HAPPY THANKSGIVING Y'ALL! *pretend here people*

We had the BEST Thanksgiving ever! It started out early, as is the custom around this house. We got right to work cookin! Actually, we started cooking the night before. I discovered a YUMMY recipe for cranberry sauce *see recipe below*. I decided this year that I did not want the usual cranberry LOG so I searched and found one that sounded AWESOME and let me tell y'all - IT WAS. So I cooked that the night before as well as my HELLA pumpkin pies.

This was MY scene Thanksgiving morning ... my computer, my fresh ingredients, and my wine :-D Now, not ALL 4 of those bottles were mine ... only 3 ;-)

This was MY turkey, ain't she a beaute?! I have a special recipe for my turkey. I use the same methods as my DH who, if you ask ANYONE who has had our turkey, makes the juiciest bestest turkey EVER. Now the way mine differs is in the herbs, it's a Rosemary Lemon and Garlic Turkey. I stuff my turkey with a TON of fresh rosemary sprigs, 2 HEADS of garlic, and 2 lemons chopped, and an onion. I also make a rub out of the same ingredients and massage them into the bird. Below I listed the website for the WORLDS BEST TURKEY as well as my special concoction.

This was my table :-D Turned out BEAUTIFUL this year! I used my grandmother's china with some gold charger plates, got some pretty new napkins and rings, and pretty wine glasses from Target that matched PERFECTLY and were ON SALE for only $12!!!!! FOR 12!!!! OH, and not shown here were the MATCHING COFFEE MUGS!!! ALSO 12 for $12!!!!! Sorry, sales excite me :-D

I ALSO made this lovely centerpiece thankyouverymuch :-D

PREEEEEETY :-D

This is just a little shot of the dinning room from my stairs for those of you DIEING to see pics of the house :-D OH and you can see my lovely new backsplash in the first pic :-D

Hehehe, he's so cute ;-)

This was our splendid spread. In addition to the turkey I made, the 3 pies I made, the HUGE batch of cranberry-apple sauce I made, I ALSO made green beans almondine and rosemary garlic mashed potatoes! GO ME-E ... GO ME-E! For those of you who KNOW me, know why that is an amazing feat :-D

During the day while DH and I were cooking, the kids were busy in my oldests room. They took stickers and construction paper and made up a play ... with costumes! They made a pilgrim hat and two indian headresses for their play. After dinner we were treated to a production having something to do with pilgrims and indians though I'm not really sure what exactly it had to do with ;-) But they sure were cute!

After that we, our group consisted of us and our four kids, my mom, his mom and BFF Tilly. We sat at the table looking at the adds for Black Friday and telling stories heard only at the last Thanksgiving ... and EVERY Thanksgiving before that ... gotta love family ;-)

It was so great having everyone over to our new house and getting to make dinner and entertain. We had fun cooking and listening to saved clips of our favorite morning radio show on the computer with a glass of wine/beer in hand. It was actually pretty slow paced and very relaxing! I've really been able to keep this house pretty well put together, no running around like a mad woman getting the house "clean" before everyone shows up! It was really nice to just be able to have fun and relax and cook!


Hope all of your Thanksgivings were wonderful ... Happy {belated} TURKEY DAY! Recipes are below, and if anyone tries one - LET ME KNOW!!! Thanks for stopping by ... TNT!



Double Cranberry Apple Sauce
6 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced
1 (12-ounce) package fresh cranberries
1 small lemon, sliced and seeded
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries
Preparation:
Stir together first 5 ingredients in a large saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often.
Reduce heat; simmer, stirring often, 15 minutes or until cranberries pop and mixture starts to thicken. Remove from heat, and stir in sweetened dried cranberries. Cool. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
Note: Mixture can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.


Green Beans Almondine
1/4 cup fat-free margarine
3 pounds green beans, trimmed
3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
Preparation
Melt margarine in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add beans, and sauté 5 minutes. Add broth, pepper, and salt; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes.
Combine cornstarch and water; add to skillet. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in juice. Sprinkle with almonds just before serving.


Rosemary Garlic Mashed Potatoes
2 whole garlic heads
2 pounds cubed peeled Yukon gold potato
1 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons plain fat-free yogurt
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Remove white papery skin from garlic heads (do not peel or separate the cloves). Wrap each head separately in foil. Bake at 350° for 1 hour; cool 10 minutes. Separate cloves; squeeze to extract garlic pulp. Discard skins.
Place potato and onion in a saucepan; cover with water, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until potato is tender. Drain in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Combine garlic, potato mixture, 1/4 cup cooking liquid, and remaining ingredients; mash with a potato masher.

For THE BEST FREAKIN TURKEY RECIPE EVER - click here

and for my BEST FREAKIN HERB CONCOCTION EVER - click HERE