Thanksgiving Part the Second (Or Turkey Day II)

Obviously I did not get enough Turkey for one weekend. On Sunday, Joe (one of Larry's old roommates), for frustration of not ever having leftovers hosted a Pre-game Thanksgiving meal. This pre-festival was at Joe's apartment on the other side of town, in Dormont. Really cool apartment! Surprisingly big, and lots of character, he and his roommate are big movie and comic book fans, and it shows in their decor. Joe was in charge of the Turkey, Dressing, and a Polish bread/dumpling (for some reason I think it is called Kolsa, but no amount of Googling is shedding any light.). I covered the Potatoes and Green Beans, don't worry Mom, I rocked those. I have never made green beans like you do for Thanksgiving, but I got it down now. I might have put way to much bacon in, but no one complained. And the potatoes, in honor of my Grandfathers, were light and fluffy.

This second meal was also very enjoyable. I am realizing more and more how awesome it is that we are all from different places. The four of us sitting around that table all grew up in different environments, but we can all still come together and enjoy a good meal. Granted, Larry, Joe and Ryan all lead very different lives, it was still very enjoyable. Witnessing this sort of experience is awesome.

After eating far too much. We broke out the Pumpkin Pie, and the evening was complete.

As Joe made a 16 pound turkey for 4 guys, he had a lot left over, so he sent some home with us. I know! We got leftovers! We had Turkey, Stuffing, Potatoes! Don't worry, as many of you are already thinking, I did what I had to do.

Today I made Thanksgiving Pierogies! Taking the dough from before, I swapped out the filling for turkey, stuffing, and potatoes. Oh my goodness. I have perfected this process. I have the dough down, I have the filling practiced. I ended up freezing 45 or so pierogies, and tried a few out for myself. Fried a little in butter to get the dough to get flaky, then served with Turkey gravy. MMMmmmm... New Thanksgiving tradition. Mom, you can have your Turkey soup. I am making pierogies. Hey! We can put the Pierogies in the soup!

After feeling rather productive I headed back to the Shadyside area for two reasons:

1) to scout out where my parents are staying. Done. I know where I am gonig

and 2) to meet up with some people at the church to head to CMU to hear Daniel Sepulveda give a little talk. First I am going to link this video. Mind you he is a punter, just saying. He is the current punter for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and a rather devoted Christian. He gets up and talks to groups often apparently to help spread the gospel and be a positive role model. I listened to him talk for 45 minutes, and was greatly impressed by his public speaking ability and his faith. For the last 20 or so minutes he opened up the floor and took any and all questions people were willing to ask. He is a very inspirational speaker, mainly hitting on how we are not the center of our lives, that no matter what we want, it is God's will that directs us. That he plays as best he can and for the glory of the kingdom, but that it is God who has providence over his life. I was not really planning on going, but am certainly glad that I did.

Now, I need to get some sleep so tomorrow I can get ready!!!! I am stoked!