So Many Things to be Thankful For

Family, friends, birthdays, Disneyland, Star Wars.......

Yes, all of these are making it on our Thankful Tree this Year. As our son hand writes one thing he is thankful for each day up to Thanksgiving day. This year the array of items he was thankful was really interesting, matched by his excitement to do this activity everyday. Here is how you can put one together for your family next year. I have many friends already requesting me to make one for them.

Superhero Birthday bash - ah, yes our little boy had quite the celebration with his friends & family. One complete with a visit from Spiderman (from Happy Days Entertainment), bat cave, superhero photo wall, create your mask, power food tacos, wonder waters and caped crusader treats. I think I started working up the ideas a few months ago as I spent lots of time finding great ideas on Pinterest. We finally had a park party (hoping for a beautiful sunny CA day in mid Nov - which did not disappoint!).  An amazing cake from Beckers to help our son truly end a great celebration while eating his cake too.

Thanksgiving is like a long run for me as there is a lot to do to get to the end successfully BUT I have a plan (one that starts the Sunday before) that I have perfected over the last 8 years which really takes the guessing out. I just stick to the plan. We have a very traditional meal - roasted turkey which this year was 16.5 lbs, stuffing which is veggie saute with 3 day old dried out French bread - tastes like Mom's everytime, bnut squash/sweet potato & pear dish that tastes like holiday candy, mashed pots, gravy, Italian green beans, mushrooms. Dessert has its own special place with pumpkin ice cream, pecan pie and apple crisp. 

I do get help from the family - each contributing another nibbles or beverage to the feast. 

And lets not forget that leftovers turn into new meals. Besides the mini turkey sammies we took to the UCLA vs Stanford game the next day (only to continue the loss from the day before for the Cowboys...wah, wah, wah getting defeated again as we watched Troy Aikman's jersey get retired) I made a little turkey soup for our rainy Sunday night.

Put turkey carcass into big soup pot cover with water

4 bay leaves

2 tbsp turkey herbs (from Williams Sonoma - that gives just the right blend of sage, thyme and marjoram)

6 sprigs parsley

2 dices leeks

3 ribs of celery

2 medium rainbow carrots

2 tbsp coarse sea salt

Simmer for 3 hours. Strain out parsley, bay leaves, remove carcass. Cook up your favorite pasta - ours was brown rice fusilli. Put a scoop of pasta in bowl, ladle out broth, carrots and shredded turkey on top. 

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Enjoy!