Texas Thanksgiving

I realize that Thanksgiving is long gone now and we have jumped head first into the Christmas season, but I’m just now getting around to unloading my camera of the pictures from Thanksgiving. This year I spent the day with a group of friends from Texas.

Because I work at a Chick-fil-A in a mall, and because the day after Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year for us, and because I didn't want to get fired for missing work, I stayed in Louisville rather than travel to the great state of Georgia for the holiday. My buddy Michael Riedl invited me to a Texas Thanksgiving.

There are several infamous sayings about Texas…one in particular I will not mention here, but one of the more well-known ones is “Everything is bigger in Texas.” Well, even though this Thanksgiving feast didn’t take place in Texas, it was very big. There were 13 people there and enough food to leave more than twice that without want. We did our best to devour everything in sight (some did better than others) but there was still a lot left over.

Now anyone who knows me or my family knows that there are some world class cooks involved at our family get-togethers. My grandmother, Edith Buchanan, was one of the best cooks ever and her 3 daughters all seemed to inherit her ability to wow people with culinary delights. I’m looking forward to Christmas for, if nothing else, the good food. Big meals are not anything out of the ordinary for us, so honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from my Texas pals.

Well, I can gladly report that, as Grace Stargell puts it, Texans “can burn.” Everything we had was delicious! I even had stuffing for the first time. Real stuffing. Not Stove Top, everybody’s had that mess. My family always makes dressing, the kind you bake, instead of stuffing so this was my first experience with it. Michael's Mom baked the turkey and cooked real stuffing and it was delicious. Another highlight was Aaron White’s (a.k.a. “A-Dub”) bacon-wrapped green beans. They were excellent and easy to make…perfect “guy” food.

Anyway, many thanks to Michael Riedl and all the gang from Texas for inviting me to join them. I had a wonderful time and, of course, a delicious meal. This Thanksgiving I had much for which to be thankful, and spending time with my friends made the day very special, particularly since I couldn’t be with my family.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Grace & Peace
Casey

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting." Psalm 136:1

There was actually more food than this, I couldn't get it all in one shot.

The "Dr. Pepper" gang

Before we prayed and ate, we went around the room and
told some things for which we were thankful.

One of the table centerpieces
Kristin did such a beautiful job decorating.

The "little" table

The "big" table
I was at the foot.

Watching football and trying to stay awake after the big meal