Did you get together with extended family? Did you host or were you a guest? What was on your menu? Do you have any family Thanksgiving traditions? Did you try anything new?
For my household, as I mentioned before, we hosted my son and daughter-in-law.
Here was our menu:
- roasted marinated pork loin (the kind that comes pre-marinated)
- roasted whole chicken (made the day before), glazed with cranberry sauce/orange juice/sage/onion powder/salt/pepper inspired by Southern Living magazine
- gravy made with roasted chicken drippings
- cranberry mustard -- cranberry sauce blended with yellow mustard
- green bean casserole (prepared by one daughter)
- sweet potato casserole (prepared by other daughter)
- oven-roasted broccoli -- Asian-inspired, frozen broccoli tossed with garlic and sesame oil, then oven-roasted (both daughters)
- casserole dish of bread/herb dressing
- maple-roasted Brussel sprouts with pumpkin seeds
- cooked shrimp and cocktail sauce
- bottled cranberry juice plus Sprite
- an apple crumb pie and a pumpkin pie
- My son and daughter-in-law brought some chocolates (something they did last year, too) and some persimmons.
I tried to spread the work out over a few days, cleaning and cooking beginning on Monday. My daughters took care of setting the table and cooking a few dishes. My husband helped with cleaning both before and after. I simplified our menu and cooked what I could in advance. I like how this holiday went for us. Everyone pitched in to some degree, and while I was tired the next day, I was not nearly as tired if I had tried to do it all myself, or if I had waited until Thursday to do all of the cooking. And there was plenty of variety so everyone had something that really hit the spot.
We finished the leftovers on Sunday. And today I finished all of the clean up -- table cloth and napkins in the laundry and all of the sheets of used foil washed to use another time.
So, tell me, how was your Thanksgiving?
