What A Holiday!

What a great holiday!  I'm feeling much better about it today because I burned 270 calories off this morning on the elliptical.  Turn out was great.  Every year I count the guests, the chairs and the plates and I never seem to get it right.  This year we were one plate and two chair short.  The situation was easily resolved.  The food was excellent.  We had turkey, tofurky, mashed potatoes, two kinds of gravy, two kinds of stuffing, fruit salad with craisins and walnuts, glazed carrots, cranberry sauce, home made dinner rolls with home made butter. Turns out butter is really easy to make.  I made butter in under ten minutes.  I took two pints of heavy cream.  I tried to find cream without carrageenan (a thickening additive).  I looked at several grocery stores before finding some at the Grass Roots Coop in Anoka.  I set the heavy cream on the counter for an hour before using it.  I set the cream into the mixing bowl and covered the top with a clean plastic bag.  Drops of cream fly all over so it is important to cover the mixing bowl.  I set the mixer on high.  After two minutes, the sound of the mixer changed so I checked and found whipped cream. I kept mixing.  At 7 minutes, the sound changed again.  I looked and saw the cream was starting to separate into butter and whey.  I mixed a minute longer.  I scooped out the butter and disposed of the whey.  I rinsed the butter with cold water several times.  I sprinkled a half teaspoon of salt and mixed the salt into the butter.  I ended up with almost a pound of butter.  The color was the same as butter you buy at the store.  My opinion is the taste of homemade butter was better than what you buy at the store.  I will definitely make butter again.  For dessert we had apple pie, pumpkin pie, almond pretzel rods, brownies, peanut blossom cookies, shortbread cookies, chips and cheese dip.  The guests brought most of the food. Talking and teasing go hand in hand in my family.  We played charades, "Sorry" and "Taboo."  This year we tried a new game called "Would You Rather?"  We answered questions like "Would you rather have a vain spouse or a spouse with self-esteem issues?"  Or "Would you rather be unable to speak for a year or unable to walk for a year?" I prefer the kind of games that an entire group can enjoy; even the younger ones.  The kids brought sleds and warm clothes but dang, it was cold out there.  I went out for a short time to help one girl hold a chicken and to untangle the swing that was stuck high in the oak tree. I know it was a good day because my face was sore from laughing so much.