{pre-turkey day!}

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We definitely did at Casa de Ellis as we celebrated our first Pre-Turkey Day! It was so great to be surrounded by family and friends as it brought a lot of warmth to our new home. The weekend was packed with yummy food, a very competitive cornhole game (Jesse & Dad Henry vs. Derek & Dad Ellis), and some good times and marshmallow roasting around the fire pit. It was tons of fun and a good warm-up for Thanksgiving Day.

{a lovely spread}

On our menu we had:

Starters:

Baked Brie en Croute w/Raspberry Jam

Double Tomato Bruschetta (a delicious recipe I will share later :))

Sides:

Sausage Stuffing

Smoked Gouda & Bacon Mashed Potatoes w/Gravy

Spinach Holiday Salad

Baked Asparagus w/Smoked Gouda

Main Course:

Slow cooker Rosemary Turkey Breast

Honey Glazed Ham

Drinks:

My famous Raspberry Cham-Punch

{hard at work}

{fruits of my labor}

Although I spent most of the day cooking, I took pleasure in watching everyone enjoy my hard work. Plates were licked clean, seconds were had, and everyone chipped in to clean-up the kitchen while I sat back and roasted marshmallows; the best compliments to the chef!

{mark & derek digging in}

{anna & her mommy waiting patiently for dinner}

What a lovely weekend! I can’t wait for what the rest of this holiday has in store for us.

{Mom & Dad Henry taming our pups…hehe}

Much love to everyone! We hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

{it’s beginning to look a lot like…thanksgiving!}

{photo by Ginnerobot}

Hello! Hello!

So I’m taking a little break from our wedding mini-series because tonight I’m thinking about Turkey Day. Our holidays will be hectic as usual as multiple families are involved. Luckily, Jesse and I have been together for so long that we have come up with a good system. We’ve had our bumps (the year we had three thanksgivings back-to-back…crazy!), but we’ve ironed out a good holiday plan. I’m sure when we start having kids (a looooong time from now), it will change again, but for now this works very well for us. This year belongs to Jesse’s mom (each year we alternate between our families). We are very excited because 1) Jesse’s sister Emily, new hubby Eric, and possibly my favorite of Jesse's uncles, Jack & Paul will be in town and 2) Jesse’s mom makes the most amazing stuffing ever! I remember when I first had it; I couldn’t get enough! She gets up really early in the morning while everyone is still asleep, turns on the Macy’s Day parade, and goes straight to work. The smells waft all through the house and before you know it, you’re wide awake and craving a spoonful of that yummy stuffing. What’s your favorite turkey day item?

It is pretty crazy how early everyone gets up to start the turkey day meal. My own mom gets up at 4 a.m. (naturally…isn’t that insane!). She also makes sure to serenade the whole house promptly at 7 a.m. with Christmas tunes. It’s a good thing that her meals are always amazing otherwise her sound system might “disappear.” (Don’t worry mom!).

Since we won’t be spending Thanksgiving Day with some of our family and friends, we’ve decided to host a pre-Turkey Day, Turkey Day in our new home the weekend before. It won’t be as large as the actual Turkey Day meal, but it will have plenty of fancy appetizers (my favorite) and some traditional turkey day items (i.e. stuffing, and of course turkey!). While I don’t regularly make huge meals, I’m not nervous as last year I took on Christmas Eve dinner (which was a huge success) and Easter dinner (another success). Those were my first times making large meals and minus a few bumps, seemed to be enjoyed by all our guests.

I really love entertaining so I’m getting very excited about place settings and menu items. My best lady Giselle will also be joining us for Pre-Turkey Day, Turkey Day and is completely in charge of desserts. She is a master dessert chef and I cannot wait to see what she has planned! As for the main menu, one thing’s for sure…Smoked Gouda (the best of all fancy cheeses) will definitely making an appearance. We may have to have a post completely devoted to that…

Well goodnight for now. If you have any good recipes you’re willing to share, feel free to leave a comment or send me a message!

Love,

The Mrs.(hehe)