Contemporary Thanksgiving!

This year, we're celebrating Thanksgiving several times.  On the actual day, we'll head south to Ironton, OH to see Sean's family and we'll feast upon tradition.  You know, the traditional Thanksgiving where the turkey cooks all day long, the house is full of people and rambunctious kids, there are as many pies as people and everyone takes a loooong nap after eating.  I can't wait!

But this year, we've decided to celebrate another way as well.  We're in a new city and home, so we figured it's only fitting to do things differently.  My brother flew in from college over the weekend, so we celebrated yesterday with a "Contemporary Thanksgiving."  We cooked all day and took the traditional meal to a whole new level.  This is my idea of a Thanksgiving for friends and here is what we ate:

Apricot BBQ Meatballs

Pumpkin Sweet Potato Soup

with chipotle honey glaze, crema & almonds

Roasted Turkey Breast

with lemon, parsley & thyme

Spinach Dressing

Green Bean Casserole

with onion & ham

Bacon and Cranberry Brussel Sprouts

Praline Sweet Potatoes

French Silk Pie

Blondies 

with Peanut Butter Fudge Frosting

Thanksgiving just isn't right without a few hiccups, and ours was no exception.  Although our meal was delicious, we misjudged the amount of time it would take to prepare everything, we ran out of eggs halfway through, the dressing burned to a crisp and our turkey took twice as long to cook as we expected.  Needless to say, we created some great memories last night that will go down in Thanksgiving history!  

But isn't that truly was days like this are for?  To give thanks for the great people in your life (near and far away), laugh over new and old stories and to relax in each others' good company.  I can't think of anything better.  

So, Happy Thanksgiving to my family (who seems quite far away today) and my friends across the globe.  I hope you all have an impressive and delicious Thanksgiving dinner!  

Pumpkin Sweet Potato Soup

This soup is a welcome introduction to your Thanksgiving or fall meal.  It is velvety and smooth with subtle hints of spice and crunch.  It is garnished with a chipotle honey drizzle, a swirl of cream and toasted slivered almonds. 

1 container of sweet potato soup (about 24 oz.)

1 C. pureed pumpkin (from a can)

½ t. cinnamon

¼ t. nutmeg

¼ t. salt

¼ t. pepper

¼ C. heavy cream

½ C. toasted slivered almonds

In a large pot, combine all ingredients save the cream, whisking until smooth.  Heat the soup over medium low until it warms. 

Chipotle Honey Drizzle

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce

1 T. extra adobo sauce

2 T. honey

1 T. water

1 T. olive oil

Salt and pepper

In a small food processor, combine all ingredients and process until you have a smooth liquid.  There will still be chipotle seeds and that’s fine.  Season to taste.  If it’s too spicy, just add some more honey and water.  

To garnish, ladle some of the soup into a bowl.  Drizzle some of the chipotle honey over the top in a circle.  Next, drizzle some of the heavy cream.  Sprinkle a few toasted almonds right in the middle.  

Try these recipes too!


Grape Jelly Meatballs - I substituted apricot preserves for the grape jelly
Spinach Balls - I made this into a loaf instead of balls
French Silk Pie - Perfect just the way it is!