Thanksgiving Menu ...

Thanksgiving is officially two weeks (that's just 14 days!!) away. Are you ready? Are you getting ready? I feel that by typing this, I'm getting ready. Below is my Thanksgiving menu. These are the foods I make each year because my family and I treasure each one.

Most of these foods are based on tradition we grew up with, but some are my own variation of tradition that have become my own family's tradition. For example, every year growing up, we would eat my grandmother's corn bread dressing recipe. It's delicious and I love it. However, as I began cooking my own Thanksgiving meals, I wanted to try this crockpot version I'd found. Ends up it tastes very similar to my grandmother's recipe (which I still absolutely love!) but it's easier on me.

And we always ate baked sweet potatoes growing up, but I made the sweet potato casserole with pecan topping one year and haven't gone back. If my father, however, is eating Thanksgiving dinner with us, I still bake him a sweet potato.

I love this time of year, and I love Thanksgiving Day. I love my family being gathered around me in a home filled with delicious smells and warmth. I love watching the Macy's parade with my children and husband, just as we did when we were young.

I love these turkeys my mom helped the girls make last year. Each one has "Thanksgiving 2010" written at the top, followed by their names. They loved making them last year, and I think I'll continue it this year. What a great way to have their hand size saved!

I love how we share what we're thankful for before digging in to all that delicious food that will last us several days. I love not having to cook any meals for a few days after that. I love turkey sandwiches ...

Here, I share my menu with you. I hope to have more of the recipes posted separately in the next two weeks, and I will go back and add the links to this menu as I do. Happy food prep, everyone!

-Turkey (roasted)
-Gravy (Just whisk together some of the turkey juice with some butter and sweet rice flour or brown rice flour over heat)
-Crockpot cornbread dressing (stuffing)
-Squash casserole
-Sweet potato casserole
-(Dirty rice, if I have time - another one I grew up with!)
-Broccoli with cheese
-Corn (from my brother-in-law's family farm, sauteed in butter)
-Marinated beets
-Yeast rolls
-Cranberry bread
-Cranberry sauce
-Cranberry jelly
-Fruit salad
-Pecan pie tarts
-Pumpkin pie
-Fresh whipped cream
-(And apple pie if I have time!)

And I love the little cards my daughters made for each place setting last year (sorry, it's blurry!). Again, another new "tradition" I'll keep ...