After 6 great days, I along with my attractive and gracious host Kristi returned to Boulder. The Wasson Family and their extended members were incredibly gracious and thoughtful. They did an excellent job at engrossing me in all the great Midwestern traditions. It was a big week for me having only spent two dinners with them previously but it always felt like we had been doing it for many Thanksgivings. For our Thanksgiving Day festivities, when in Cedar Rapids you must being your day with brunch. Not just a stuff your face full of all that is great about breakfast and lunch but more a few nibbles of some frittata and shots. Shots of Apfel Schnapps direct from Germany! A close family friend to the Wasson's holds a Thanksgiving Brunch and tradition calls for shots of liquor when new people arrive or when people call the house or calls are made for Thanksgiving wishes. I stood proud and handled my two shots. I was one up on Kristi. Not that it was a competition or anything. Needless to say, it was a fun new tradition. Not sure if it would hold up in my family but maybe. After a short pause in the afternoon, we got down to brass tax...preparing Thanksgiving food. I was in charge of the stuffing. I went a different route this year and pushed the envelope with a artichoke/sundried tomato stuffing. It was quite delicious I thought =) Kristi pulled through as expected with a delicious butternut squash/spinach and blue cheese dish. I was cast as her garde manager(ie prepper for all the squash cutting). Before we ate, I got the big call...I was in charge of cutting the turkey. Once a role left to the patriarch of the family, I felt quite honored with such a distinguishing role. It was a big bird and I had to go through several knife sharpening periods but I earned my star.
After thoroughly feeding ourselves we had to get prepared for meeting the extended family the next day. High on the list was a visit to my lady's alma mater and the John Deere Museum which lead to the greatest burn in family history. The pictures below tell the story...The 2nd pic down is me giving the biggest burn of all time to Eric, my younger brother. Thanks to Kristi for capturing the moment and for the line of young kids who painfully waited while I had my moment in the big combine.
From the grounds of Augustana College, K's alma mater...
