Thanksgiving Dinner

The enormous turkey actually cooked faster than expected so we had dinner on the table before 5pm which was really nice. I took a bunch of the children with me to deliver a couple of pies and rolls to friends and then to the park to snip some branches for the table decorations. I have children with overactive imaginations and they were convinced we were all going to jail for snipping branches in a regional park with our very, very dull hedge clippers. Luckily for us and for our Thanksgiving dinner, we were not apprehended and arrived home safely.

Dinner was delicious and yummy and we could have served another family or three. The only disappointment was the gravy which I forgot until the last minute. Gravy does not like to be rushed.

The girls ran outside and collected small pine cones for our place settings.


For table decorations we just used the branches from the park. There was a bowl of paper leaves and turkeys for everyone to write what they were grateful for and then clip each one to a branch. We used lots of candles as well per Sophie's request.


Haley's creative grateful list.


The children sipped punch out of these tiny little Ikea cups. Cute, but rather impractical as they all made 2,546 trips to the punch bowl for refills.


Sophie insited on dimming the lights in order to better appreciate the candles.


Can you see those giggling faces? They kept it up the entire meal - it was lovely.


The dessert spread.


Final Menu:
Huge turkey (I used Martha's method of rubbing herbed butter all over the turkey under the skin before cooking). We stuffed the cavity with onions, lemon and more fresh herbs and basted with white wine and chicken stock.
Homemade applesauce which Heather brought from Cincinnati.
Mashed potatoes with cream cheese and butter
Roasted root Vegetables with fresh rosemary
Sweet potato rolls
Sausage, pecan, dried cherry stuffing
My Mom's orange glazed sweet potatoes
Cranberry sauce
Pumpkin biscuits
Jello salad for the kids which caused much of the giggling at the kids end of the table. The jello mold kept falling apart during the meal most likely due to the large amount of mini marshmallows Sophie added. The kids thought it's demise was hysterical.

For Dessert:
2 pumpkin pies
2 peanut butter pies
Marscapone cheesecake
French apple custard pie
Chocolate chip pie which also journeyed from Cincinnati
Chocolate Mousse Pie

Dinner was wonderful and we had pie for breakfast on Friday and Saturday as well as leftovers for lunches. Yum!