Cookin for Twelve

When Andrew and I were first dating, it was a bit of a culture shock eating dinner with his family. I'm a Southern girl, so I'm used to white bread, ground beef, fried foods...you know, the delicious, artery cloggin' food. It was just something different to get used to. I had never had ground turkey before, and I will be honest, I absolutely 100% did not like it when I first tried it. It was just...different.

I had to show them how it's done Southern-style. I remember going to the store with Andrew, and the main thing I wanted to cook for them was BBQ ribs. That's the one thing I had mastered with cooking. I could make some mean ribs. We hit up the grocery store, and of course, the prices were higher. I bought like 4 racks of ribs thinking it would be enough. Chile...

I cooked for what seemed like hours! haha! I don't even remember what sides we had because the main focus was on the ribs. I'll tell ya this, I probably should have cooked more. There was Ma, Pa, Andrew, Me, Anita, Lane, Bri Bevan, and Bette. Do you know how much 9 grown-almost grown people eat? Goodness gracious. Bones were licked so clean, though, that I felt mighty proud of myself.

Now I haven't been home for Thanksgiving in about 5 years. I can't believe it's been that long, but it has. If I can't go to Georgia for Thanksgiving; I'm just going to bring Southern Thanksgiving to the desert. This time, I'll be cooking for twelve. It would be more folks, but they're living in Utah. My menu plan: collard greens, potato salad, macaroni & cheese, deviled eggs, cornbread, banana pudding, and a sweet potato pie. Somebody else will have to make the turkey and ham. I think I'll be quite busy.

I remember, growing up, my Bigma would be busy in the kitchen the night before Thanksgiving. It just made Thanksgiving day flow better because the food was already done. I'm hoping to do the same. So exciting! My stomach is growling just thinking about it. Praying that it'll turn out alright! Of course, I'll take pics!