Done at last!

At long last I have completed all orders, last weekend was the final show so now I can sit back and enjoy the Holidays!

HA ! that is if you don't count the Christmas shopping I still have left, which is almost everyone, the Holiday baking I haven't even begun to start and decorating my house!
I used to be so organized , shopping was all done in early November, baking was done by December 1 st. and my entire house ,including the Christmas tree, was up and decorated before Thanksgiving.
I do have excuses though. OUr family spent Thanksgiving in California, doing Disneyland , Knott's Berry Farm and finishing off with big family gathering at my in-laws house!
Since this all was my brilliant idea, I offered to cook both turkeys at our condo and bring it out to the in laws house.
AH HA HA ,what was I thinking?? I had it all planned out in my mind , it was perfect . We brought 2, 23 lbs.plus turkeys, disposable roasting pans and my Grammies secret stuffing ingredients with us on our 14 hour journey from Salem Oregon to Anaheim Ca. All 7 of us in my daughters, Suburban, with her focus driven husband at the helm. Each of us armed with the lastest in travel necessities, IPODS, DVD PLAYERS, PHONES and lots & lots of snacks .
We only stopped for the all important potty and gas breaks, other than that we traveled at lightening speeds of 85 plus the whole way. My son-in-law has extraordinary luck, he wins every contest he enters, gets free stuff all the time and never ever encounters the highway patrol while driving way over the speed limit, which is good because we are always running late when we go places as a family.
Once we arrived in California, we enjoyed the warm summer like temps of the mid 70's and of course the Wonders of Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm , which by the way is a much more family priced place to visit, about a third of the price of Disneyland for those who would like to do both.
I had planned to cook one turkey Wednesday morning and other on Wednesday night while we were sleeping. However, the oven at the condo didn't have a timed baking featured, which I had not figured on in my ingenious plan, this place was brand new, and hadn't figured on them cheesing out on the appliances. Oh well, I am flexible , well, sort of. Since I knew we would not be returning back to the condo until probably 11 pm, which would the turkeys unattended for 12 hours, I was left with a decision. Either bake one when we arrived back at 11 PM and try to cook the other before we left the next morning or I could cook them both at the same time, at the low temperature 225. Yes, that would work! It had to work. Figuring that 50 plus lbs of turkey wouldn't cook completely even with several hours of cooking I was golden. Wrong!!
When we arrived back at the condo,the aroma of turkey scented the hall way. I didn't hear the smoke alarm but was fearing the worst . The only thing I could think of was the scene from Christmas Vacation when the turkey sort of exploded from being over cooked and was as dry as the Sahara.
However, the turkeys were more like slow cooked ribs , the meat was still on the bones only because the skin was holding it there! There was so much juice that it had spilled over the side and on to the floor ! Small price to pay though as long as I didn't ruin the turkeys! Still it worked out great. The meat was moist , easily cut, and since this was a family gathering of over 26 ,we didn't do the big turkey presentation thing, so it all worked out fine. I hadn't ruined Thanksgiving! YEA!
I actually finished my house decorating today, so all I have left is shopping and baking. Fortunately I have all next week to shop and my grand kids are wanting to help with baking so once again I should be Golden!
This time of year, is such as wonderful time of Blessings and Love , I am thankful for all my family , my friends and colleague's, I pray all of you have a wondrous and Blessed Christmas Season! For those that are struggling I pray for God's Blessings for you, I know God answers prayers, He will answer yours too! Blessings and Peace ~Susan~