Thanksgiving 2011

The Decor

This year I decided to use the antique china that I inherited from my Nana's estate. Even though they are not necessary fall colors...the dark jewel tones in the dishes worked well with the fall colors in the runner, cornucopia center piece and fall leaves.

I put a gold charger underneath each place setting which added a nice accent to the gold edges on the plates. The china set comes with the little bowls which worked perfectly as a salad bowl for the caramel apple salad that I made.

This dark rust table runner was the perfect base for my centerpiece. I used a basket cornucopia filled with silk flowers, leaves and artificial fruit. I took a variety of falls leaves and scattered them on the runner and the candles set in ceramic pumpkin and glass turkey candle holders finished the look.

This iron corner book case in the kitchen nook is the perfect place to display my holiday decorations.

These beautiful hand painted ceramic pilgrim figurines were my Mom's. I just love them and look forward to displaying them each Thanksgiving season.

                                      More Thanksgiving decor.....

                                                            
                                                A day with the family

Our tradition as far back as I can remember is for Kevin to BBQ the turkey. Here he is washing and preparing the bird. This year we bought a pre-brined, fresh turkey from Trader Joes and it was by far the most moist turkey we have EVER had. Absolutely worth every penny to purchase a fresh vs. frozen turkey. We normally do our own brine, but when I saw that Trader Joes was selling them pre-brined...I figured it would be a great time saver. They were sampling some of the turkey and it was so good I decided to try it for ourselves this year. What a great decision!

In addition the brining, the other thing Kevin does is stuff the cavity of the bird with onion and orange wedges and rosemary sprigs. These aromatics add great flavor to the bird while it is grilling. In this picture he is massaging the outside of the bird with olive oil and then the finishing touch is to sprinkle it with garlic salt and pepper.

We have been bbqing the turkey in this Weber grill for many, many years. Kevin takes great pride in being the one to prepare and cook the turkey. I love it, because I can focus on the side dishes and not have to worry about roasting a turkey!

Kate and her dog Lily arrived around 2 o'clock on Thanksgiving day. She was hoping to come the day before but had to work and then write a paper that was due at midnight Wednesday. We're excited to have her stay with us through Sunday.

Kate absolutely loves her dog Lily. Can you tell? I'm still getting used to Kate with the much darker hair...however she looks beautiful as always. The darker hair really brings out her blue eyes!

Words can not express how great it is to have both my kids together under one roof. Kate has not lived at home now for 3 years...but I still miss having her at home every day and cherish our time together when we get it.

It's official folks...Kyle is now taller than his Dad! It's great to see Kev with both the kids.

Here we are with our girl...so wonderful.

This is our 23rd Thanksgiving together! We started dating in October of 1989.

The turkey is officially DONE and ready to take off the grill. Doesn't it look wonderful? The whole back yard smelled so wonderful...words can not describe it!

Kate, Kevin and Lily enjoy a few moments together in front of the fire before we ate. Lily LOVES sitting in front of the fire. She loves the warmth.

After letting it rest for 15 minutes after it came off the grill, Kevin carved the turkey with an electric knife.

The rest of the side dishes are ready and on the bar! All we need is the carved turkey.

The turkey is carved and ready to eat!

                                Kate helps herself to some of my homemade corn bread stuffing.

 Here is my plate filled with yummy food. Our menu this year consisted of  BBQ turkey, gravy, cranberry and orange compote, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes with dried cranberries and pecans, caramel apple salad, black olives, and rolls! To drink, we enjoyed sparkling apple cider.

                                  Kevin, Kate and Kyle put their glasses up to toast the special meal.

                         ...and I join in on the toast! We have so much to be thankful for this year!

This is NOT a posed picture! About 20 minutes after we ate, I found Kyle like this...fast asleep in front of the fire! It's true that turkey makes you sleepy! It wasn't long after that I had fallen asleep myself for a short evening nap.

Even though we would have loved to celebrate with extended family....it ended up being really nice to just have a laid back and relaxed day and evening with just the four of us. In fact, Kevin said to me before going to bed that it was one of the nicest days we have had together in a very long time...and I had to agree.