Thanksgiving Plans

I LOVE hosting Thanksgiving. Give me all the clean up; it's worth it. Finding recipes, reading all the Thanksgiving tips/articles, making a cooking schedule, dreaming of the day when I can own a double oven, inviting friends to bring their favorite dishes and help with last minute preparation in the kitchen, using the good plates, forcing everyone into a dorky game of Thanksgiving trivia as we keep picking at the food long after we're full . . . it's the best. We have hosted a few times and each year brings a couple successes and a couple more "let's fix that for next year's" (I refuse to call them failures).

This year the whole hosting thing just didn't pan out. Matt will be working all day and most of our friends are going to be out of town. Truth be told I was a little bummed about it, until I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to practice new recipes without the pressure of a crowd (*nerd alert* I have had an imaginary dinner all planned out for a couple weeks anyway). 

Then one of my very best friends had her baby over the weekend and I conveniently signed up to bring them dinner on Thursday (see what I did there?) So the plan is to bring Thanksgiving with me, armed with tupperware and casserole dishes, and as long as my kid's noses stop running we will stay and eat. And we were invited to an evening dinner at one of the other resident's homes that we will be able to enjoy with Matt. Life has a way of sorting itself out.

Since I won't have my sous chef/dishwasher with me tomorrow, I have gravitated towards easy, make ahead recipes. 

Mel's Kitchen Cafe is the name of the game this year.

Turkey breast in the crockpot

A new "make ahead" roll recipe

Instant Pot mashed potatoes

From-Scratch Green Bean Casserole that is easily assembled the day before

And, of course, Mom Scott's sweet potatoes.

If I have the energy, Our Best Bites Sour Cream Apple Pie (contribution to the resident dinner)