Hello friends! I hope your Thanksgiving was as fabulous as mine! I started the day off with my first double digit run ever. After that, I was pretty emotional all day long. In the morning Clementine helped me while I stretched out my tired legs.
“Good job, mom. I’ll sit here and keep watch while you stretch.”
Legs hurt less with a Clementine. It’s a proven fact.
Pretty soon, I was back to work on snacks, sides and setting up. For the snack food, I made Skinny Mini Corndogs (recipe to come–they are a hit every time!) and Baked Sweet Potato Chips with a Yogurt Dipping Sauce. Lisa made her famous Deviled Eggs and Judy brought chips with homemade salsa. So much yum.
Ok, they look kinda funny pre-cooked, but just trust me.
I put Charlie to work on sweet potato flipping. Careful about coming to dinner at my house, I will put you to work!
Steve asked me at 7am when I returned from my run if I wanted to open the champagne which I thought I would, but even I can’t handle it that early so we waited until after noon 😉
“Friends! I ran 10 miles and cooked a lot of food, so please drink with me!”
“Oh, you still wanted some too? I was just going to switch off between my glass and the bottle…”
You know you like my Thanksgiving outfit.
Before it was time to make the last couple of things for dinner, I was able to spend some time actually hanging out with friends, family and the puppies. Imagine that! I hosted and got to be social! Success.
Charlie and Kara always take the best pictures together!
I seriously cannot imagine my life without this little guy. He is the most loving dog on earth!
Seriously, look at how he hugs me!
I got legitimately upset with Steve for only taking pictures of Clementine. In true Steve fashion, he took about a million pictures of Winston afterwards.
Most beautiful photo of my mom ever.
Mathew and Lisa
Deann and my mom
Carolyn was visiting from Tucson for the weekend, and I am so glad she was able to make it as well! She even brought me a hostess present, and I didn’t even tell her for the entire month before that she was supposed to. I mean, not that I would have done that to anyone. 😉
Fig butter and honey apple butter!!! We all know how I feel about anything with the word butter in it. Yummmm. She also got me a Starbucks gift card! This girl knows the way to my heart!!
If you’re looking for a blog with some kick butt work outs that can make you feel like your work out is lame no matter how hard you think you’ve worked, you should check hers out. She has made so much progress and looks absolutely amazing!
Because Carolyn was hanging with Kara and Charlie, I think she was asked about 5 times whether she also worked for Starbucks haha.
My dad, Janie, Grandma, and Hank
Finally, it was time to finish up the cooking and carve the turkey!
Wild mushrooms, fresh rosemary, bay leaves, olive oil, chopped garlic, s&p. Baked @ 375 for 20-30 min.
I had almost forgotten that last year we painted our own turkey platter at As You Wish. I absolutely love this.
Steve’s turkey came out absolutely perfect. 2nd time was a charm 😉
Eventually we all sat down to say what we were thankful for. My favorite part of Thanksgiving.
After dinner, Hermano finally arrived (Soooo happy!!! I missed him all day!) andSteve gathered all the family into the living room for a photo.
Love.
And then afterwards, I insisted on a friends picture, and while I am not a fan of the photo in general, I love my friends, so i posted it anyway.
Then, it was time for dessert. I cannot wait to post all of these recipes because they came out amazing! There was Super Simple Pumpkin Brownies, Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars, and ice cream (buttermilk, white chocolate and vanilla bean). And, yes, every single thing I made was at least healthy-ish. I mean, I didn’t go nutty about it, but I made everything the way I wanted to make it.
No one had any complaints 😉
“Is it bed time yet?”
The whole day was pretty perfect from start to finish. I love my family. I love my friends. I love my Winston and Clementine.
That’s some good photography right there. Love you little lady.
Um, small world… Charlie is my favorite barista at my neighborhood bucks!
Ohhhh I’ll have to tell him I know you!! Isn’t he wonderful???
Aww, thank you Ari! It was great spending the holiday with your and your family and friends. The food was AMAZING and everyone was so sweet. A lot of these pictures crack me up, I especially like how you made the picture of Kara, Charlie, and us smaller 🙂 and the one where everyone is eating and I am serving food to Charlie-it screams nurturer to me, who knew I was so kind.