Mmmmm, Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. Yes I do. Wanna know why?

I love brining my turkey. Thank you Alton Brown for giving me a clue. I don't think I will ever NOT brine my turkey (who is actually happily in my freezer right now waiting for his salty bath next week!) It is so worth the extra prep work...really, you should try it if you haven't before.

I love cornbread stuffing. Thank you to The Barefoot Contessa - Ina Garten for the most fabulous recipe on earth. It's ok that I have to quadruple it because it came from your T-Dinner for Two episode. It's THAT good and I don't mind doing it.

I love finger jello. No, no...not those dumb "jiggler" thingamabobs...those are disgusting. No, FINGER JELLO. The kind you "pass" like a football at the Thanksgiving table. It is tradition and you can't break tradition! Thank you to my sister for teaching me the fine art of finger jello passing. :)

Black olives. Love these. Love to buy the JUMBO olives and put them on every finger. Yes, this happens at the table too. Jeremy & Becca usually do the same. You guessed it...another tradition!

Pumpkin pie. Do I need to say more?! The youngest boys love helping me put one together and everyone loves to eat it except for hubby. That's ok. We make him a banana cream.

Lemon Meringue. I make it. Not as good as my Mom's used to be, but Thanksgiving doesn't seem complete with out it. My SIL Kathy and I love it...tart as tart can be. Needless to say, this pie I bring to my IL's for dessert.

I love stuffed celery. YUM! Cream cheese & green olive stuffing, thank you very much.

Broccoli casserole. Ok, so this isn't my favorite. It is Jeremy & Chris' favorite though and again, it is tradition.

Ahhhh, party potatoes. Yes, starch is my world. I love party potatoes. This is a recipe from Chris' nana. Boiled whipped potatoes mixed with cream cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper, garlic & onion powder dotted with butter and baked in the oven. DIVINE!

Gravy, turnip, butternut squash & cranberry sauce....wouldn't be the same without them!

And the crowning glory of the meal is the homemade potato crescent rolls with homemade honey butter.

Yep, can't understand why I am falling asleep before the meal is over...it couldn't be the CARB overload, could it? It is good that this meal only happens once per year. I mean, it is so much food that I have to use the buffet with hot plates because the table simply isn't big enough! Once per year I cook for a week and it's over within an hour!

And let's not forget the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without seeing the giant Snoopy flying past! Someday I'm going to give up the cooking for once and see the parade in person. It's on my list of things to do before I die.

So if anyone is up for CARB overload and wants to come share a meal with us crazies here in the Quiet Corner, let me know...there are still 3 leaves stored in the table that I can pull out in a pinch!