An Untraditional Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that we don't seem to have a set plan year after year.  Chris' parents are often away in Cancun, and since I've known Chris we have seemed to do something different each year.  In case you have any interest, here's a rundown on our last seven Thanksgivings: In 2009, right after we were engaged, I went with him and his family to Cancun but came back early because I was in my friend's wedding on Black Friday.  In 2010 and 2011, Chris' parents were in Cancun, and we spent the holiday with my parents and my brother's family, once in Rhode Island and once here in New Jersey.  In 2012, Noah was only 3 weeks old.  Chris' parents were once again in Cancun but my parents and younger brother brought a traditional, yet super casual, Thanksgiving dinner over to our apartment.   2013 was the first Thanksgiving since I had met Chris that his parents were home for the holiday, so we spent it with them at their house.  In 2014, we flew out on Thanksgiving day for my brother's wedding in Toronto.  We spent Thanksgiving night at their rehearsal dinner eating steak :).  And last year, we were back at my in-laws.  

While not necessarily unusual for us, we had a somewhat untraditional Thanksgiving again this year.  Instead of a full and loud house with hours spent in the kitchen, we went out to eat.  And while this isn't the first time we've gone out to eat on Thanksgiving, here's our reasoning behind the decision.  First off, my in-laws were back in Cancun.  So that meant we were spending the holiday with my family.  My older brother and his family were staying in Rhode Island and my younger brother and husband are currently on a cruise in South America.  Which meant it would just be the three of us and my parents this year.  In addition to that, my mom and I just made a huge turkey dinner complete with all the sides, a month ago for Canadian Thanksgiving.  Since we just had a Thanksgiving, and Noah is happy with a hard boiled egg and some raw veggies, we really didn't feel the need to go through all that hassle for 4 adults.   So instead, we made a reservation and left the cooking and cleanup to the professionals.  

We were able to have a relaxing day at home, watching the parade in our pajamas (Noah's favorite was the Trolls float), before getting dressed for dinner.  We went to Seasons 52 where they offered a Traditional Thanksgiving menu in addition to their regular menu.  I wavered back and forth up until I placed my order, but in the end decided to mix and match and order exactly what I wanted. 

We started off with a flatbread appetizer and some cesar salads.  While they offered the traditional Thanksgiving menu for kids too, Noah has no interest in turkey and potatoes, and instead opted for his usual butter pasta.  While Chris ordered the turkey, the rest of us ordered off the regular menu.  My mom and I both decided we wanted the traditional Thanksgiving sides, but weren't really excited about the turkey.  So instead, we ordered the short ribs but requested the mashed potatoes, butternut squash, and green beans.  It really was the perfect Thanksgiving compromise!   And since it took us much longer to eat our multiple courses than it did for Noah to eat his pasta, he made himself at home on the large booth and watched some YouTube.  

Everything was going great until it was time for dessert.  Leading up to and during dinner, we kept telling Noah that if he ate well he could have vanilla ice cream for dessert.  So when it was time to order desserts, Noah ordered his ice cream and was very upset when they said they didn't have any.  He immediately started crying and demanded to go home.  I actually felt bad for the waiter, cause there really wasn't anything he could do.  Noah just kept asking, "how do they not have vanilla ice cream???".  As if that wasn't bad enough, they were also out of the pumpkin pie dessert that Chris was really looking forward to as well!  Thankfully Chris was able to contain his disappointment and didn't end up crying like Noah did.  As usual, Grandma saved the day and told Noah that she had some Dove ice cream bars at home.  Tears were wiped away, the check was paid, and we rushed home so that Noah could enjoy his ice cream.  Thanksgiving was saved!   

How did you spend your Thanksgiving?  Hopefully it was with plenty of pumpkin pie and vanilla ice cream ;)

Thanksgiving Recap | Christmas Pajama Party Announcement

Thanksgiving is over and the Christmas season is officially upon us!  But before I start talking about everything Christmas, I want to do a little recap about our Thanksgiving.  This year, we spent the holiday with Chris' family.  We went over to his parents' house around 12 and spent the entire day eating, playing, and enjoying each other's company.  We lucked out and had absolutely gorgeous weather!  This year it was sunny and in the mid 60s, while last year there was snow on the ground!  You really never know what you'll get on Thanksgiving on the East Coast!  

"Dinner" was served around 2:30, so while we waited, Noah snacked on some peppers while dressed as a train conductor.  Just a day or two before Thanksgiving, he found the hat and scarf in his dress up box and became obsessed with it.  He wore it all day Wednesday and even napped in it!  I was just glad we got it off for our group picture and he didn't ask to put it back on for dinner ;)

Noah is usually the only kid, so he was super happy that there was a 6 year old boy joining us this year.  Noah followed him around almost the entire time and loved copying everything he did!  I was shocked that they weren't hungrier after playing catch and running all over the backyard!  

Then it was time for the main meal!  All the food was delicious, but the kids decided bread was their favorite and barely picked at the rest of the meal.  My personal favorite was the mozzarella and the ziti (I guess I prefer the non-traditional thanksgiving food) :)  I brought way too much of these potatoes and ended up bringing most of it home!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving just as we did!  While we aren't big Black Friday shoppers, we did get a few things online and spent the rest of our time making our house ready for Christmas!  Almost all of the decorations are up and I'm loving the way our house looks right now!

