What's that crunching sound?

Turkey Day, or any holiday for that matter, rarely goes as planned here. This year was no exception. Karl and Alissa arrived Wednesday night, but had to return after dinner on Thursday, which was planned for 2:00 p.m. The turkey got a late start on the grill, but all other dishes were on schedule. The end result: picture the turkey dinner scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Except substitute stuffing for the turkey. Add loud crunching sound effects and you get the picture.
Everything else was great. A traditional turkey dinner with fresh cranberry sauce, maple-orange glazed sweet potatoes, cranberry bread, green beans, potatoes and gravy, pumpkin pie, maple pecan pie and very, very crunchy stuffing.
Alyssa brought her friend Tomoko along to share our Thanksgiving dinner. It was her first experience celebrating an American Thanksgiving. As Tomoko stirred the gravy, I chiseled stuffing out of the baking dish and explained that she should never expect to see or taste stuffing like this again. Or at least I hope she never experiences it again.
Karl and Alissa headed back to Eau Claire after dinner and the other guys scattered to do chores or whatever else it is they do during hunting season. Paul, Alyssa, Tomoko and I played a couple of games of Yahtzee -- another first for Tomoko -- who soundly beat us in her second game. While Tomoko learned how to beat us at our own game, we learned a bit about her home and family in Japan, her planned 3-year study of implant dentistry at UCLA and her goal to return home and resume her dentistry practice alongside her father.
Alyssa and Tomoko then settled in (good thing I keep making all those quilts, eh?) for our traditional viewing of the first Christmas movie of the year, Elf.
Black Friday began at a reasonable hour with Alyssa, Tomoko and me at the Wooden Chair for breakfast. Frustrating stops at Michaels and Kohl's left us with just enough energy for a fruitful stop at Fleet Farm and then it was home again. After a lunch of venison sausage (Tomoko had now tasted the entire gamut of farm-produced offerings) sandwiches, we lounged around until it was time for Alyssa and Tomoko to head back to Minneapolis.
It was a great Thanksgiving. Our customary individual offers of thanks before dinner covered it all: We are thankful for our new family members, good health, the safe arrival of our travelers, the delicious meal (well maybe not the stuffing), each other, and the opportunity to share our holiday with Tomoko.