Last year, I went on a sort of melancholy roller-coaster ride around thanksgiving. I felt blue about the upcoming holiday without my extended family, then was surprised at enjoying a leisurely day with friends. This year is going to be different. We’re going to stuff our faces, smile, and have a wonderful family day!
Turns out we’re going to stay home and have a quiet Thanksgiving with just our little family. I’m excited about sharing a meal with 3 of my very favorite people and then hopefully catching the new Tangled film together. We planned a menu with some classic Thanksgiving favorite dishes, as well as quite a few new recipes. Tim sweetly went through the November and December editions of our Cook’s Illustrated Magazine with me because we’ve almost never gone wrong with them. CI recipes are basically full proof, as long as you follow them exactly and give them the time they require. It sounds like we’re getting paid to endorse them, but we’re actually just enormous fans!
Our Meal Plan looks like this:
Old Fashioned Stuffed Turkey from Cook’s Illustrated November/December 2009
Rolls (I haven’t picked an exact recipe yet, but have printed several from the CI website)
My mashed potatoes made with yukon golds and gravy
My family’s ambrosia salad (which I look forward to every year)
Orange Cranberry Sauce from the November 2008 Everyday Food
Butternut Bisque Soup from November 2008Everyday Food
Tim’s mom’s green beans with cream and pepper
Olives (gotta have ’em for your fingers)
Sparkling Cider (lots of it!)
Deep Dish Apple Pie from Cook’s Illustrated
Chocolate Cream Pie from Cook’s Illustrated
Tons of whipped cream to top our pies.
My other go-to place for recipes: allrecipes.com.
Yes, we realize this is a lot of food, but we’re planning on chowing on leftovers for days and most likely freezing some for future lazy weekends.
I’m excited and looking forward to prepping food with Ella (and Ezra too). I need to figure out all the things we can do in advance to make turkey-day as stress-free as possible. This year is going to be a good one!
What are your Thanksgiving plans?
chocolate cream pie? omg…sounds delish! i may have to look into that myself!
i make the usual pumpkin and pecan pies. this year i’m attempting a chocolate pecan pie….we’ll see how it goes!
your menu sounds awesome. we are going to try and see Tangled, too! I’m kinda nervous since it’ll be opening weekend and the holiday (so it’s sure to be crowded), but the girls love going to the movies and don’t go often.
if you go first, let me know how it is! we were thinking of going Friday or Saturday!
It sounds like you’re going to build some special memories for you and your family this year! Be blessed! 🙂