What a Thanksgiving!!!

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I have never been that crazy about Thanksgiving. (Don't get me wrong, I love the holiday itself and love any excuse to leave work or school to get together with family and friends and reflect on the blessings I enjoy, but I'm just not a big fan of the traditional Thanksgiving Feast.) I don't usually get excited to eat turkey and stuffing, or apple pie, or mashe potatoes and gravy--I don't even like mashed potatoes and gravy! I've been almost embarrassed to say that I don't like Thanksgiving, feeling like it is unAmerican to admit it.

Maybe I just haven't had the best experience with this Thanksgiving fare. (My Mother, bless her...she is a GREAT cook, but I've noticed that she has really gotten into it since her daughters left home. When we were growing up, we had so much going on all the time, that not only was there not a lot of time to sit down to a big meal as a family, but she also had to work around the picky appetites of 4 teenage daughters. She would constantly hear things like, "What's in that?" or "I can't eat that, it's too fatty!" And now it seems like she is trying all kinds of new things for her two boys, or men, shall I say, still at home.)

Anyway, my mom let me run away with the menu this year and I was so excited! It has been my little project and it has been such a party for me! I prepared a prelim-menu with all the yummy recipes I've read and seen on FoodNetwork (well, not ALL, are you kidding?! Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to pick only a few out of the hundreds I've seen/read?!). After I submitted my prelim-menu, I asked each of the fam what their favorite Thanksgiving dish is--the one that it really isn't Thanksgiving without. (Everyone should be able to eat their fave on Thanksgiving, right?) Then I revised the menu, printed recipes and created a grocery list for momma. So Fun! On the menu this year was the following:

Roasted Butter Herb Turkey
Turkey Dripping Gravy
Homemade Cranberry Citrus Dressing
Parker House Rolls
BLT Mashed Potatoes
Cornbread Stuffing w/ sausage and apples
Thanksgiving Green Beans
Sweet Biscuit Wreath
Whipped Sweet Potatoes and Bananas w/ Honey
Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Nutmeg and Sour Cream (more savory)
Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle
Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Cake w/ Whipped Cream and Pecan Praline

My sister Tessa got some great shots of each dish, which I will share next time. It's going to be a week of cooking, that's for sure (true to form for us Stimpsons). After the Thanksgiving Feast, we will turn around and prep for Lauren and Ben's Open House in Monty. I'm still finalizing that menu. ;)