Brad and I switch off celebrating Christmas and Thanksgiving with each of our families since they live six hours apart. This Thanksgiving was my family’s turn. My family’s Thanksgiving style always involves tons of food, a lot of people, and is very casual.
Besides a lot of people there are plenty of cats and dogs running around my aunt’s house, where we eat dinner. This little guy is the newest addition to all the grand-pets.
My aunt already had her Christmas tree up and decorated. Everyone was picking on her because she got a smaller tree this year. Somehow her 10 foot trees end up falling over every year. I think it’s beautiful, even if it is a bit shorter than her typical Christmas tree.
Brad had a great time playing with Prancer, the crazy Jack Russell and Rascal’s best friend.
She can jump crazy high!
While I was waiting on everyone to arrive, I took a sneak peak at the food that was to come.
My grandmother calls these “speckled-y beans”. I have no idea what they’re really called. But they’re delicious.
Green beans
Rice with milk and butter. Growing up, my friends couldn’t get over my grandmother’s rice. There were many tag-a-longs to Sunday dinner because of my grandmother’s cooking.
Gravy. Look away vegetarians. That’s enough for 20-30 people.
Homemade chicken and dumplings.
Deep fried turkey. Everyone’s been raving about this for the past few years but my grandfather has been deep frying his turkey for over 20 years.
My grandmother’s delicious stuffing.
Sweet potato casserole (i.e. a dessert disguised as a side dish)
The table was set for six, except we have about 25-30 people every year. There was overflow in the living room and the kids always eat throughout the house. This must have started after I grew up because I always had to eat at the table.
Somehow we were some of the first to get our food. I think Brad was hovering in the kitchen saving us a spot in line since we had arrived. We eat buffet style since the whole family is disbursed throughout the house.
My contribution to the dessert table.
Cherry cream cheese pie.
There was also pumpkin pie, chocolate oatmeal cookies, German chocolate cake, and lemon pie.
My plate. Notice the lack of greens? Maybe I’ll bring some brussel sprouts next time.
I had a yeast roll, some stuffing, dark meat turkey, speckled-y beans, rice, chicken and dumplings, macaroni, and my favorite, a deviled egg.
I also went back for a tiny bite of sweet potato casserole, which I somehow overlooked, and a small piece of white meat turkey.
I went easy on dessert: a couple of bites of German chocolate cake, two bites of cherry cream cheese pie, and a small chocolate oatmeal cookies. I also had a bite of Brad’s sweet potato pie and pecan pie. I had to know it was good, right?
My dad said that my pecan pie was the best I’ve ever made. I’ve been making the same recipe for 12 years so I’m not really sure what was different this time, except maybe the homemade whole wheat crust?
Overflow from the dining room. Eating in the living room means there is no break from watching football.
My grandmother’s brother’s family also joins us for Thanksgiving which makes up about half of the crowd.
Our Thanksgiving was nice and relaxing. We had wonderful food and company.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!