My two favorite activities, without a doubt, are cooking and planning. So when November rolls around, I am just over the moon. It was my first Thanksgiving away from my family, and despite the lack of besotted uncles and gossiping aunts, Karl and I had a lovely night. I had been plotting away at a full Thanksgiving feast for just the two of us.
It took hours and hours of planning and two busy days of cooking. But my goodness, it was so worth it. Here’s what I served for my classic and traditional Thanksgiving dinner (I swear I tried cutting down on some sides, but I couldn’t forgo a dish without feeling like dinner would be incomplete):
- Alton Brown’s Roast Turkey
- Anne Burrell’s Spicy Sausage Cornbread Stuffing
- Jiffy Corn Casserole
- Paula Dean’s Green Bean Casserole with Ree Drummond’s Onion Strings
- Ina Garten’s Roasted Brussels Sprouts with 4 cloves minced garlic
- Sprig and Flours’ Roasted Cauliflower
- Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- Stovetop’s Stuffing with sauteed onions and celery (per Karl’s request as he is a stuffing purist)
- Karl’s Great Grandma’s Coffee Braid Sweet Bread (recipe coming soon!)
- Trisha Yearwood’s Pecan Pie* (Karl’s favorite thing in the entire world)
- Paula Dean’s Pumpkin Pie*, plus some nutmeg!
*Homemade pie crust
After the sparking apple cider ran dry, we wasted no time finding a tree farm where we could chop down our own balsam fir. I go absolutely nuts over Christmas, so you can imagine how much I was bouncing up and down in the car as we approached the farm. (By the way, if you want to find us in ten years, we’ll be living somewhere in North Massachusetts. It has been decided).
We spotted the sweetest tree forty seconds into our tree search. It was dwarfed, but so fragrant and cute. Also it was just five dollars! We knew it was the one, and fortunately Karl and I had just enough cash on hand to purchase it plus a cup of hot chocolate!
And after a long weekend of festivities, we were all so excited for bedtime (:
I’m seriously impressed by the perfect aesthetics of the food! Normally I always end up with weird folds in the dough, an awkward charred spot, and the list goes on… 😛 And that sign you’re standing under is so adorable, I should totally do that for Selah!
such a fun post, and your culinary creations look delicious and beautiful both!
hope you’re enjoying all those leftovers –
hmm, northern MA in 10 years? maybe so, you never know!
Yummy!!! Looks like you two had a feast!