My 2009 Thanksgiving table
I LOVE THANKSGIVING!!!! Truly, I love it! Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday. If you knew how many pictures of food, table settings and, well, food, I just went through from last year, you would realize just how much I love this holiday! Each year I try to change up the menu a bit to make it different, but some things remain the same. I prepare a big gourmet mac and cheese for the 1:00 football game. There are appetizers beginning at 4:00 and dinner at 6:00, followed by my home baked pies, truffles, candies and pumpkin cheesecake.
My table setting sets the tone for the day, so I stress over my flowers each year. Also, I have favors at each person’s seat. For years I just had chocolate turkeys, but they were $5 a piece and I always had more than half left behind. Last year I found cute turkey decorated tissue packs. In 2008, I found great leaf shaped book marks. This year I will be doing…oh…. I can’t tell you! You’ll have to wait until Friday to find out!
Thanksgiving Table
My table also has place cards to eliminate the chaos of seating, since we have a different group each year, and there are children involved. As you can see above, last year I threw out the traditional paper cards and made cookies with everyone’s names. They were a big hit!
Turkey Cookies for place cards
Writing in icing…not as easy as I thought!
It was well worth it. The children loved them and the adults appreciated the effort. I am sad to say that this year, I return to paper! My schedule is packed and I will be lucky to get done what I can!
I am trying some new things this year for appetizers. I’ve added a smoked trout pate and sausage pinwheel appetizers to my mix. I also always have home made roasted peppers, antipasto platter with 3-4 cheeses, fig jam, and Italian cured meats and olives; caviar served on one of my favorite serving pieces, a caviar staircase from Tru, Chicago; stuffed mushrooms; colossal shrimp cocktail; crab dip and homemade candied nuts.
For dinner I serve Molasses Glazed Turkey. I purchase my turkey fresh, and always plan to blog about buying fresh, local birds, and like this year, I run out of time! My stuffing is chestnut and sage, and I am actually nervous because I usually order my chestnuts weeks ahead, and don’t have them yet! This year’s side dishes also include Jackson Family corn pudding, mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, the best creamed spinach, caramelized brussel sprouts with shitake mushrooms, green bean casserole (yes that one), homemade cranberry sauce and turkey shaped cranberry sauce.
Jellied Cranberry Sauce cut into Turkeys
I bake all of my own breads and like the bread basket to be an array of different colors. I have ordered a large turkey shaped sourdough in the past, but this year I have enlisted Conshohocken Bakery to create one for me so it doesn’t cost me $50! It is really just the “back splash” for my bread basket. I them bake corn bread, sweet potato and zucchini bread and the favorite…..sweet potato biscuits.
Dessert is ridiculous, but I have to do it. (Because I am out of control and cannot stop myself, not because we need it!) I make a pumpkin pie, pecan pie, coconut custard pie, apple pie and pumpkin cheesecake. I try to make each pie different in appearance and special. This year my 9 year old daughter begged for a key lime pie too, so guess what……
Cookie cutters cut leaves for crust
Desserts
Dessert is served
Thanksgiving is the perfect day to bring family together. The families that eat together, stay together ~ somebody profound said that!
Happy Thanksgiving!
You definitely set the bar high. I think my kitchen is as big as your dining room chair…lol! You must have to get up at 3 in the morning!!!Truly a sight to behold.
You definitely set the bar high. I think my kitchen is as big as your dining room chair…lol! You must have to get up at 3 in the morning!!!Truly a sight to behold.
You definitely set the bar high. I think my kitchen is as big as your dining room chair…lol! You must have to get up at 3 in the morning!!!Truly a sight to behold.
You definitely set the bar high. I think my kitchen is as big as your dining room chair…lol! You must have to get up at 3 in the morning!!!Truly a sight to behold.
Thank you, Ben! I love doing it.
Thank you, Ben! I love doing it.
Thank you, Ben! I love doing it.
Thank you, Ben! I love doing it.
You put my efforts to shame. My table looks like Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving with Snoopy and Woodstock in the kitchen. Absolutely Fantastic! Happy Thanksgiving!
You put my efforts to shame. My table looks like Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving with Snoopy and Woodstock in the kitchen. Absolutely Fantastic! Happy Thanksgiving!
You put my efforts to shame. My table looks like Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving with Snoopy and Woodstock in the kitchen. Absolutely Fantastic! Happy Thanksgiving!
You put my efforts to shame. My table looks like Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving with Snoopy and Woodstock in the kitchen. Absolutely Fantastic! Happy Thanksgiving!
All of this brings back such fond memories of the days when we had wonderful family holiday gatherings at your House..when you kids were little.. lately I have been thinking a lot of how much work your Mom put into those dinners. One thing she always made was a pistachio desert in a mold that was so good and very rich!! I still wonder if she ever makes it anymore. <3