Life: Happy late Thanksgiving!

It was just Nate and I this year, which was absolutely perfect for us. No small talk needed...no waiting around because someone thought their dish would be done sooner...no needing the house to be perfectly clean. Don't get me wrong, we love having dinner with our friends but our friends live nowhere near us.
With it only being the two of us I decided to go the duck route. That's right, no turkey for us. Duck is a much loved food in our house, plus it's just the perfect size for two people.
After a quick trip to Wal-Mart, because yes I forgot to get the vegetables to stuff in the duck, we were off and running.


Here's my vegetable mix. I used onions, carrots, celery, garlic and apples. I then sprinkle it with some salt and pepper and mix away.


Nate was my official duck stuffer. He likes helping, so got him to prep the duck (cleaning out extra fat and scoring the skin so that the fat can drain out). You can also see the giblets being boiled in the upper left corner (for some giblet gravy)!


A stuffed duck! You can see the scoring in the skin here. We also took a salt, pepper and olive oil mix and coated the top of the bird with it.


The duck is ready for the oven! I place the leftover veggies all around the duck and then poured some chicken stock into the bottom of the pan for moisture. I also mixed the rest of the chicken stock with some salt and pepper and used it to baste the duck.


Duck in the oven with our scalloped potatoes.


My mom's giblet gravy. Easy to make and yet so freaking yummy that it makes me drool!


Duck is done and being cut up! It turned out perfectly yet again.



We also got a fake Christmas tree. Yes this breaks my heart to no end. In my 26 years of life I have never had a fake tree in my home. We went with one this year because of cost and the fact that this town does not make it easy to get rid of your fresh tree (oh and we're stupid lazy about getting it out of our house). Also, you may notice it's color. Yes, it's a dark plum color (there's a purple layer and a black layer). We both decided that if we were going to get a fake tree...it was going to be SUPER fake. None of this trying to get a fake tree that looks real. I can guarantee that if you come to my house there will be a lot of tree scented candles burning so I don't freak out.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and has now switched over to the happiest time of year!