two days, two dinners.

this whole weekend has been non-stop. i am finally sitting down and relaxing, but i keep thinking about how i have to be back to work in less than 11 hours.

at least i am only working two days this week! yep. monday and tuesday are business as usual, but come wednesday i will be off for the holiday. i think i will be able to make it to wednesday just fine

well, as my title eludes to, i am going to show you a couple dinners!

saturday night, a few of my friends had a thanksgiving get together.  we started off with a variety of cheese and crackers. i am a sucker for the cheese tray.

for the main course, everyone was in charge of a dish.

i was in charge of sweet potatoes and decided to make a candied sweet potato casserole (i loosely followed sabrina’s recipe). this was actually my first time trying sweet potatoes in a sweet setting (rather than savory) and so i wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

it turned out pretty dang delicious!

all of the other thanksgiving staples were there!

oven roasted turkey breast & cranberry sauce

green bean casserole

my VERY most favorite thanksgiving side: stuffing! (some people call it dressing.. i always call it stuffing even if it wasn’t technically stuffed in the bird!)

a delicious salad with craisins, apples, feta and toasted pecans.. dressed in a poppyseed vinaigrette.

and last, but not least, rolls bigger than my head.

i love traditional thanksgiving dinner!

my date <3

as you can see, the rolls were so big that mine didn’t even fit on my plate!

i wonder who decided traditional thanksgiving dinner would consist of these specific elements. i mean, i know this is NOT what the first thanksgiving feast had.. it would be interesting to find out who decided that green bean casserole, candied sweet potatoes and turkey with stuffing would equal thanksgiving dinner.

although, like i said, this was my very first time trying candied sweet potatoes! and i suppose there are lots of dishes that one person deems “traditional thanksgiving” and the next person wouldn’t think to have it on their table for the holiday.

for instance: i asked marshall if he had any special requests for this thanksgiving (our first as a married couple!)—he said fruit salad. which is, by the way, diced fruit mixed with whipped cream. this is something marshall grew up eating on thanksgiving, but my family never had it. i will be making fruit salad on thursday and it will become a new tradition of my own. i am excited to adopt other traditions that marshall has from his childhood.

anyway.. enough pondering!

onto the next dinner.

tonight  we invited marshall’s family over for dinner since we won’t be able to spend thanksgiving with them. i planned the menu and it consisted of:

• slow cooked ham
• danica’s healthy potatoes au gratin
• romaine & spinach salad with cucumber, bell peppers, carrots and grape tomatoes
• fresh baked rolls with my mom’s homemade jam
• pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream for dessert

i put the ham in my slow cooker on low for seven hours. that’s it. put the ham in, all by itself, turned the slow cooker on and let it do its magic.

if you are curious, i bought a bone-in, partially cooked, butt end ham (sounds freaktastic and i apologize to you vegs that are reading.) i put the ham cross section down and let it cook in its own juices.

when the ham was done, it literally fell off the bone. it was so tender and juicy! special thanks to momma b for the know-how and giving me the ham how-to

i have made danica’s potatoes before and knew they would be the perfect side dish to the ham.

you can find danica’s recipe for the potatoes here.

salad & rolls.

these were just rhode’s rolls. i actually attempted to make whole wheat rolls from scratch today. it is a story for another day.. but let’s just say i am glad i had backup rolls on hand!

my plate~

a little of everything!

guess who got the ham bones?

they loved ‘em. clearly.

i whipped the cream and marshall did the honors of slicing and serving the pumpkin pie~ which i bought at costco. such a cheater.

there is always room for pie.

well.. i am just waiting for the dumb football game to get over so we can watch dexter.

don’t forget to enter my three sister’s cereal giveaway and i will announce the winner tomorrow.

have a great monday!

Qs~

1. are there any dishes that say “thanksgiving” to you but they may not be traditional for every one else? we always have a bowl of black olives and a bowl of sweet pickles on the thanksgiving dinner table. not sure if this is very common?

2. what was the last meal you prepared for others? i wish i could make dinner for people every night. i love to cook.

xo. janetha g.