Thursday, November 24, 2011

my thanksgiving in pictures (and a fun holiday tradition)

I baked my first pecan pie. I used my grandmother's recipe but subbed tapioca starch and flax for the eggs (you couldn't tell a difference!).

Homemade bread and my teeny olive tray.

Mashed potatoes by Corey.

Cashew gravy by me (MAKE THIS!).

Lots of pecan pie photos before cutting into it!

And an apple pie for Corey because he doesn't like pecans. I used this apple tart recipe, but simply added a crust on top as well.

Corey carving the Tofurky.

Homemade bread via my go-to recipe (plus I added herbs to it--delicious!). I'm in need of a good wheat bread recipe...suggestions? Looking for something light and fluffy, not super dense.

It's my tradition with my brother to take a picture of our plate at every holiday meal, then label what's on it. My archive goes back at least five years as of now. Since we weren't together on Thanksgiving this year, I asked him to send me a picture of his plate. Here's mine:

And his:

I find both the similarities and differences (when we're together AND when we're apart, actually!) amusing. He had more dishes to sample--the perk of a lot of people being at your Thanksgiving feast (mine was just me and Corey)! We both had Tofurky (my parents are also vegetarian) but he had ham too (funny that they are touching each other). And let's not forget about the olive trays...a tradition in my family that I dutifully observe even when I'm away...I'm not sure if having a serving dish solely devoted to olives is normal for holiday meals (?), so if you are wondering about that, it might just be a family thing!

Do you have any Thanksgiving traditions?

My other one is that I always watch the Gilmore Girls episode "A Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving" (season 3, episode 9)! It is my favorite Gilmore Girls episode. Watch this clip if you haven't seen it...you have no idea what you're missing!

Tomorrow I'll be guest posting about decorating for the holidays over at Desirous of Everything! Pencil it in to your Black Friday schedule so you can be sure to read it!

4 comments:

fawn & fern said...

my family always has an olive tray, too! I thiiink it's normal...? haha.

one of my favorite traditions is making my Poppy's yankee stuffing recipe. we always helped him make it on thanksgiving and christmas, but he passed away 5 years ago. he had luckily taught my mom how to make it over the years, and so since then she has taught me & meg : ) we always reminisce on our memories of him while we make it.

Kristen said...

Tori, I'm glad other people have olive trays too! That's one of my favorite things.

That is a great tradition to carry on! I am going to have to look up Yankee stuffing...I have never had it!

fawn & fern said...

I'm not sure if it's actually a recipe, or if it was just my Pop's recipe(he's from New York) but i'm pretty sure it has Germany roots. It is basically just bread, onions, apples, walnuts, poultry seasoning(which is basically just rosemary, thyme, sage & probably some other things) & some water! & if you're not eating vegetarian...then you also add liver from the turkey. I honestly think it tastes the same either way! We had a vegetarian thanksgiving a couple years ago & i did not notice any difference.

Kristen said...

That sounds really good! I actually looked up the term "yankee stuffing" after reading your first comment and did find a lot of similar recipes. I didn't make stuffing but am really wishing I had! I might make some soon on a random day because I don't know if I can wait until Christmas! ha! I was originally going to go with cornbread but I will keep this in mind. :)