My First American Thanksgiving

 Hip-hip-hooray!  It's Friday!  I have been trying to post about last week's Thanksgiving for several days now.  After tackling with some Blogger issues, I am finally able to share my photos with you.  I'm happy to announce that I have since acquired my own domain: www.withlovefromthekitchen.com.  It is powered by Blogger so I can still use the same format and won't lose any of my old posts. Thankfully, all issues have been sorted out and I can commence my blogging once again; although I have noticed one change - it seems I can't post pictures as large as I used to.   Oh well, it isn't a big deal. 

 

If you are a regular visitor to my blog, you will know that I live in Canada and we Canadians celebrated our Thanksgiving holiday last month; in mid October.  I shared some of the highlights and pictures in a recent post.  In our family, my Mom roasts the turkey every year and we always celebrate Thanksgiving at my parents' house.  It is tradition and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving day in the United States.  I decided to celebrate the day again with my American friends.  Why you may ask?  Well, for several reasons.  First of all, because I love the Thanksgiving holiday so much; next to Christmas, it's my favourite holiday.  It was a great excuse for me to cook a feast!  Also, it was my chance to roast and stuff a turkey...for the first time ever! 

The first thing I did was plan out the menu...

roast turkey

stuffing  (Susan Branch's Grandma's Stuffing)

cranberry sauce

sweet potato balls (my friend Nancy's recipe; her mother used to make them)

pumpkin cheesecake (recipe by Susan Branch)

On Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, I baked the cheesecake, made the cranberry sauce and roasted the potatoes for the sweet potato balls.  The cheesecake had to be refrigerated overnight and the cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes needed chilling.  I got a few things out of the way so I wouldn't be overwhelmed on Thanksgiving day. 

On the morning of, Nuno went to work as usual and the girls went to school.  Unfortunately, they couldn't do the holiday, stay-at-home thing, so I stayed home taking care of the details.  I ironed the tablecloth and napkins while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade on television. 

 

Here are some photos from our Thanksgiving feast...

The place settings

I decorated the plates with dried maple leaves we

had gathered on our fall walks.

 

 

 

 

The pumpkin cheesecake

 

 

 

 

The cranberry sauce

 

 

 

The three day old bread drying out to prepare 

for the stuffing (just the way Susan's

grandmother used to do it).

 

 

 

 

Susan Branch's Grandma's Stuffing

 The aroma in the kitchen was to die for! 

 

 

 

 The girls came home from school in time to help too!

Here is Anita shaping a sweet potato ball

(tucked inside is a large marshmallow)

 

 

 

 

Annabel wants to help too!  She did such a great job!

 

 

 

 

 The star of the show - the roasted, stuffed turkey

 

 

 

 

The sweet potato balls

 

 

 

 

A little bit of everything on my plate!

 

 

 

 

And for dessert, a slice of pumpkin cheesecake.  I made

a caramel sauce to go with it and topped it with whipped

cream and ground cinnamon. 

 

 

When Nuno returned from work in the evening, we gathered at the table and enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner together.  Annabel said a prayer and we took turns telling all the things we were grateful for.  Everything was delicious.  After we ate and sat with our bellies full, it was decided (by Nuno and the girls) that our American Thanksgiving was a success and that yes, we should celebrate with our American friends every year.  This may very well be the beginning of a new tradition!  Like my husband says, "You can never give enough thanks and you can never eat too much turkey!".

 

I hope my American friends who are reading this, also had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  You all provided the inspiration for me to do this.  Thank you!  I am grateful for each one of you. 

 

Tomorrow we welcome the month of December! Nuno, the girls and I are visiting a local tree farm to pick out our Christmas tree!  I am so excited.  Have you put up your tree yet?  It's such a magical time of year!  Thank you for stopping in and taking the time to read my post! Have a wonderful weekend! xoxo