My Attempt at Thanksgiving

...I know, I'm a little late ;)

This year, unlike any other year (my family isn't huge on Thanksgiving so I've never prepared anything for the meal) I decided to be overly ambitious and cook two NEW items from scratch for the Thanksgiving meal. This year I spent Thanksgiving with Jeff's family as my family was at our cabin on Hood Canal and knowing I had to work the following day (that's retail for you) I opted out of being stuck in traffic all day.

I had a wonderful time...spending the night before, waiting up for Chris, Rebekah, and Simon to arrive so Rebekah and I could give ornaments to each sibling. Rebekah and I realized our families share a tradition - "the pickle" ornament. Does anyone else do this? It's a German tradition. "The pickle" is the last ornament placed on the tree...it's hidden by the parents and the first child to find it receives an extra gift. The Gough's have officially been "pickled." Mine's hidden, is yours?

But I digress...below is my attempt at Thanksgiving: My 1st Pumpkin pie. I made it in the dish I bought the weekend of my engagement. I used the excuse that I needed something to remind me of my "Fall Engagement" to purchase this Emille Henry pie dish from Williams Sonoma along with the fun fall cookie cutters which I used to decorate the pie. I will say that for pumpkin pie it was quite tasty. In fact, Jeff's Grandpa Hayes said it was the best he's ever had and that was BEFORE he knew I made it. (Don't worry Hayes, I won't tell Velma ;)).



I also made Butternut Squash Risotto..but neglected to take a picture :(. It turned out a bit mushy because I made it the night before. Do you have any fun fall recipes you'd like to share?

As I'm writing this post it dawned on me how rarely I've had a traditional Thanksgiving with my family. We've spent a handful of times in Mexico for Thanksgiving, in college I spent 3 Thanksgivings with my best friend Jane's family and 1 studying abroad in Europe, and one memorable Thanksgiving was spent eating at a Chinese Buffet with my extended family called "Foody Goody". Funny! This time of year is often spent in familiar places sharing the company of your family...I'm THANKFUL that my family is so untraditional and I'm also THANKFUL for becoming a part of a family that have so many traditions. I get the best of both worlds. Love you Penaranda and Gough Families!

Here were some things other people were THANKFUL for this year: