Thanksgiving Dinner

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year Bryan and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for some of the White Family at our home. I spent most of Wednesday preparing for the feast. I like to cook - and I had a grand time cooking in our kitchen.

By Thursday morning, the flowers were arranged,

the table was set,

and I had very little to do except wait for the cooking to be complete.

This was the first time I cooked a turkey, and I must say, it was delicious. I'm usually not a huge fan of white meat, but the white meat is this turkey was absolutely succulent!

I think the key was the brining. I used a brine recipe that was featured on the Pioneer Woman
we also cooked the bird "low and slow" and massaged the turkey with a compound herb butter during the last hour of cooking. Delicious turkey!

To join with the turkey, we made a giblet gravy, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with a pecan crumble, cornbread dressing, green bean casserole, cranberries and three pies - chocolate bourbon pecan, pumpkin, and apple.

Doesn't that apple pie look delicious? It's an illusion! This apple pie looked delicious on the outside, but when we opened it we learned that it did not cook well - in fact the bottom crust was still raw. :( Oh well, that's why there were two other delicious pies! Including this bourbon chocolate pecan pie!

Besides good food, we enjoyed spending time with Bryan's parents, Lem and Ken.

I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with good food, family and good memories.