Thanksgiving Favorites

Ask most people what their favorite part of Thanksgiving is and they will tell you--the food, hands down! I couldn't agree more. Who doesn't love gorging oneself on turkey, perhaps perfectly fried or roasted; green bean casserole; crack taters, one sinfully delicious concoction of sweet potatoes, marshmallows, nuts, sugar, and heck, crack, because they are so tasty; oyster or mirliton dressing, a side of crack rolls to accompany those taters, and a bowl of gumbo and potato salad that started off this whole calorie fest?!? Any Northerners (and perhaps even non-Bornes) may have no idea what's going on at our local Thanksgiving dinner. Please don't call the FBI. There are no drugs present. (That we admit to ;)
Kidding.


But seriously, every family has its own traditional holiday menu that you look forward to each year at Thanksgiving and hope that some items might make a repeat performance at Christmas.  This year will be different for me as I am riding the dairy-free train a bit longer for Shrimp's tummy. I think it's improving but I'm not ready to go all in just yet.

So this year I'm shifting the focus to truly enjoy everything else that this holiday represents.

We started off the festivities at a Thanksgiving lunch at Cowboy's company. Yes, food related, but hey, there's more than just food to get excited about.

Take blue horses for example! (If this mascot appearance happens every year, it might just be a toddler Shrimp's dream come true. That "blue horse, blue horse, what do you see?" in Brown Bear, Brown Bear will be real!)

And then there are all these daddies walking around with their little ones showing off their pride and joy to bosses, assistants, coworkers, etc. who have only heard about how wonderful they are.  What a heartkiss! (Yea, I just made up that word. You can use it. Definition -- well, imagine how your heart would feel given a sweet kiss. A nice feeling right?)

 I promise there were other daddies, and not just my sweet husband, but considering I didn't know them, following them around with my camera to snap pictures for a blog post would have made things quiet uncomfortable.

 There's also just something magical about being in the kitchen. It puts you in the spirit even if you can't eat your creations. This year I am going with cake balls for the win! But, I found a recipe that SPICES them up a bit! Pumpkin Spice Cake Balls from Make Life Delicious were the perfect fit. I baked the cake during one of Wyatt's naps yesterday and formed and coated the balls last night. Sorry for no food porn pics. The chocolate I used wasn't the best and clumped up more quickly than I anticipated, making for cake balls that were more of the I taste better than I look variety. They did get compliments all around, so next year I hope not to be so dairy free!

And if allowing your creative juices to flow freely in the culinary realm isn't satisfying enough, you can always get crafty. So I thought. My goal was to bring our holiday hostess (see below) a sweet thank-you for sharing her family with us, and I wanted to make this Lowes Pilgrim Planter since seeing it a few weeks ago.

Cute right? Well, at Walmart yesterday I bought my 4 inch planters and followed the directions (courtesy of the sweet older man that asked if I needed assistance in the "man" section of power tools and tiny metal pieces that I have no idea what to do with) to the electrical tape and washers. I didn't see gold washers but found silver ones that I thought would do. Because I was in a rush with a well-behaved Shrimp, I grabbed a pack and headed home. Last night I got the hot-glue gun out and prepped for my crafty night (without a daiquiri--a travesty I know!) I wrapped the tape around the top, but when I went to see how the washer would cover the place where the tape ends met, I soon realized how very silly it looked. My washers had a tiny hole instead of the more appropriate one as seen above. Oh well. I guess I'm storing two pots with black electrical tape around the top until next year. We brought wine instead. At least then you can enjoy and throw the bottle away.  No storage issues involved. Everyone wins.

While I strutted my stuff around the kitchen, these two enjoyed some Xbox. Wyatt is enthralled with his daddy's attempt to take Arizona State to the National Championship. 

And how blessed are we to wake up to this happy face? Heartkisses--yes!

Finally, the one thing I know for sure that trumps delicious feasts is sharing it with friends (and family) that love you, and this Cowgirl is blessed beyond my ability to comprehend in this field. The wonderful Bourgeois family invited us over for this "Feaster" (as one of the grandchildren deemed it) and football, and we were surrounded by love, warmth, a FEAST, and babies!

Wyatt quickly reacquainted himself with Aunt Suzanne.

And now I present the lovely Team Bourgeois! Husband and daughter of last year's Sunday Best fantasy football league champion sit below.

And now Momma (and currently in second place this season--Geaux Suzanne--if this were the BCS, you'd get my vote) joins the crew.

I'm the cutest little girl around!

After dinner Wyatt knew he was with a Grandma below. Can't you tell! Mrs. B is not only a super grandmother, but chef extraordinaire! What a great Thanksgiving meal!

And you gotta love Aunt Sarah! She's the best!

 

Thank you again Bourgeois for sharing your day with us! 

This Butterball had a great day!

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3:17).

PS--tomorrow starts the Christmas season. Cold weather rolls in this Thanksgiving night, a gumbo will be made tomorrow and a Christmas tree purchased. It's Shrimp's first--will be huge!