Well, Thanksgiving 2011 is in the books and the feast may have been one of the best ever! I started my day with pie baking, a run and some yoga before setting up shop in the kitchen for the next five hours.
I love Thanksgiving. More so than Christmas. I love that the focus is more on spending time with family and preparing a delicious meal instead of the craziness of Christmas, parties, events and presents. This was our year to be with my family for Thanksgiving and there is nothing I love more than spending time in the kitchen with my dad. We received a round of applause at the end of the meal. It was a legendary feast! 😉
I was starving after my run so I immediately hit up the appetizers. We had pinwheels with prosciutto and gruyere and brie with apples, nuts and dried fruit. I ate this x3!
Sullie did her best to stay out of the way of the craziness in the kitchen and camped out under the table most of the day. Cute.
We had two different types of dressing. First was a cubed bread dressing with kale and pancetta. Loved the addition of kale in this dish.
Second was a cornbread dressing with sausage and dried cherries. I really enjoyed both of them and cannot pick a favorite!
Another highlight was our medley of roasted vegetables…carrots, parsnips, turnips, onions and golden and red beets.
My dad and Brandon did the turkey on the Big Green Egg and it was perfect, as always.
Around 4 p.m. the pups were banished outside and it was time to eat!
My plate. Cranberry sauce, turkey, both dressings, gravy, roasted veggies, brussels sprouts gratin and sweet potatoes. I’m not sure that I have words to describe how good everything was. I can’t even pick a favorite.
I burned off my meal by heading outside to finish my sweet potato cheesecake with marshmallow topping. I had way too much fun using my dad’s MAP torch to toast blacken (oops) the marshmallows.
A silly but entertaining video. I caught the marshmallows on fire at least five times. Patience is not a strong suit of mine. 😛
The final product! This cheesecake turned out so well. The sweet potatoes were such a nice change from pumpkin. I did a gingersnap and pecan crust and drizzled caramel over the slices.
My dessert plate. Chocolate pecan pie and cheesecake. There was also apple cranberry pie and homemade vanilla ice cream but I just couldn’t fit it in.
I think this photo sums up how we were all feeling after our meal and dessert. 😉
I hope your Thanksgiving was delicious and full of friendship, love and family!
What was the best thing you ate!? (I seriously cannot pick. Think I’ll need to sample it all again!)
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