is always glorious. We had our traditional turkey, but prepared slightly differently: brined the night before, and then injected with orange juice. Two kinds of sausage stuffing, sweet and hot. My brother made our cranberry sauce this year, with a hint of orange. Scalloped potatoes instead of mashed this year. Our old tradition of antipasto, which hasn’t graced our table since my grandmother was alive. For dessert, pumpkin cheesecake, dense and creamy, with a gingersnap-cookie crust, and homemade pumpkin ice cream for topping.
We played some games and then I toddled to bed at 11:30; I can’t stay up all night like I used to for the sales. I woke up at 3AM, and my mom and I went to our first store. We ended up going to five before I finally crashed at 8:30AM and woke up at two in the afternoon.
It was exhausting, but worth it. I completed about one fourth of my Christmas shopping thus far, in one day!
