Thankful

We had a small Thanksgiving feast at our house this year.  That has its advantages in that the holiday normally features a turkey....and with all respect to the bird, I prefer my turkeys alive.  I just can't get behind roasted turkey.  I will say that when called upon, I do make a kiss-ass bird.  But, in all truth....blah.  Just not my favorite.  JT could care less, of course.  So this year, we skipped the bird.

On the Thanksgiving fixins front, however, I excel.  So we enjoyed an all-veggies-all-the-time holiday.  By which I actually mean that I enjoyed the veggies (and I'm already looking forward to the leftovers).  JT maintains his no-veggies-any-of-the-time policy.  Sigh.

On the table:
- cheese & apple tray: Camembert, gorgonzola dip (somebody likes that with his potato chips...and no holiday would be worth celebrating without chips), and sharp cheddar.  Lest you suggest these were inauthentic choices, let me be clear: it's a little known fact the the Pilgrims enjoyed Camembert and potato chips at the first Thanksgiving feast.  You can trust me on this because I am an American History teacher.

- olives, of course (though JT was unswayed by my request that he put them on his finger tips, like I did when I was a kid)

- roasted brussels sprouts

- roasted carrots

- potato souffle (OMG, this is the best recipe ever)

- creamed spinach (my new go-to food)

- cornbread dressing (SO MUCH BETTER than the dreaded stuffing)

- rosemary rolls (note: JT did eat his weight in these...he worried that the nine rolls I made for the two of us would not be sufficient)

- cranberry sauce (homemade, with fresh New Jersey cranberries.....recipe to follow)

Pumpkin pie is slated for the dessert table.  For reasons inexplicable to me, the boy loves pumpkin pie.  He asked for it tentatively, as if such a pie was so delicious that it must require hours of kitchen labor.  It is homemade, OF COURSE.  But it didn't exactly sap my lifeblood to stir it up. 

The best part of the meal is that moment when we pause to say a blessing for that which makes us thankful.  I have too many blessings to count but at the table today we were thankful for our warm and happy home, for our cats and for each other.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!