2013: Thanksgiving with the Clarks

Thanksgiving was a wonderful reunion for the Clarks. Family began arriving on Wednesday evening. Grandpa Clark then Dave, and Lanell arrived just in time for a dinner of carne asada, pollo asada, authentic crema mexicana, salsas, guacamole and spanish rice. Then Will arrived with his 3 kids (Rebecca, Emi, and Liam) just before midnight. We bunked 7 of the 8 kids together in the room behind the kitchen. There were 3 twin beds and 2 full-size floor beds all laid out side by side in the kids room. Grandpa slept in Nikki's room, Will slept in Jay's room, and Dave and Lanell stayed at a nearby hotel.

For our Thanksgiving meal, I made some croissants which turned out the best I've ever made them so far (so I was pleased). I cooked the turkey and it was average good. Jonny made some really fabulous mashed potatoes. Dave and Lanell prepared a very gourmet green salad. We forgot to cook the corn and open a can of cranberry sauce but we had plenty to fill our bellies. Will provided all the disposable plates and cups which cut down on dishes all weekend. Grandpa Clark brought two versions of honey pie and a chocolate chip pie.

The honey pie is a recipe that has filtered down through the Crandall line on Lee's side of the family and we can only speculate that it might just have originated in Rhode Island with the first Crandalls because there are vast cranberry bogs located at the original homestead. Here's the recipe for safekeeping:

HONEY PIE

1 cup fresh cranberries
1 cup raisins
1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream

Mix together until sugar dissolves then pour into a pie crust and bake at 375 until bubbly (about 30 minutes)

One of the honey pies was made with blueberries, golden raisins, and pecans while the other was the traditional cranberries and dark raisins but also with nuts. I didn't care for honey pie initially in the beginning of my marriage but have grown to like it over the years and could now easily eat a pie on my own. There was of course plenty of other pies including lemon meringue (another Clark favorite).

For activities, I did some sewing with the kids (scripture cases for Will's kids), the kids rode bikes, played the Wii, petted chickens, played legos, etc. Jonny took the older kids and adults shooting on Friday while Lanell and I went shopping and the younger kids had a babysitter. We enjoyed getting to know each other better. Saturday, we played some more Wii while Jonny and his Dad fixed the gas tank on the blue truck. Then we went to the Wetlands park and then on a short hike to the Mormon Battalion monument. The kids kept busy and pretty much conflict-free all weekend.

We played oreo trivia and tested everyone on family then on math. Will has a good memory for dates and could name every grandkids' birthdate. In competition for the last cookie, we played the alphabet game naming everything for which we were thankful. Nikki won with 36 consecutive memorized items. Will and Emi were a close 2nd and 3rd.