Pot-Luck Palooza

Thanksgiving usually means a lot of food. Usually it also means a lot of reallllly good food.
And that is awesome.
But this year I got three times the fun, because I had 2 thanksgiving pot-lucks prior to the actual big day. Just getting my stomach progressively more expanded in order to be ready for the inevitable ridiculous amounts of food my mother prepared.
First, the recent grads pot-luck at our church. My crew spent the vast majority of the day chillin out at Em's place, watching football, and cooking. And let me tell you what, we have some burgeoning male chefs in my little group. I was thoroughly impressed. Our compiled contribution: green bean casserole, potato casserole, cheese grits, gravy, smashed potatoes, fudge, apple crisp, fancy-schmancy Emily salad, aaand I think that's it. We actually considered that we could just stay at Em's place and have our own dinner. Add onto that the food brought by the other 25 people who attended, and you have a royal feast. Now, I must give a shout out to the guy who brought Chicken McNuggets. Mmmm, maybe about 50 of them. No, I'm not even kidding. Now that's ballsy.
And the guy who made homemade pecan pie, um, well, you can make me homemade pies anytime you want. Oh man, it was a gooood night.

Then last Monday we had our office Thanksgiving pot-luck. Only, our office manager doesn't like to "compete" with our "real" Thanksgiving, so we have an alternative Thanksgiving theme. Last year it was Texas BBQ... this year it was Australia. This is because our guest speaker for our Monday lunch was Australian. And our resident Aussie, Dan, got to order all the food. Ok, so basically they ordered in enough Australian food to feed all of us. And on top of it we all brought in a dish. It was madness. For this feast, I must say that Andrew's apple pie with a homemade crust that had "EA" written out of dough wins. However, Jesse takes the cake for ballsy contribution with his White Castle Crave Case. Yes, that would be 50 mini-hamburgers from White Castle. And to think we thought he was kidding.
I ate Australian meat pies for every meal the entire week.

And last, but certainly not least, my first Thanksgiving meal in my parent's new home. What a feast it was. 13 of us in our new dining room, with a 19 pound turkey and alllll the trimmings. Oh, what joy. And this year I was particularly excited and thankful to be home, after my whirlwind first 4 months in New York. Living here really has put a great deal into perspective, not least of which is how much I value my family, friends, and so many blessings that I have been given each and every day. We would do well to take stock of these more often. And the holiday season is off with a bang.