The adventures and misadventures of preparing for our third Thanksgiving

It all was going fine,
this past Saturday morning.
Sunny, I was happy and cutting my loaf of
newly baked artisan bread for
bread crumbs to make
what I still hope will be dubbed
the best stuffing we've ever had
since it's a fancy made-from-scratch variety.
*
Then everything fell apart for a bit of time.
I spilled almost half of the noodles for our lunch
in the sink instead of in the colander.
The sauce to go with them was thin, runny
and bland.
I was suddenly doing too much at once and
my peace broke into shards.
We ate our half-hazard lunch,
Mr. Husband valiantly went grocery shopping
and then the Epic Fail that was to be our
soup broth
was discovered.
The broth that a few days ago in the crock pot smelled
wondrous had become a unmitigated disaster.
Horrid taste, smell and even looked bad.
I had to throw it all out,
breaking Mr. Husband's Dutch Heart.
Mr. Husband's phone somehow had the volume turned off
and he did not get my calls to him
to ask him to buy at least 8 cups of chicken stock
while he was at the larger of the two local grocers.
He had to go out again to our nearby
you-can-walk-to-it store
with the trusty red cart.
He also came back with this pizza for dinner:

He knows I don't like meat on my pizza and wisely
choose this one, half pepperoni, half cheese.
My Mr. Husband is brave, valiant and did more
than save the day.
He saved my butternut squash soup,
which I can say happily
tasted wonderful when all was said and done
(I tasted tested it). 

I made this apple pie yesterday.
Mr. Husband helped muchly with it.
I realized that my toaster oven has a 'warmer' function
so I plan on warming this pie in it come late this afternoon.
French Vanilla Ice Cream is in the freezer.
The list of all that needs to be done today is numbered and waiting.

Je suis Canadienne.
My little Canadian Flag is on display.

 

My kitchen as of this morning.
You know,
I really love this kitchen.
*
I have a list of all I need to do to be ready for tonight;
the chickens are already prepared with
butter, onions, garlic, and fresh thyme and
are resting in the fridge till 5 pm.
*
Mr. Husband is at work.
I already have all of the serving dishes out for tonight's meal.
Mr. Husband has been telling me that maybe I don't need such
elaborate meals and since it is for Thanksgiving Dinner
I did not think it elaborate
but he said we have at least 8 dishes of food we are serving;
I am not one for counting things per say and told him
no, it can't be that many and then looked at my menu.
Sure enough,
he was right.
*
I am hoping to do an early American / late Canadian dinner
with an organicTurkey and already found the recipe for it.
I've never done a Turkey and will get a small one
(not sure what small in Turkey size means yet)
and so last night I was already making a menu for this,
with more than half of it being pre-made
so that Mr. Husband will see that I can do it both ways;
it's my way of making up for the epic soup stock disaster.
We've both agreed that while I will try to make soup broth
again, I will have soup stock ready in the pantry as a backup.
*
We've also realized that I need to have things like
a good thick pizza and other quick pre-made or
ready to be reheated leftovers ready
when I am spending a day in the kitchen doing prep for
dinner parties that are, admittedly, more elaborate.
*
It's a real learning curve as most of my Ottawa dinner
parties were more a shared event of everyone
bringing a dish, or a bottle of wine or a
delicious dessert.
*
I do have help with this meal but
one couple could not due to travel help out this time.
Anyway, it's a great learning experience, I love being in the kitchen
and am really excited for tonight!
It's been great also to learn what I can make in advance to have the day of
a more calm enjoyable experience!
*
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving everyone!
And for all on the old calendar,
blessed Feast of the Protection of the Theotokos!