No! Thank You!

We love this time of year!  The holiday season officially starts for us with the first list we make for our Thanksgiving dinner. There is so much to be thankful for: our family, friends, our health, and having a safe and warm place to call home.  We try to be mindful of these things all year long. A lot of time and effort goes into our Thanksgiving preparation and we enjoy every minute of it except dish washing!

The Place Settings

Place cards are a necessity.  There are at least seven of us! How would we know where to sit? We are always trying to come up with new ideas for place cards.  This year the original idea was a paper weight with a monogrammed leaf on the inside that we had seen in a magazine.  We took that idea and came up with our own version using things we had on hand: baby food jars, leaves gathered by Cindy on her and Goldie's afternoon walks, and plenty of hot glue!

Hot glue your scene, place the jar over it, cover the lid with canvas, and secure with twine! 

The Table

Our Thanksgiving table was adorned with the colors of fall, a centerpiece that utilized dry winter wheat, and we topped the table cloth with brown paper instead of individual place mats.  This creates a streamlined look that makes cleanup very simple.  After the party is over simply remove and toss in the recycle.

by Kerry Moosman

Winter Wheat

The Table



The Food

When it comes to the food we focus on variations on the traditional and it is always from scratch.  You will not see any cranberries or yams from a can at our celebration! Our menu this year consisted of a herb stuffed turkey, apple sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes and lump free gravy, citrus cranberries, romaine salad with vinaigrette and thankful rolls. On day number two we added these candied yams to keep the dinner feeling fresh. Of course the night would not be complete without a miniature pumpkin pie baked by Skylar!

The Turkey

With the turkey we keep it very simple by stuffing it with fresh herbs, onions, celery, and garlic. The outside is rubbed with unsalted butter and sprinkled with sea salt and course ground black pepper.

Stuff with Fresh Herbs

Time to Carve

The Stuffing

Apple and sausage stuffing has been a family favorite for years. The key to crispy stuffing is to start with very stale bread. We do not put the stuffing inside the turkey, but bake it separately and toward the end of baking top it with some of the pan juices.

The Ingredients

The Rolls

The thankful rolls were new to our table this year. The paper message is wrapped in aluminum foil and baked right in the roll.  People came up with some very thoughtful answers to why they were thankful for others.

The Message

Thank you to all of our family and friends for all the joy you bring us all year long!