HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all had as great of a holiday as I did. This was definitely the best Thanksgiving that I can remember. I was in charge of a great deal of the cooking/set-up/clean-up so I was definitely busy but that just made it even more rewarding. We hosted the feast at our house this year and there were 7 of us in total: me, my parents, my little sister, uncle, grandma and grandpa. We had such a great time as always and afterward my dad and I were saying that we wished we had a video camera or something to record our ridiculous conversations. We’re definitely your typical “Jewish family” with our loud bickering and shouting over each other. There were points where we were laughing so hard we were crying! It was great.

Breakfast

I got up early this morning to get a good workout in preparation for the day’s festivities. Afterward I had a few cups of coffee and a delicious honeycrisp apple as I got to work on getting ready for Thanksgiving.

Appetizers

Cheese Plate: Garlic Cheddar, Smoked Gouda, Brie

The whole spread including: cheese, veggies and dip, Grandma’s famous chopped liver, salmon paté and crackers.

And my family’s traditional cocktail: Black Russian. I’m such a lightweight that I was definitely feeling it after this drink! 

Thanksgiving Feast

Frozen Cranberry, Pineapple, Marshmallow cups.

Carrot Ring 

Cranberry, Pecan, Cornbread Stuffing

Farfalle

Turkey

Roasted green beans, brussels sprouts, broccoli.

Maple-Brown Sugar Sweet Potatoes

The whole spread–so delicious, and we have more left-overs than we know what to do with!

Wine. I had about 1.5 glasses of the Pinot Noir throughout the afternoon and was drunk by the end! I’m an embarrassment, hehe.

Dessert

And the best part of the meal, obviously.

Carrot-Cake Cupcakes, homemade fudge.

….And the star of the day and my pride and joy:

Praline-Pumpkin Cake

DROOL. Everyone was raving about this and said that it was by far the best dessert we’ve ever made and was definitely restaurant-worthy. I just might have to go back for another slice as a midnight snack ; )

I am STUFFED. I definitely ate and drank way too much but I enjoyed every bite and sip that I took. I was able to really let myself indulge and enjoy my amazing meal guilt-free. I worked really hard cooking and preparing this year and it makes me so happy that everyone loved everything and had a great time. 

After we stuffed ourselves to capacity most of my family collapsed on the couch but my stomach was so filled to the point of bursting that I couldn’t even sit down comfortably so my dad and I went for a long walk around the neighborhood. It felt great to get some fresh air and chat. 

I’m still super-full and hope that my stomach makes some room later tonight so I can go back for seconds on that cake and try some of the food that I didn’t get a chance to taste yet. For now I’m going to go change into my sweats and watch some football. I LOVE THANKSGIVING!