We just said goodbye to Michael's family after our bi-annual Thanksgiving celebration. It was a wonderful weekend together!!!
I am extremely blessed to have two pantries. This is what I call the "little pantry" and here it is the night before Thanksgiving with some of the pies waiting for the big day. Yum yum! Somehow this picture reminds me of a book I used to read as a child....maybe one of Beatrix Potter's illustrations. I can't quite put my thumb on it.
Michael's family came from Oklahoma, Chicago, Cleveland, and North Carolina! Besides Thanksgiving we were celebrating Michael's parents' 50th wedding anniversary! Quite an occasion to celebrate!
So the theme of the Thanksgiving decorations was "golden" for golden wedding. Lots and lots of gold.
The meal came together nicely this year despite losing my master list a few days ahead of time and having to re-create it. Of course the list materialized today after everyone left. Our menu included:
Spatchcocked turkey
Gravy
Mashed potatoes
Carrots with parsley
Green beans with balsamic vinaigrette and shallots
Butternut squash and sweet potato mash
Gluten free sage and onion stuffing (my favorite!)
Fresh cranberry sauce
Wild rice and butternut squash pilaf
The younger kids had their very own table in the front room. Lots of cousins to play with!
The adults enjoyed one long table in the dining room.
It was a delicious meal!
Afterward Michael's dad gave a speech telling about his childhood and how he and mom met and married (it was also Dad's 80th birthday this year).
Eventually it was time for pie!
This is what it looked like afterward! We then proceeded to eat pie for breakfast, snacks, and dessert for the next two days! Definitely a highlight of Thanksgiving!
We enjoyed a funny round of White Elephant Gift Exchanging.
And presented anniversary gifts to Michael's parents including this uncut sheet of 50 $1 bills which was a big hit!
The Golden anniversary favors:
And the happy couple!
It was fun to see the cousins together again after two years. Everyone was so much older, of course! Rachel and Kyleigh both love music.
Michael with all but one of his siblings.
We decided we needed a girl picture too!
This is my favorite picture of all -- grandparents with a dozen grandkids. YAY!
And so ends another thanksgiving season.
6 comments:
Great pictures, Heather, much love and happiness in every one.
Your pantry photo reminds me of Brambly Hedge!
Lovely! I'm sure you worked really hard, dear Heather! It's so thoughtful of you to add all the little touches to the celebration.
Oh, Heather, so much to be thankful for! Wow. (and what is 'spatchcocked' turkey??)
It looks amazing. How blessed you are to have such a big family!
Lovely celebration! I made GF cornbread stuffing from scratch this year, following the recipe in America's Test Kitchen's How Can It Be Gluten-Free cookbook. My mom ordered a pumpkin pie from an all GF bakery in Franklin. (Maybe you know it??) Unfortunately, we all ended up coming down with a stomach bug, so leftovers were not enjoyed. What's the carrot recipe? I transplanted my parsley from outside (in the ground) into a pot in my greenhouse window. I think the pot is probably too small for the plant, so I need to prune it.
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