Oh the drama of it all! Kids acting like turkeys on T-day - running, jumping, CRAZED...and then I gave them knives and told them to chop, slice and dice...to my surprise, no one cut themselves or anyone else! So that alone made it a successful party!
Each child went home with an "exact replica of the Mayflower," pictured above with the white sail, a foam turkey place card, a chocolate turkey, a turkey mask, plus a rolled up "Thankful List" to write, with their families, everything they're thankful for this year...I had them help me get a head start on my list - hopefully by Thanksgiving my list will be completely filled.
Giving the kids masks to wear was like giving them permission to have a seizure...all of a sudden they were WILD! I think they thought I wouldn't know who was doing the acting up! Oh...but I knew! All in all, they were pretty good and they all did their assignments, like Pilgrims, cooking their dinner.
They made Turkey Taco Cornucopias - after filling the tortillas, they are rolled up, like an ice cream cone, in the shape of a cornucopia...clever, no?) Leah shucked the corn with finese and grated cheese until her arm almost fell off! Casey removed the corn from boiling water, using tongs like nun-chucks and mastered the tortilla warming like a pro...I'm sure he'll have a bright future in the food service industry! Dawson made more than a dozen fruit and cheese skewers, chopped lettuce and tomatoes and Zoe arrived just in time to grate cheese like nobody's bizness! For for dessert they all made themselves Pilgrim Hats...I'll be cleaning chocolate off the cabinets for days to come!
My Sous Chefs were wonderful - they helped so much and even did dishes! Thanks Katie and Mia!!
What is it with kids and their fingers?!?
We had one no-show due to the flu, she called and said if her "fever isn't very high" she was still going to come!
Five kids, two sous chefs, 1 1/2 hours...we just barely finished everything when their moms showed up to rescue me pick them up.
If you need some quick and easy Thanksgiving ideas for kids, click here. The Family Fun website has great ideas for games, snacks, recipes and crafts - I found the directions for the Mayflowers ships on there and the turkey centerpiece - made with a honeydew melon, pear, red pepper and fruit skewers...the kids loved it!
The Pilgrim Hat Cookies are made from Keebler Fudge Stripe Cookies with a chocolate-dipped marshmallow "glued" on top, and a bit of yellow icing piped on. The kids had fun making these - and so did I!
The turkey masks were made from stiff felt - I purchased a plastic mask (found at craft stores for .99 cents) to use as a template, then cut the brown felt to match; glued on the beak and wattle, attached some elastic to each side and in no time the kids were looking and acting like turkeys on the loose!
The ships were made from FIMO (Sculpey would work, too); a thin, wooden dowel is inserted as the mast and then they're baked for 30 minutes to harden. I used a stiff piece of white felt for the sails but a white paper plate would work just as well. I filled them with Reese's pieces, raisins and nuts. The kids were impressed...and I was impressed because they even knew the answers to these questions:
How many days were the Pilgrims at sea on the Mayflower? ....65
How many Pilgrims set sail?...110 How many died on their journey? ....1
How many died that first winter? ...More than half!
What was the Indian's name who helped the Pilgrims? ...Squanto
I told them the Pilgrim story last week...and they remembered it a week later...wish I could do that!
Should have closed the pantry door...oh well...I do try you know!
Another great T-day recipe up tomorrow!
