Ah, Thanksgiving! Ours was very low-fi this year. Drew and I are feeling a bit under the weather and his aunt is still is recovery-mode from her heart surgery back in October, so we didn’t go crazy with anything this year. I didn’t contribute too much to the food, really. I made a pink grapefruit cheeseball (from a Tastefully Simple mix, so it wasn’t much effort, LOL!) and stuffed celery (because to me, celery slathered with cream cheese and green olives is as necessary as the turkey). Drew made the cornbread and we headed down to Westchester for a very traditional dinner of roast turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and cole slaw.
I could do without the sweet potatoes or turnips, and I always find the cornbread odd because it’s not something I grew up with, but it’s interesting how each family has its own traditions. Cole slaw is another dish that I feel is unique to my in-laws’ Thanksgiving table. My family always does a big tossed green salad with Italian dressing. The cole slaw does go well, though.
My mother-in-law makes the best stuffing in the world, in case you didn’t know. It’s her mother’s recipe and it is seriously the best with the sausage and the cranberries. So good. She makes a great turkey as well. I was so full from dinner that I really didn’t feel much like dessert, so I only had a couple cookies. Yes, we all ate well.
This morning we went out for little Black Friday shopping. I don’t care, I always enjoy going out the day after Thanksgiving. It’s something I’ve done for years. The sales were a little underwhelming this year, but we had fun nonetheless. I think I just get excited about it because it’s the one day a year when I don’t have to sit around waiting for the stores to open up. Drew and I were up shortly after 5 (thanks to my little alarm clock, Laura) and once Noah woke up around 5:30 we were able to head out. (Jake is at his grandma’s until tomorrow.)
We’ll finish putting up our Christmas decorations this weekend. Drew put up the lights on the house today and our tree is up and ready to be decorated. Hard to believe that December is so close!