Thanksgiving 2012

I love Thanksgiving!  As I mentioned in a previous post, it is my most favorite holiday.  What is better than food and family?  This Thanksgiving was up there as one of my favorites.  The food was tasty, the company was great, and the atmosphere was low-key.

We originally invited my Dad, step-mom and three siblings to come to our house for Thanksgiving, but in the end only my Dad and step-mom came. While I was bummed to not have the rest of the family there, it was kind of nice to have a small group.  Jason and I did all the cooking, while my parents played with the kids all day.  I think it was the best case scenario for all involved!

This is the first year since our Bronx days that we hosted a Thanksgiving, and I realized on Wednesday that perhaps I should think about things like tablecloths and centerpieces.  These things are not exactly my forte, but I manged to figure out a simple centerpiece, buy my first tablecloth and cloth napkins (!), and then I let my husband set the table.  I think it turned out quite nicely.

Since we hosted, we got to be in charge of the menu.  It was pretty much my perfect Thanksgiving dinner.  I wish I had pictures of all of the food, but here is a sampling of the spread:

In case you are curious, this was our menu:

Appetizers:
Almond-stuffed, bacon-wrapped dates with Gorgonzola sauce
Cheese plate

Dinner:
Turkey
Gravy
Sausage, Apple and Walnut Stuffing
Crash Hot Sweet Potatoes (thank you Pinterest)
Mashed Potatoes
Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon
Ginger-Orange Cranberry Sauce
Artisan Bread  (Pinterest again!  I made an extra loaf of this ahead of time to use in the stuffing - so good!)
Pearl Onions in Cream Sauce
Field greens with Pears, Gorgonzola, and Candied Pecans

Dessert:
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Pie

Did I mention there were only 4 adults and 2 very small children?  Yeah, lets just say that we have a fair amount of leftovers, which is exactly how I like it!  We've been enjoying Thanksgiving all day today, too!