Thanksgiving….

I know that I have said this before (probably a few times :)) but Thanksgiving is definitely one of my favorite holidays….my absolute favorite is Resurrection Sunday, and a very close second favorite would be Thanksgiving.   To me it is a very contemplative time of year…..a time when I am much more mindful of what/whom I am thankful for.   With a broken family (both D and I come from divorced parents, and my mom abandoned our family about 8 years ago) we rarely know from year to year what Thanksgiving will hold for us.  We have some VERY dear friends that we enjoy spending the day with,  they are one of our “God families” and neither of them have any family in the area (both of their sets of parents have passed away, and their siblings are spread out all over the U.S.) so we enjoy spending the day with them when we are able to.   So I always plan a menu for Thanksgiving, and then wait to see what happens……well, I planned my menu on Monday afternoon….

Thanksgiving 2008 Menu

 roasted turkey
ham
slow cooker sweet potatoes and apples
mashed potatoes and gravy
stuffing
D’s special peas
cranberry sauce
green salad
relish tray
pumpkin pie
chocolate pecan pie

I had sent an email to D’s mom and family and asked them if they would like to join us for Thanksgiving, then on Tuesday I got a call from D’s mom and she was calling to invite us to her house……SO, I ditched my menu plan again this year, and will enjoy the meal with our family.  I do get to take dessert, so I think I’m going to make the pies, and POSSIBLY an apple dish of some sort (something that is not pie and that isn’t quite as sweet).

What is your Thanksgiving menu going to include?  Do you do the traditional turkey and stuffing or do you do something less traditional?

I DO get to cook for Christmas this year, and am trying to figure out what to do for that, we will have 12 here for Christmas Day dinner.   Last year I did a beautiful roasted pork loin.   The year before that my father-in-love and D’s step mom hosted Christmas at their house (which was the tradition until last year….in 2006 the placecards were passed onto the next generation, and so last year (2007) I got to do Christmas here!  It was SOOOOO exciting!  I LOVED it!   Anyhow in 2006 we had lasagna.  I’m seriously thinking about doing chicken enchiladas this year…..we’ll see 🙂