Now that we are all decorated for Christmas, I'm so excited to jump right in with all the festive activities.  I personally plan to wear lots of buffalo plaid, dress Noah in multiple Christmas t-shirts, and have him wear Christmas jammies every night until Christmas!  I'm sure many of you have at least one pair of Christmas pajamas for your little ones... and we'd love for you to share them with us!  On Thursday, December 17th, some of my blogging friends and I are hosting a fun Christmas Pajama Party Link-up!  Make sure to grab the image above, link-up your Christmas PJ posts, and tag any photos you share on social media with #CHRISTMASJAMPARTY15 :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to stop by really quickly and wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving!  We will be spending the day at Chris' parents' house and eating way too much food :)  I will also be reminiscing about how little Noah was on his first Thanksgiving, at only 3 weeks old, and how much he's grown since then!

I bought the shirt at Old Navy and had our friend print it

Thanksgiving - 2014, 2013, 2012

(before Noah) 2011, 2010

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Thanksgiving Inspiration & A Recipe

Can you believe Thanksgiving is next week!?  While we hosted Canadian Thanksgiving at our house, we will be going to Chris' family's house for the American Turkey Day.  While I don't need to set a table, I can't help but oohing and ahhing over these tablescapes!  While I often gravitate toward more neutral decor, I am absolutely loving some of these rich colors and the use of fresh fruit as part of the decor.  

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And while Noah will be the only kid at our Thanksgiving, I love the idea of a kid friendly table where they can color and really enjoy themselves.  

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And of course, I had to include a photo (and link) of my table from Canadian Thanksgiving!  

While I won't be hosting or decorating a table for Thanksgiving, I will be bringing a side dish to dinner this year.  I got this recipe from a friend and knew right away it would be the perfect dish to bring!  I can do all the prep at home and then bake it at my in-laws' house right before dinner :)

Baked Mashed Potatoes with Parmesan Cheese and Bread Crumbs

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Ingredients

1 tbsp butter

4 lbs russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella

1 cup freshly grated parmesan

salt and freshly ground pepper

2 tbsp plain dry breadcrumbs 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  

Coat a 13X9X2 inch baking dish with 1 tbsp of butter and set aside.  

Cook the potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until they are very tender, about 15 minutes. 

Drain and return the potatoes to the same pot and mash well.

Mix in the milk and melted butter.  Mix in the mozzarella and 3/4 cup of the parmesan.  Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. 

Transfer the potatoes to the prepared baking dish.  

Stir the breadcrumbs and remaining 1/4 cup of parmesan in a small bowl to blend. 

Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the mashed potatoes.  

Recipe can be prepared up to this point 6 hours ahead of time.  Cover and chill.

Bake, uncovered, until the topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes. 

Are you hosting Thanksgiving this year?  I'd love to hear some of your traditional recipes!

Canadian Thanksgiving

This weekend, we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving and hosted a family dinner.  As some of you may know, I'm originally Canadian.  Well technically, I was born in England, but my parents (and older brother) were only living there for 2 years (for my dad's job) and I just happened to be born there.  The rest of my family is from Canada and everyone in my family (besides my parents and older brother) still live there.  Most years we don't celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving, but this year, my younger brother and his husband (who live in Ontario) decided to come for a visit since they had a long weekend.  We figured this was the perfect opportunity to celebrate the holiday (and get two Thanksgivings this year!). 

I offered to host and my mom and I split up the cooking so that it wasn't too much work.  While I like finding new recipes, my favorite part was setting the table.  I realized this will be the only holiday this year where I host a formal-ish dinner, so I decided to go all out and use our wedding china.  Since I still don't feel comfortable letting Noah use our good china, he got a Halloween plate :)  Our table looks very similar to last year, but I added the mini pumpkins and a centerpiece I made with cinnamon sticks and a candle... it smelled amazing!  I left the buffet the same (as I shared with you in my Fall Home Tour) and just added some wine and a cake plate for the pumpkin pie.  

As for the food, my mom made the turkey (a HUGE help!) and some homemade whip cream... yum!  I made a sweet potato puree and a sausage turkey that we had at a friend's house earlier this year.  I am not usually a fan of stuffing, so when I loved hers, I had to ask for the recipe!  I ended up doubling the recipe, but probably didn't need to.  It was super easy to make.  I prepped everything and put it in the casserole dish before Noah's nap and then just put it in the oven an hour before we needed to eat. 

Sausage Stuffing

Finally, it was time for everyone to come over.  It was really nice seeing my brother, Luke, and his husband, Tyler.  I hadn't seen Tyler since the wedding last year!  And we always like spending time with my parents :)  Noah was looking forward to his uncles visiting for a few weeks.  He's been talking about them a lot and planning what toys he was going to show them.  He had his trucks lined up to show them and then immediately wanted to do some puzzles with them.  In between all the playing, we had a few appetizers and I finished making the side dishes.  

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Dinner turned out great and I was shocked that we had everything ready at the same time.  Usually I'm horrible at getting large meals finished at the same time so that everything is still hot!  I guess I'm getting better :)  

And since I'm not a fan of pumpkin pie, I decided to make an extra dessert as well.  I used these little dessert bowls that Luke gave me a few Christmases ago and made some individual "trifles".  I simply layered vanilla pudding, mini Nilla wafer cookies, slice bananas, and topped it with my mom's homemade whip cream.  They were so easy to make and delicious!  

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's a look back at Noah on Thanksgiving in 2012 and 2013.  I am always amazed at how much he changes each year!

We celebrated Thanksgiving early this year.  That's because today, instead of eating turkey, we will be flying to Toronto and celebrating at my brother's rehearsal dinner with a big steak! However you are celebrating the day, enjoy!