Thanksgiving 2010

As I was driving to my Thanksgiving destination this past Wednesday afternoon(Curry, AL), I could not help but notice what a beautiful fall landscape that God had painted.  The trees were so beautiful with magnificent fall colors.  It reminded me of all the things that I am grateful for.  So in that spirit I am sharing my Thanksgiving with you.  Yes you get to meet the family which I am extremely grateful for.  My sister and most of her family(we missed you Brian and Katie) traveled all the way from Arkansas to Alabama to share Thanksgiving with me.  My Mother traveled from Tupelo, MS and my son from Nashville.  We all brought food and although most of the major cooking was done prior to leaving our homes, we still all gathered in the kitchen Thanksgiving morn to cook.  What fun!!!  After all the cooking was done, we packed up our food and drove about an hour north and enjoyed our Thanksgiving food at my daughters home.  Our Thanksgiving Menu included:

Rosemary Pecan Cheese Rounds
Cranberry Glazed Turkey
Ham
Cornbread Dressing
Mashed Potato Casserole
Green Bean Casserole
Squash Casserole

Asparagus/English Pea Casserole
Sweet Potato Souffle
Green Beans Supreme
Deviled Eggs
Garlic Cheese Grits
Caramel Cake
Banana Pudding
Fall Fruit Pie
Sweet Potato Gingerbread with Maple Pecan Butter Sauce
Pecan Pie

Is this going to be a carb overload or what???

 This is my niece Allison making her first contribution to Thanksgiving.  She just got married about 6 weeks ago and like any good southern wife and woman she is cooking for Thanksgiving and cook she did.  She made the Green Bean Casserole.  Delish!!!  She used a Paula Dean recipe.  Thank you  Allison.  It was great but most of all it was so much fun having you cook your first Thanksgiving contribution in my kitchen while I got to observe.

 Now this is my mother, better known as Grandmother(original huh).  She is probably wanting to give Allison some advice.  Grandmother made the heavenly Garlic Cheese Grits, that is a must at every Thanksgiving meal, deviled eggs and the one and only best Banana Pudding in the world.

 My sister, Debbie, is slaving over the stove making Asparagus/English Pea Casserole. This recipe came from her Mother-in-law, Nancy who was a wonderful cook.  It was nice having one of Nancy's recipes at our Thanksgiving.  She would have liked knowing we were discussing her recipe.  Thanks Nancy, Debbie did your recipe proud.

Grandmother/Mother putting the finishing touches on her heavenly Garlic Cheese Grits.  Those are my Rosemary-Pecan Cheese Rounds sitting on the cutting board with the garlic cheese grits.  They were very good.  I will definitely be making those again.

 What would a family gathering be without all the animals.  Meet Nash.  This great lab belongs to
Allison and her new husband Dusty.  What a great dog!!!!!  This is without a doubt the most well trained and behaved dog I have had the privilege of being around.

 This is Nash trying not to be annoyed by my dog Chloe, the most precious Yorkie you have ever seen.

Okay Nash, now that you are comfortable, it is time to pack up and head north to Bailey's house where we will all share our food.

 We are at Bailey's house.  Meet Dusty, Allison's new hubby, Barry, Debbie's hubby and my brother-in-law, Harrison, my precious son, and Sage, my son-in-law and Bailey's sweet hubby.  Somethings are even more important than food---you are wrong- I was thinking of Football.

 Bailey's beautiful table.  This is Bailey and Sage's first Thanksgiving in their new home.  They have worked so hard on their first home.  It was a home that needed some tender loving care and boy have they done a great job!!!  Thanks Bailey and Sage for sharing your home with us for Thanksgiving.

Meet my daughter Bailey, making sure we all have tea or water.

Just a photograph of Bailey and Sage's little bar.  Isn't it cute.

Well it is time to eat and this is some of the food we enjoyed.  I will post on a few of the recipes later.

Squash Casserole

Cornbread Dressing

Asparagus/English Pea Casserole

Sweet Potato Souffle

Green Beans Supreme

Garlic Cheese Grits

Green Bean Casserole

Mashed Potato Casserole

Deviled Eggs

Rosemary-Pecan Cheese Rounds

Sage thanked God for all of our blessings (and there are many), the food, the safe travel and the opportunity to be together on this Thanksgiving Day.

 Time to dig in to this Thanksgiving Feast (as Bailey calls it).

We are not a bashful bunch. Everything was absolutely delicious.  I don't think there was anything that I would not like to have again.

 Here's Barry--always the last in line and I now know why.  He does not want anyone to notice just how much food he puts on his plate.  That's ok Barry--it's Thanksgiving!!!

 As you can see, this meal was enjoyed by all.

 More important than the food, we had fun and enjoyed being together.

I did not spend much time photographing the desserts, but here is a few.

Fall Fruit Pie

Caramel Cake

Banana Pudding

Sweet Potato Gingerbread with Maple Pecan Butter

What would any family gathering be without a few posed photographs.  

 Meet Avery.  This is Bailey and Sage's dog.

 This is three generations.  Grandmother in the middle, Debbie and her daughter, Allison on your right, and me and my daughter, Bailey, on your left.

 Grandmother with her two grandaughters, their husbands, Avery and Nash.

Trying to contain Avery is a bit difficult, but she is a sweet dog--just full of herself.  Whew!!!!

Harrison, Bailey, Grandmother, and Allison(we miss you Brian)

 My sister Debbie and her precious family.

 My great family!!!

 Oh sorry Avery, How could I have included a family photo without you.  Now it is complete--this is my great family.

 Now time for the animal cousins to get to know each other.

 Now aren't we just adorable

 Time to rest.  Just the way we all felt after filling out bellies with that wonderful Thanksgiving Feast.  Thank you Lord for allowing us to be together, it was truly heavenly.  We laughed, we made fun of our daughters, we fussed over the dogs, we cooked, we gave advice, we drank wine, we missed our exit (well some of us did), we bossed Bailey around in her kitchen, we watched football, and we loved being together.  What a wonderful Thanksgiving!!