2013 THANKSGIVING RECAP

Am I allowed to say that I miss thanksgiving already? Well, at least I have Christmas dinner to look forward to! Every year for thanksgiving my family gets together for a huge potluck. Since many of the cousins are away at college, it is one of the few chances that we all get to spend time together. We had it at my parent's house this year so we were able to prepare many of the dishes the day before so the oven could be used for reheating. 

My mom made the stuffed mushrooms and green bean casserole (which is my favorite). 

I insisted that we have some sort of salad to add a little healthiness to our menu. There was a lot of protest but since we had a bunch of kale in the fridge we added a pear to this recipe to make a quick salad. (We left out the nuts and bacon which made it even simpler.)

I prepared the baked potatoes the day before and kept them assembled in the fridge overnight. So on Thanksgiving day I only had to pop them in the oven for the second bake. I'll post the recipe for those later. 

For the baked artichoke squares I followed this recipe. They turned out as great as I had expected, and yes, I ate a corner piece before everyone arrived (I wanted to see what they tasted like plus I was hungry.) 

After reading the Project Runway introduction I knew I HAD to make this cake. I used this recipe to caramelized the pecans which I used instead of walnuts because my mom likes them better. I also baked this cake the day before and iced it before dinner the day of. OMG the cake was so moist and the brown butter in the icing made it that much better. I'm thinking of making it again for my friend's birthday this weekend. 

After dinner my cousins and I scoured the Black Friday ads for good deals. We mapped out our course based on when stores opened since someone who doesn't value family time decided to open stores before it was actually Friday this year. Nonetheless, we had a night of adventures, doughnut holes, some good deals, and 3 hours of sleep. I guess ever since I got my driver's license this has turned into our Thanksgiving tradition. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

xoxo, allison