Sunday, November 30, 2025

Thanksgiving recap

Thanksgiving was very quiet for us. Instead of the usual turkey I decided to make pulled pork BBQ with vinegar sauce. I actually bought three large turkey breasts for the freezer, since the sale price was so good, but we'll eat those in various things (plus sandwiches) over the winter. To go with the pulled pork, I made rice, collard greens, and real heart-attach-in-a-casserole dish Southern mac n cheese. The recipe I use for it comes from Deep South Dish, and I make it so infrequently that I forget to halve the recipe. It makes a big batch. Just look at what I ended up with:
 

That, my friends, is enough mac n cheese to feed a damn army. I don't know what I was thinking, considering it calls for 4 pounds of cheese, a pound of butter, 4 or 5 whole eggs, and several cups of whole milk. I realized early on I'd have to use two pans. We still have a ton left, even after sharing huge portions with a neighbor. I don't know how I'm going to get rid of it all, but I'll admit, it's delicious. 

Here's what my Thanksgiving plate looked like. We still had cranberry/pineapple sauce left from book club last week.


I was too full to even think about dessert after that, but the next day I peeled some apples and made baked apple hand pies. 


We stumbled upon this Santa candy dish while putting away the fall wreath
 and candleholders. I added him to the picture to make it more interesting! :)



On Friday another seed catalog (from Baker Creek) arrived. I also got a new David Austin Roses handbook and Seed Savers Exchange catalog recently. These will be perfect for daydreaming over this winter!

I hope all my American friends had a happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for all of you reading here. xx

25 comments:

  1. Sometimes a quite holiday is best. This was the first time in my life we had no family coming...but I still had in some people in need, that work with my mother, greed card holders, since I had the means. It was a good day. Your plate looks tasty to me girl!

    Will be fun to see the result of your seeds. I keep adding to my wildflower garden every year. Yesterday after a final garden clean up, I planted flower bulbs that one of my guests brought me for thanksgiving dinner. Ill be interested to see how they will do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love the fact that you and your mother hosted folks who needed it. Kindness like that gives me hope. xx

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  2. Your dinner look delicious! My husband and I raised five children, three of them were teenaged boys at the same time. I find it very difficult to cook "normal" size recipes.

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    1. I need three teenage boys to come finish this mac and cheese!

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  3. You always do such a beautiful job with your special events. It looks beautiful and delicious. As for the Mac n Cheese, that’s something SG would do. Enough for an army! Oops!

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    1. SG and I want to be sure we always have enough! LOL Thanks Mitchell!

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  4. Oh man, I just want to plant my face in that mac 'n cheese!

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  5. My three oldest grandsons would love that mac and cheese. (me too!) It looks like a perfect meal. I still have apple pie left--dangerous when I live alone.

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    1. Apple pie never lasts long around my husband.

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  6. Looks like a great meal! You were smart to freeze turkey breasts for the winter!

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    1. Given the high cost of meat these days, it seemed like a no brainer!

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  7. Baked mac and cheese freezes well, so you may thank yourself on some cold February day when you hungry for comfort food. And honestly, I the quiet holidays are the best. You don't have to worry about this, or that, or something over cooked, or undercooked. You can eat when you want, do the dishes when you want, and actually make the day a holiday.

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    1. It was nice to stay at home and ignore the outside world. I needed this week off to relax and recharge. Back to work this morning...arrgh!

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  8. You can eat mac & cheese for months. I hope you never get tired of it.

    Love,
    Janie

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    Replies
    1. I'm already pretty tired of it, to be honest.

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  9. The David Austin rose catalogue is a thing of beauty. Enjoy!

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    Replies
    1. It really is beautiful! Dreaming of roses in December. :)

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  10. It sounds and looks a great meal! And dividing it in two baking pans was clever - that way, Gregg and you could have one pan each :-D
    (That's something YP could have said, isn't it?)
    Anyway, I am glad you enjoyed your week off. Back to work for a bit now, and then I guess you'll have some time off around Christmas and New Year?

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  11. With the kitchen still in mid-reno we did not cook this year but instead friends did Friendsgiving and it was just a nice peace-filled day!

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  12. I do love pulled pork. And the macaroni and cheese looks terrific. In fact, that whole meal looks great and I would happily give thanks over it.

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  13. That looks like a yummy meal. I agree with others that you can freeze portions of the mac and cheese for future use.
    We had a nice Thanksgiving too with 11 of my family gathered together. The food was great (if I do say so myself because I always host!)

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  14. Your plate looks delicious, and so southern!

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  15. It may not have been a traditional Thanksgiving meal but it looks and sounds delicious all the same. If you still need to offload some of your mac 'n cheese you could mail it to me via FedEx.

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