Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. See proof of my adoration here, here and in the contents of my fridge. (Hint: it’s full of leftovers, various liquid dairy products and of course, more leftovers.) 

This is the table, ready for festive eatings, wine and hardly any arguing as first projected.

I’m particularly proud of the floral segment of the tablescape, in which I used yellow tulips and dark brownish burgundy hipericum berry and black thai leaves for accent. The best part were the bright green furry things. Yes, that’s what they’re called. That’s a lie.

Here’s the beginnings of a homemade green bean casserole. This is the component formerly known as cream of mushroom soup, made from heavy cream, mixed mushrooms and more.

The final GBC product. A more gourmet version of the original. Not that there’s anything wrong with the original recipe, Campbell’s and French’s!

Caramelized (okay, burnt) Brussels sprouts. But the burning makes them better. This simple recipe features the cruciferous babies tossed in olive oil, S&P, dijon mustard and Worcestershire. Just bake ’em while baking up other veggies until slightly to more-than-slightly burnt, as pictured above.

Our apple cider-brined bird, pre-oven. Thanks to the Food Bastard for his expert once-yearly turkymaking.

I made just one healthy dish and this was it. Cherry tomatoes, mozzarella balls and basil tossed in olive oil and salt and pepper, and drizzled with some balsamic glaze I made a few days prior. 

The cheese table. Bought one of those quickie 3-cheese bundles at Whole Foods that came with fig jam (yum) and added some nuts, figs and whatnot. 

Close-up cheeses shot.

Voila! The Turkeymaker delivers once again.

Another tablescape shot.

Can you say smorgasboard?

Turkey glamour shot. Also pictured is the fresh cranberry sauce with caramelized onions that was gobbled up, quite literally, by my Thanksgiving guest eaters. I’m super happy to have found a simple, savory-sweet recipe for fresh cranberries. The caramelized onions are fantastic! Wish I’d have made double.

Mom’s stuffing. For some reason I feel no urge to make my own so her mushroom-laced Stovetop version worked out perfectly.

Corn casserole provided by the MIL.

Beer bread could not be easier to create. 3 cups self-rising flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 12 oz. beer. Mix and bake for an hour. BAM.

A perfectly balanced plate. Speaking of balance, I will be purchasing only one more dinner plate from my local Macy’s store. In my book, that’s not too bad in the casualty department.

The dessert table, formerly the cheese appetizer table. Pictured: pumpkin cheesecake, apple apricot cake and chocolate pecan pie.

Glamour shot of Mom’s apple cake.

Finally, here’s the leftover Thanksgiving casserole I created. I’m excited to eat this very soon, after I freeze half for when the Thanksgiving cravings return in about a month from now. How’s that for planning?

Here’s what @sophie_thedog looks like after a full day of standing under people silently begging for them to accidentally drop food onto the floor. It’s a tough job, but she’s happy to do it.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

xoxo,

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