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Monday, November 26, 2012

My First American Thanksgiving

 Hip-hip-hooray!  It's Friday!  I have been trying to post about last week's Thanksgiving for several days now.  After tackling with some Blogger issues, I am finally able to share my photos with you.  I'm happy to announce that I have since acquired my own domain: www.withlovefromthekitchen.com.  It is powered by Blogger so I can still use the same format and won't lose any of my old posts. Thankfully, all issues have been sorted out and I can commence my blogging once again; although I have noticed one change - it seems I can't post pictures as large as I used to.   Oh well, it isn't a big deal. 
 
If you are a regular visitor to my blog, you will know that I live in Canada and we Canadians celebrated our Thanksgiving holiday last month; in mid October.  I shared some of the highlights and pictures in a recent post.  In our family, my Mom roasts the turkey every year and we always celebrate Thanksgiving at my parents' house.  It is tradition and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving day in the United States.  I decided to celebrate the day again with my American friends.  Why you may ask?  Well, for several reasons.  First of all, because I love the Thanksgiving holiday so much; next to Christmas, it's my favourite holiday.  It was a great excuse for me to cook a feast!  Also, it was my chance to roast and stuff a turkey...for the first time ever! 

The first thing I did was plan out the menu...

roast turkey
stuffing  (Susan Branch's Grandma's Stuffing)
cranberry sauce
sweet potato balls (my friend Nancy's recipe; her mother used to make them)
pumpkin cheesecake (recipe by Susan Branch)


On Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, I baked the cheesecake, made the cranberry sauce and roasted the potatoes for the sweet potato balls.  The cheesecake had to be refrigerated overnight and the cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes needed chilling.  I got a few things out of the way so I wouldn't be overwhelmed on Thanksgiving day. 

On the morning of, Nuno went to work as usual and the girls went to school.  Unfortunately, they couldn't do the holiday, stay-at-home thing, so I stayed home taking care of the details.  I ironed the tablecloth and napkins while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade on television. 
 
Here are some photos from our Thanksgiving feast...


The place settings
I decorated the plates with dried maple leaves we
had gathered on our fall walks.
 
 
 
 
The pumpkin cheesecake
 
 
 
 
The cranberry sauce
 
 
 
The three day old bread drying out to prepare 
for the stuffing (just the way Susan's
grandmother used to do it).
 
 
 
 
Susan Branch's Grandma's Stuffing
 The aroma in the kitchen was to die for! 
 
 
 
 The girls came home from school in time to help too!
Here is Anita shaping a sweet potato ball
(tucked inside is a large marshmallow)
 
 
 
 
Annabel wants to help too!  She did such a great job!
 
 
 
 
 The star of the show - the roasted, stuffed turkey
 
 
 
 
The sweet potato balls
 
 
 
 
A little bit of everything on my plate!
 
 
 
 
And for dessert, a slice of pumpkin cheesecake.  I made
a caramel sauce to go with it and topped it with whipped
cream and ground cinnamon. 
 
 
When Nuno returned from work in the evening, we gathered at the table and enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner together.  Annabel said a prayer and we took turns telling all the things we were grateful for.  Everything was delicious.  After we ate and sat with our bellies full, it was decided (by Nuno and the girls) that our American Thanksgiving was a success and that yes, we should celebrate with our American friends every year.  This may very well be the beginning of a new tradition!  Like my husband says, "You can never give enough thanks and you can never eat too much turkey!".

 
I hope my American friends who are reading this, also had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  You all provided the inspiration for me to do this.  Thank you!  I am grateful for each one of you. 
 

Tomorrow we welcome the month of December! Nuno, the girls and I are visiting a local tree farm to pick out our Christmas tree!  I am so excited.  Have you put up your tree yet?  It's such a magical time of year!  Thank you for stopping in and taking the time to read my post! Have a wonderful weekend! xoxo

9 comments:

  1. It looks wonderful Rosinda!! Will you share the recipe for the sweet potato balls? I think my family would love them. I think next year I may have to celebrate the Canadian Thanksgiving as well....! We won't get our tree til the 15th of December. I hope you post some pics of your tree! xx Patricia xx

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    1. Thank you, Patricia! Of course, I can share the recipe! Can you send me a DM with your email address? It would be wonderful if you celebrated our Thanksgiving! xo

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  2. Dearest Rosinda, look at you with your two Thanksgivings!!! How wonderful and what a gift to Nuno and the girls!! It looked superb and I think I could get some of the aroma down here in California! Ha! This year there were two of us who brought dishes to a relative's home for the dinner. It was soooo fun to taste others cooking and swap recipes! Yum!!! I have been out of town recently and am behind on blogs and twitter, but you are always in my heart! Have a wonderful weekend getting and decorating the tree and enjoying the music of the season!! With much love, Sherry xoxo

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  3. Rosinda....You are too much!!!! I can't believe your first turkey turned out so beautifully! It's perfect!! I think WE need to change to the Canadian Thanksgiving....it's at a better time of year!!!

    I love all of the creative touches you added to the table---it's so warm and wonderful; what a sweet mom and wife you are!!

    I love it!!

    xo
    Joann

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  4. That all looks so wonderful. I'm glad that from now on we'll be having Thanksgiving together. I think Nuno must be a long lost relative of Dolly's since they have the same motto. Next time add a green veg. I always feel you need something green on every plate. My mother used to make this icky green bean casserole, I think it had canned or frozen beans with a mushroom soup sauce topped with those canned fried onions. NOT something I would make. I did make steamed green beans this year. So glad you got your problems solved and your blog is back in full steam. It's funny how all the cameras have more and more mp but we mostly use them for pics we upload and they all have to be relatively small resolution to do so. Happy weekend!

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  5. Beautiful! You have such a knack for setting a gorgeous table. My Mom always says we eat with our stomachs AND our eyes! I bet it was scrumptious. We had basically the same dinner here--plus roasted brussels sprouts, carrots, and cauliflower; and herb biscuits. Since Mom was just home from the hospital, we cancelled the big Thanksgiving and just had a lovely day to ourselves Which means I made a pie, NOT a beautiful, big cheesecake.

    Can't wait to see your tree! xo

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  6. You are so cute celebrating with us on Thanksgiving. Everything looks divine, from the gorgeous turkey to the huge cheesecake. All you food looks so amazing and I'm glad the girls like to help out. Someday they will be cooking an entire meal for you and Nuno. Thank you for sharing. Love it! xoxo

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  7. Good Morning! What a scrumptious meal you prepared! Your girls are precious. And to read that your dear husband would like this to be a traditional meal is WONDERFUL! Bravo Rosinda! I feel like I just dropped in for a visit :) Blessings to you and to your family as we turn the corner towards... CHRISTMAS!

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  8. Okay, I'm getting caught up! I remember this one! Ha! xoxo...Karen

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