Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving in our house this year was pretty low key. It was nice and a little quiet. We had a few church members over and that was it. Thanks to my radical (that's what my Lutheran Stud says) father-in-law for sending applewood pellets. We smoked the turkey. I don't think I can make the turkey any other way now. It's got to be smoked.

Rachel was my kitchen helper for the day. That apron just went prefectly with her sweater don't you think? :)

She helped with this apple pie. I tried a different recipe this year. This pie is a winner in my book. It'll be my new go-to pie recipe for sure.

We also had a pumpkin cheesecake made with our garden pumpkins. I'm not a pumpkin fan, but this cheesecake won me over.

These hooligans hung out in the kitchen most of the day hoping to get a little snitch of whatever they could get their hands on. Do you think they got anything?

Another new recipe I tried was Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Pomegrantes and Vanilla-Pecan Butter. Have you ever seen Throwdown with Bobby Flay? Well he went up against The Pioneer Woman and I was able to catch that episode. This dish just looked so good on the show that I had to try it and it did not disappoint. I'll be making this more often.

Boys will be boys. Our poor neighbors. Thankfully it was quite warm outside. Who needs shoes?

My Pyrex collection is growing and I was able to use most of my dishes for dinner. 

Getting the table ready. Yes, I know my tablecloth didn't get ironed. Don't judge. At least I got the thing on table. We had such an enjoyable Thanksgiving with friends and great food that I can't wait until Christmas! Bring it!