Thanksgiving prep

Pumpkin tree branches - who knew?

I've had a bit of a busy day. I had my day planned a couple of weeks ago - so couldn't allow my cough keep me home. I had my last fitting for my wedding dress. Oh my, I sure love my dress. I would like to keep it on until the wedding - but for obvious reasons, I have decided to keep it at Blush and will pick it up just prior to the big day. My mom was with me again this time - she watched how I got strapped in today - hopefully she can pass that info along to my BM's. I love that my mom has been such a big part of our day - I know that I am truly blessed.

I have also been prepping for Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow night. I ordered a large, organic, free-range turkey a couple of weeks ago from The Root Cellar. I had serious thoughts of canceling dinner - making Chris go and pick up the bird - and then just cooking a turkey and nothing else and Chris and I eating turkey sandwiches for the month of October. Then I thought about it again, and knew that we have folks coming for dinner, so thought that I'd better take in stride.

On the menu for tomorrow night:

Turkey

Stuffing - with italian sausage

Roasted Acorn Squash - with a brown sugar, cinnamon and pecan topping

Mashed turnips with a mild spice of chili flakes

Roasted Beets with fresh herbs

Corn

Sauteed brussels sprouts with bacon (I think)

Homemade cranberry sauce

Mashed potatoes (Jules' is bringing these)

Buns (Jules - don't forget these :) )

Cheesecake with a topping that will TBD - I wanted to do some type of pumpkin caramel - stay tuned

So far I have: sauted the onions and sausage for the stuffing; torn up the bread for the stuffing; chopped the celery, onion and carrots for the roasting pan; made the cranberry sauce; peeled and chopped the turnips; put together a flower arrangement for the table.

First thing tomorrow morning I am going to make the cheesecake, prep the brussels sprouts, stuff the bird, have a cup of hot chocolate, watch an episode of Jersey Shore. Oh, did I just say that out loud? What??? I won't watch it on the actual holiday. I will hopefully also have a shower so that I don't scare our guests when they arrive.

I also made a big dent in our guest room that before 4:00 PM today, it could have been mistaken for an episode of Hoarders. Poor Jocelyn had to stay in that room. I was mortified. I had her set to stay downstairs and Chris showed her to the guest room. You can imagine my surprise when I knew that she was going into a room that still had luggage in it from our trip to Ontario over a month ago.

Alright friends. What are y'all doing for the holiday? If you have any cooking questions - let me know.

Loves.

Enjoy!!