Thankful

It was our second year hosting Thanksgiving with our parents (here's the first year!), and let me tell you, it only got better. The turkey was more moist, the stuffing blew my mind, my grandma's china sparkled and we all had some good quality time to catch up.

By looking at this post, one would think that I'm most thankful for food. In reality, I do love food, but the people in my life top the charts. They are as important as food, water and oxygen combined. But alas, I didn't take any people photos, so I'll share with you what I have :)

These are the pretty flowers I picked up at a cute little Greenwood flower shop. 

Here's our table, all set up and ready to go... minus a few chairs we brought in later.

I made miniature apple pies with a crumble top (the picture doesn't do them justice!). Served warm and topped with vanilla ice cream? Wow, just wow. I know it's weird to pat yourself on the back, but for these, I did. The leftovers of these little suckers alone make me want to buy a few extra pairs of elastic-waist pants. I wish I was kidding.

We also made some turkey noodle soup with the leftovers - we boiled some of the carcass, adding some reduced-sodium broth, egg noodles, turkey chunks, carrots, onions, celery, black pepper and parsley. Then we topped with some parmesan cheese, just for good measure.

As of last night, we were still eating leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner and the turkey noodle soup. As much as I love Thanksgiving food, I think I might just be ready for a change...

But overall, I'm thankful for a fabulous Thanksgiving with my Mom, Dad, Joe, Lilian and Joe (Joe's dad; it can get confusing).

P.S. The recipes not included above: for the cornbread in the stuffing, I used this recipe; for the potatoes, I used this recipe; for the cranberries, I used the recipe on the package; for the gravy, package again; for the turkey, we kept it simple by putting several tablespoons of melted butter, fresh rosemary (from our yard!) and garlic between the skin and actual meat (ahem, Joe, did this part) and cooked for nearly 5 hours, basting only once with chicken broth.

Thanksgiving Feast

Friends, I'm checking something off my 30 Before Thirty list: Hosting a big holiday! This year for Thanksgiving, Joe and I mastered the traditional turkey feast for our parents. We started bright and early; I had the apple pie in the oven just after 9am and then moved onto the mashed potatoes shortly after (using PDubs delicious recipe).

We opted to keep they turkey simple with butter, rosemary and a tiny bit of garlic, then filled the turkey with Grandma Novak's famous stuffing. Add in the cranberry sauce I made the night before, plus a few more side dishes brought by our parents, and we were ready to give thanks. Good food. (No dry turkey!) Delicious desserts. Great company. I can definitely say that I have a lot to be thankful for. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!

P.S. Don't you love my place setting? It's my grandma's old china that will one day be mine. It would have been her 82nd birthday on Thanksgiving, so my mom brought it down for the occasion. I think she'd be happy it was put to good use :)

It's Birthday Season

Immediately after Stephanie's birthday, I headed to Joe's place to celebrate Lilian's birthday (Joe's sweet mom) with Joe II, Joe III, Erik and Johan. We BBQ'd salmon, along with a bean salad and set-up shop on his deck to enjoy the sun that finally decided to show up for the birthday festivities.

For dessert, we had a Swedish birthday cake with layers of yellow cake, a smashed banana/whipped cream layer, strawberry layer and covered with whipped cream, fresh strawberries and grated chocolate. Delish!

As you can see, all eyes were on Joe as he cut the cake. I think we all were excited about digging in!

Overall, it was a great time. Lilian, hope you had a great birthday!