Last year I had the honor of cooking our Thanksgiving meal
and will be again this year. It was my first time cooking a turkey, making
stuffing and preparing all of the other wonderful food our friends and family
would enjoy together. Our gathering was going to be smaller than usual with
only 14 guests to prepare for. My dad was bringing home a turkey from work and
other than that I was on my own to plan, prepare and execute.
I started with the traditional Thanksgiving staples. We would have cranberry sauce which I plan to make from scratch this year, a green bean casserole at Jeremy’s request complete with French’s onions on top, and my favorite, New England Style yams with maple syrup and topped with mini marshmallows.
Wanting to add new dishes to our meal I used the internet and Martha Stewart to add variety to the dinner table. I decided to go sweet with the turkey and used an apricot glaze which was delicious. Not too many people in my family like stuffing so I needed something outside of the box. I found a recipe for cornbread and sausage stuffing which sounded delicious and actually turned out to be a big hit.
Sweets are a favorite at our home so we usually try for a selection
so there are many to taste. Pumpkin bread is a staple on our dessert table and
let’s face it, everyone samples at least one slice before dinner. A few years
ago my mom added pumpkin flan to the mix and I contribute pumpkin cheesecake.
Last year we also tried a pumpkin mousse but I don’t think we’ll be repeating
that one. Too much work to get those peaks.
I will be adding pears to the mix this year. For dessert I’ll
be making either a pear tart or a pear custard pie. They both sound tasty so I might
have to flip a coin to decide. In the punch bowl we’ll be sampling chilled
sparkling pear which is just champagne with pear nectar.
I wanted to dress up my Thanksgiving planning this year and made a 3 page themed download perfect for planning the meal, prepping for grocery shopping and making a to do list for the week of. Enjoy!
Click Photo to Download
Thanksgiving Dinner Planner is for private use only please. Link back to The Sunshine Grove if you are going to share it. Thanks a bunch!
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Lovely Link Parties: Eat Make Grow, Mercantile Muse, BlogHer, Like Ordinary Life
it's a lot of work, yes? my mom always hosted until she passed it off to my sister in law and brother. we all bring a side dish...we'er the potato people. and the apple pie people too.
ReplyDeletei'm worried about your family...not big on stuffing? you'd have to chain me to the table to keep me away from the stuffing.
See Pam, I think we didn't have the right recipe for the stuffing. We've become stuffing people with the cornbread sausage stuffing. Enjoy your holidays!
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