A Quiet and Intimate Thanksgiving

I want to wish everyone a belated Happy Thanksgiving! For those who celebrated Thanksgiving, I hope it was filled with lots of delicious food, wonderful friends and family, and tons of merriment! 

Thanksgiving was an interesting affair for my family this year. Normally, and for as long as I can remember, my parents and I host 20+ guests (comprising of friends and family) at our house and cooked a feast like no other. This was what I was used to and looked forward to every year. This year, however, it was different. Thanksgiving has become a bit more somber since it was last Thanksgiving that my uncle died suddenly and tragically. For this reason, we decided to tone down Thanksgiving, and make it a quiet family affair. 

Despite the smaller scale and somewhat subdued overtone, we still managed to have a lovely thanksgiving. Although my uncle's passing sat heavy on our minds, we still have so much to be thankful for, and it was in this spirit that we essentially cooked up our usually feast, just in smaller portions!

The night before Thanksgiving, my mother baked her delectable "pumpkin cookies" with raisins. They are more like cakey-cookies, thus the ""  and are rather thick. (Perfect for whoopee pies!) They are so good, that even our cat (Jiji), who hates ALL human food, was tempted! 

The centerpiece of our feast: the roasted turkey. I must say, that is a good looking' turkey! My dad is an orthopaedic surgeon, and his favorite part of Thanksgiving is carving the bird. I must say, he is very very good at it too!

Sautéed Butternut Squash with Bacon, Spinach, and Corn 

Bourbon Yams

Stewed Brussels Sprouts and Baby Carrots

(note: the carrots are from my parents' veggie garden!)

Sautéed Cauliflower with Sautéed Bosc Pear and Slivered Almonds

My Mom's Homemade Cranberry Sauce

(with softened whole cranberries!)

For me, the best part of Thanksgiving dinner is the stuffing. Hands down. I could easily forgo every dish and happily tuck into my mom's special stuffing. I know everyone claims that their mom/grandmother/whoever makes the best stuffing, but I firmly believe, my mother's recipe is THE BEST. Mom's stuffing includes: white rice, wild rice, kielbasa sausage, leeks, corn, herb butter (specially made my mom), chestnuts, and probably more treats that I am forgetting. My parents cannot leave me alone in the kitchen with the stuffing, or else I will eat it all! Yummmmm! My stomach is growling and my mouth is watering, just by looking at this picture!

Of course, no feast would be complete without booze! My parents and I enjoyed a chilled bottle of champagne with our feast, whilst we also had a delicious bottle of red wine on standby. 

My very very full plate! In true Thanksgiving spirit, I completely over ate. I was so excited for the meal in front of me and all of my favorites that I only get to have once a year (stuffing) that I completely over did it. My pants felt tighter and I was feeling a bit ill…Oi vey. Like the Romans, who were notorious for overeating, I was in need of a feather to "relieve my stomach"…. Still, I survived and was able to nibble on some confections later!

After cleaning up the kitchen and letting our stomachs settle for a little bit, it was time for dessert! For me, one of the most quintessential fall flavors is pumpkin, so this year's Thanksgiving desserts were pumpkin themed. Yum! For dessert, my mother baked a pumpkin pie and served her pumpkin cookies with orange sugar icing.

Pie, cookie, ice cream, and nespresso. A perfect way to end Thanksgiving!

Although our Thanksgiving was incredibly intimate and quiet, as you can see, we still ate like royalty! I must thank my parents, especially my mother, for working her butt off to create this amazing feast. I have such a wonderful and (foodie) family --- and that is something I am truly thankful for!