??  For the pecan pies, I baked at 350 for 30 minutes.

Tony said that I should never buy refrigerated dough again – this one is the best!  So we had six people at our Thanksgiving table, each person got half a pumpkin and half a pecan pie.  The best part though?  No leftover pie!  We had our indulgence and are moving on.

I would say our theme for the day yesterday was simple and low key – and it was wonderful!  Just missed having my Momma at our table. šŸ™

Hannah is going to be spending the day with my Mom today – I will go tomorrow in the hopes that’s the day she gets to go home.  I have a few projects I want to do this weekend – first is going through the 1,000s of pictures on my computer that I need to delete, and laundry needs to get done.

I think we are going out to lunch today and going to see the Muppets – is anyone else going to see that movie?  My Dad loved that show and we watched it every Sunday night growing up.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  I plan on going to WW tomorrow since I missed last week.  My goal is that I maintained since exercise was not in the picture this week!