It’s that time of year where snow is on the ground, I don’t see the sun and my house is filled with winter white light for half of the day. Only a few hours from now and everything will be dark, dimly glowing by a string of lights in the living room.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
Usually for Thanksgiving we drive out to Door County, WI and spend the long weekend at my Dad’s best friend’s house. It’s the perfect place for Thanksgiving. It’s a newly built house with refurbished details. A soap stone countertop, wooden floors from an old convent in Chicago, just to name a few. It’s completely beautiful.
I love waking up in the little twin bed on Thanksgiving morning right next to the white light pouring through the window. I miss the way my feet feel on the cold hardwood floor and the silence of the house before everyone wakes up. There’s nothing like curling up with a Tozer book in front of a warm fireplace with a cup of freshly brewed french press coffee while I wait for the day’s cooking to start.
Our evening would usually end with lots of pie and a loud and fierce game of Catchphrase. We have “family inside jokes” from years of this tradition.
Last year, I was preparing myself that it might be my last (for a while, at least) in Door County for Thanksgiving. Rightfully so. With my first Thanksgiving and, more importantly, Black Friday at my new store I wasn’t able to leave for days on end this year.
Instead, this year, we decided to host Thanksgiving for all of our “out of town” friends that didn’t go home for the holiday. There were no Minnesota natives there that day. We represented Texas, Florida, the Dominican Republic, Maryland, Ohio, California, Michigan and Tennessee.
I spent all week researching Thanksgiving recipes and preparing for my first turkey.
I had so much fun hosting Thanksgiving dinner, trying out new recipes and creating a home for our “out of town” friends.
The day started early, cooking, prepping, cleaning and playing the Christmas music. I found a great “Indie Holiday” channel on Pandora that I loved.
I used some great recipes from the Kitchen Daily which is my new favorite website. I decided on an Apple Scallion Turkey, a Pear, Prosciutto and toasted Hazelnut stuffing, Apple Cider Gravy, a homemade cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes recipe from Martha Stewart’s Mom.
Our sweet friends, thankfully, brought ham & lots of sides and at the last minute I used our organic carrots (from our Vitamix weekend) to make a quick side dish.
It was such a special day and even now, I’m wishing I could make the stuffing all over again. I was missing the weekend at Door County but this meal was delicious and so fun to prepare.
The recipes to follow.
Ardent Overflow 