Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi friends! Did you survive turkey day or did you stuff yourself so full that your elastic pants cut off circulation?! Either way, Happy Thanksgiving!

Originally this fun little post was going to be a fun great recipe idea giver before Thanksgiving.. However, my blog had other thoughts and refused to be updated. Awesome! I took it as a sign to just take a break and enjoy the holiday. As I type this I can actually smell garlic on my fingers. Even more awesome!

I was in charge of cooking Thanksgiving from start to finish this year. I attacked with a plan and it came off without any major disasters. Woot! Last year was my first year heading  Thanksgiving up and I really enjoyed it. My stuffed mushrooms were well received last year but I was on the hunt for something even better. I have to admit that although my mushrooms looked better this year, last year’s mushrooms won 1st place for taste.

I’m going to try this again with a few little tweaks to see how much more flavor I can get into these little suckers.

Although the mushrooms weren’t a home run, my deviled eggs were!

I mixed it up a little by adding greek yogurt, sriracha, and chardonnay mustard to the egg yolks. The heat of the sriracha wasn’t too overwhelming because the tang of the mustard cancelled it out a little. Perfection!

The other key to making these eggs amazingly wonderful was the addition of Trader Joe’s Everday Seasoning. Has anyone tried this stuff?! It is a mix of sea salt, mustard seeds, black peppercorns, coriander, onion, garlic, paprika and chili pepper. These eggs will definitely be on the menu from here on out.

Last year was also my first year cooking a turkey and I found a recipe for the Perfect Roast Turkey from Ina Garten. She was right. It was PERFECT! Moist, tasty and so so easy. I figured why fix what ain’t broke so I did it again.

Just so we are all clear…there were two of us at this Thanksgiving. This was a 20 lb bird. WHY?! Newbie mistake. Also, the pan had a hole in it (*someone* ran over the pan in the parking lot with the grocery cart and decided to try to hide it!) and leaked liquid all over the bottom of the stove. It started to smoke so much that it looked like the house was on fire. Lesson learned…baking soda will fix anything.

Back in the day when I spent Thanksgiving with my parents (wahhh! I miss them!) one of our traditions was for my Mom to make the biscuits. And burn them. It wasn’t a Thanksgiving dinner without slightly burned rolls. This year I decided to make some biscuits, but went all out and DID NOT burn them.

I followed this Rosemary Garlic Biscuits recipe word-for-word from the amazing Gina at Skinny Taste. They were light, tasty, and oh so good! (PS.  Check out her blog for other amazing recipes!)

Veggies are a must for my Thanksgiving and this year I went for the classic roasted brussels sprouts. I cooked them with olive oil, a little salt, and some sunflower seeds. For some color I threw in a few red peppers.

We also got a little nuts with some stuffed acorn squash. Just roast the squash, scoop out the inside and mix it with the stuffing. Put the mixture back in the squash and bake. Easy peasy.

I also made a 3-potato mash that included Idaho, red, and yukon. It was tasty but not very photogenic. Potatoes are shy.

And of course, you can’t forget the drinks. There was wine and I decided to get a little adventurous and try out the Kitchen Confidence Pumpkin and Apple Cider Fizz. Unfortunately I forgot to pick up ginger beer and I think that really was the key to this recipe. I’m trying again tonight!

All together now!

Although I miss having a big Thanksgiving with my family, I don’t miss the stress of traveling or overeating. I always thought people made cooking Thanksgiving dinner harder than it really had to be, but I have seen the error of my ways. This was tough! Maybe next year I might go back to Sushi Thanksgiving?!

I couldn’t be more thankful for all the people I have in my life and the family I have built in Boston and through this blog. I hope you enjoyed yourself yesterday. Lots of football, booze, and turkey! If you are shopping today, be nice and stay safe. If you get a chance to support your local businesses then even better!!!