143.4...Thanksgiving in a Flash

Holy moly. Thanksgiving came and went in a flash. I feel like I never stopped cooking and/or eating. It’s amazing how long you prepare for it and it goes by in a flash. 

Last Tuesday started out with my standard breakfast.

I stopped by the store to get a few last minute items and picked up some sushi for lunch. 

I spent the day cooking and baking for Thanksgiving. Dinner was Sloppy Joes that I pulled out of the freezer, sweet potato fries and salad.

Wednesday’s breakfast:

The entire day was spent cooking, baking, setting tables and getting every last minute detail done. I was also trying to make as much room in the refrigerator as possible. The last leftover container in there was the rest of the Beef Stroganoff so that was lunch.

My mom came from Palm Desert to spend the holiday with us. We went to our club that night for dinner. It was “Comfort Night” and boy was the food comforting! Our table shared a delicious salad and deviled eggs.

My choice was the Prime Rib. Delicious!

We shared a few sides: Creamed Spinach:

Mashed Potatoes:

Broccoli: 

Dessert was Pumpkin Cheesecake:

Such a nice, relaxing evening after working in the kitchen all day.

So, I host Thanksgiving every year. Every other year I host it on a Friday. That allows other family members to spend time with in-laws, etc. This year was my Friday hosting. So, on Thursday, we celebrated actual Thanksgiving at my brother’s house in Los Angeles. It’s always interesting hosting Thanksgiving for 30 people when you loose the day before!

Breakfast before we left:

I ate it standing up and running around trying to get the car packed and last minute things done. 

We finally arrived at my brother’s house and enjoyed lots of different yummy appetizers.

Since we were planning on having turkey and all the fixings on Friday, my sister in law decided to make it more of an Italian Thanksgiving. We had pasta and her famous “gravy” with a big salad. 

It’s a good thing that she wasn’t trying to make a turkey because the power went out for a couple of hours. I feel bad for all the people trying to use their ovens. 

I brought a Lemon Cream Pie for dessert (recipe coming). Only problem…no electricity for the mixer to whip the cream! I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I got out a bowl and a whisk and went to town. 

It worked! Lol. I whipped the cream by hand. I was very proud of myself. 

After dinner we headed back to San Diego. I put the brine on the turkey, shoved it in my massively full fridge and went to bed.

Friday morning was show time! I quickly ate a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and got to work.

Somehow I managed to forget to take photos of all the appetizers I put out. But it’s about the same every year: cheese, crackers, chips and dips. 

I did snap a few photos of all my tables!

Finally, everyone started to arrived. My brother brought me a bottle of wine.

Lol. My kind of wine!

Eventually it was time to eat! 

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese:

Green Bean Casserole that one of my brothers in law brought:

Homemade Gravy:

Peas:

Stuffing:

Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes: 

Gulliver’s Creamed Corn:

Good Eats Roast Turkey:

My plate of a bit of everything:

After we relaxed and cleaned up a bit, it was dessert time!

Grandma Ople’s Apple Pie:

Chantal’s New York Cheesecake (recipe coming):

The Best Pumpkin Pie Ever (recipe coming):

 Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie:

And…boom! Thanksgiving was over! Bittersweet definitely. I sent all my leftovers with other people. After thinking, preparing and cooking them for so long, I don’t want to see them ever again. :)

Breakfast Saturday:

It was time to drive back to Los Angeles! We stopped at Milton’s for lunch. I had a salad and half a salami sandwich.

It was back to my brother’s house. He had some friends over to watch football and I game him all my turkey and rolls so they had turkey sandwiches plus various appetizers.

Sunday morning my brother made us delicious egg sandwiches. Nice change of pace from my usual breakfast, huh? :)

We went to the Yard House at LA Live for lunch. I had half a turkey melt with clam chowder.

Eh. This is the second time in a row that the Yard House has disappointed me. 

We all went to the Staples Center to watch the Clippers game!

It’s my son’s favorite basketball team and they won! 

We hit the road back to San Diego. Dinner was Burger Night at our club. I had the turkey burger, lettuce wrapped with arugula, tomato, red onion, chipotle aioli and sweet potato fries. 

A perfect way to end a FABULOUS holiday weekend!

Then it was Monday. Ugh.

I took the kids to school, went to a couple of appointments. I saw Jersey Mike’s on the way home and knew I had to stop for lunch.

Turkey and provolone, Mike’s way with spicy red pepper relish. Ah….it had been way too long!

After Thanksgiving ends, I do not feel like being creative in the kitchen. Since I was out of stuff to eat in the freezer, that’s when I turn to Trader Joe’s.

Thank you for providing me with cheese ravioli and jarred sauce. I did make a salad so I was a bit creative, I guess.

Today’s breakfast:

I made it to the gym after I took the kids to school. It had been a bit over a week. I went to Cardio Strength. Great workout. 

Lunch was a turkey sandwich and leftover Doritos from Thanksgiving. ;)

Tonight is busy with my son’s basketball practice and a flag football game! Back to normal life for sure!

 What was your favorite dish at Thanksgiving?

Technorati Tags: Beef Stroganoff, Burger Night, Chantal's New York Cheesecake, Creamy Macaroni and Cheese, Everyday, Good Eats Roast Turkey, Grandma Ople's Apple Pie, Gulliver's Creamed Corn, Homemade Gravy, Jersey Mike's, LA Live, Lemon Cream Pie, Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes, Milton's, Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie, Sloppy Joes, Thanksgiving, The Best Pumpkin Pie Ever!, Trader Joe's, Yard House