Thanksgiving

This was our very first Thanksgiving on our own.  We decided to stay home instead of go visit family this year for two reasons:  1)  money, or lack thereof; 2)  it was our first big holiday as a married couple and we wanted to celebrate it in OUR new home. 

That being said…..Neither one of us had ever been without family for the big day.  Neither one of us had ever cooked a turkey before.   Neither had ever solely hosted a holiday event before.  It was definitely a new experience. 

Some of our good friends (Tyler and Amy) were in the same boat.  Newly married, without family in town, and first Thanksgiving together.  We invited them over for the day and had SO much fun!

I started the morning early with pie making….

And turkey preparations…

Here’s the turkey all ready to go in the oven.

Anyone notice our mistake??  We, stupidly, used a candy thermometer…which means that it MELTED in the oven.  Bwahaha!  Part way through our cooking we peeked inside the oven to check on it and are horrified at the sight.  Luckily it hadn’t gotten on the turkey yet.  Blair pulled it out and ran to Bed, Bath & Beyond for a meat thermometer.  So thankful they were open on Thanksgiving!  I guess something has to go horribly wrong the first time you cook Thanksgiving dinner on your own. hehe

I decorated the table and made fancy name placeholders.

 You can find directions to how I made the placeholders at my cooking/craft blog called Art of Domesticity.

We wanted it to be a holiday with a little something from everyone’s family traditions incorporated.  So I made stuffing because that was always my favourite part of my family’s food feast.  Blair made his mom’s squash casserole.  Amy made her family’s macaroni and cheese.  Tyler made his family’s orange rolls. 

On TOP of all that amazing goodness, we also had the giant turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole (southwest style with green chilies and bacon. yum!), peas and carrots, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie.  All for FOUR people.  It was a buffet able to feed an army and we had four people.  hahaha  (the leftovers were DE-LICIOUS!)

Thanks to the generosity of family and friends at our wedding, we had fancy new  items to use when serving.  It felt like a real holiday!  We had a carving set, a giant platter, wine glasses, gravy boat…everything we needed.

Here’s the turkey.  So moist and perfect.  I was really worried that it was going to come out of the oven either undercooked, super dry, or burned to a crisp.  But it was so moist and perfect!  Success!!  (despite the minor thermometer catastrophe.  lol

Our table is all set and ready to go.  

                We were STUFFED, and still had enough for several meals (for each family).  Now that’s what a Thanksgiving feast should be.

After dinner, we played games (our family tradition) and went to see a movie (their family tradition).  It was such a great day of food, friends, and integrating family traditions.  Perfect way to spend our first Thanksgiving as married couples!!