Thanksgiving 2011

Photo taken by Ally

Thanksgiving has come and gone and now we all march on to that big holiday that seems to try each year to just push Thanksgiving to the side completely with department stores displaying Christmas merchandise and radio stations playing the music before Halloween even arrives.

Growing up I do have to admit Thanksgiving was just one of those holidays that really didn't matter much to me. I was all about "bring on" Christmas. But the past 15 years I must say that Thanksgiving has replaced Christmas as my "favorite" holiday. And as it seems harder and harder each year to get the whole family together it becomes even more special.

It's the perfect Foodie Holiday the only thing to compete with the meal is football.

This year we actually spent Thanksgiving DAY skiing @ Crystal Mountain postponing the gathering until Friday to be able to spend the meal & traditions with more of our family around the table. And even then the table was a few folks shorter than the usual because my mom and Bob have bought a house in Arizona.

When we returned home from our day on the mountain G started immediately making his Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie. He was pretty excited, this was his first pie.

He was determined to do it completely by himself pie crust and all. Although I did help in attempting to make his edges a bit more pretty.

It definitely looked like a contender in the dessert arena.

Friday we woke up to prepping as we do most Thanksgiving meals.

I started by setting up the dining room which is typically what I do first when hosting a dinner party

so we can focus on the food.

 

This year was inspired again by Rick Bayless and G decided he'd cook the turkey on the Weber and make Mesquite Grilled Turkey with Red Chile Adobo Sauce. After that we basically shaped the whole menu around a "Mexican Kick" kind of theme.

The family arrived. Ally got started on a project to make some oreo turkey place settings that we found on this site. (very cute.)

Photo by Ally

She also decided it was fun to take photos with my cameras so I must happily share photo credits with her today.

Photo by Ally

She finished up her turkeys and completed the table setting.

We started with appetizers:

Crab Rangoon Dip from the December 2011 Cuisine at Home magazine (sorry their recipes aren't online but there are a few very similar recipes for Crab Rangoon Dip on the Food Network site too.)

And a Smoked Salmon Cheese Ball also from the December Cuisine at Home issue.

We put everyone to work with prep chores along the way; Hunter grated the cheese,

It looked like G's turkey turned out beautifully done on the grill.

Photo by Ally

We served the turkey  with Jicama Cranberry Salsa that I got a bit more gutsy with by adding oranges, whole cranberries and jalapenos to.

And Chorizo and Cornbread Stuffing with added jalapeno

and Balsamic Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Chipotle.

We decided to do our Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Shallots dish in the crock pot this year. Which was genius in saving some needed oven space.

We also had Pan Roasted Brussel Sprout Gratin with Shallots.

This seemed to be the big hit at the table this year (the photo definitely doesn't do this dish justice.

Dinner was enjoyed by all

and a great menu it was.

Yes, we do love hosting Thanksgiving and cooking for our family.

After some initial kitchen clean up was and food digesting was done it was time give G's Bourbon-Chocolate Pecan Pie the true taste test.

It was pretty unanimous he did a great job on his pie.

Photo by Ally

It was a Happy Thanksgiving indeed.