Thanksgiving

This seems to be the holiday we host. I have two other family members in driving distance that like to host holidays and they prefer to share Christmas. So we seem to get Thanksgiving by default. It works. =)

Every year I stress about getting everything done on time. It looks so daunting when you are planning it out. Especially since my goal is to make as much as possible from scratch, and I'm not one too cook in advance and reheat. It just seems like a lot more work to me. I was going to do more prep yesterday. I wanted to at least get the pumpkin cheesecake done, the eggs for deviled eggs done and the rolls. Instead I got the crust for the cheesecake baked. Thats it. lol

Then last night of coarse was 2nd annual Beergiving with J's friends. Bunch of beer snobs bring favorites or special hard to get bottles and they drink 4-6 oz tastes until they're plastered. The female significant others sit  back and laugh before we drive them home. This means I was out till after one. Then up with B for his traditional 3am attempt to sneak into bed with us. Then my internal alarm was up at 7am. Fun. I'm thankful for a warm shower to help wake up my body that would have been happy sitting in bed for a few more hours.

It's 9:20am now. The dishes are done (well, the dishwasher is loaded and waiting to be run in a few minutes), the turkey is defrosted and ready to go, the bread for the stuffing is bake, the potatoes are in the crock pot, the cheesecake is in the oven and the jello is in fridge. I'm going to start the rolls after I post this, and then I'm done for a few hours. Maybe I'll take a walk on the treadmill (it looks too cold outside) and then relax before I get started on the rest. Or maybe I'll finishing getting the rest of out pumpkin ready for freezer storage to use for more baking later. Yum!

I don't have any tried and true favorite recipes yet. So if you have one this is what I want you to share with me:
~Green bean casserole (fresh/frozen green beans and the only thing that can come out of a can is the crunchy onion strips, unless you know how to make them.. That would be awesome!)
~potatoes (the marshmallows and pineapple can come from a can. Does pineapple freeze well? I could save some from when they are in season again?)
~No knead breads/rolls. If I make bread I usually use this recipe. I love it because the blog is ADORABLE and the food is good, but it takes some prep time. I'm testing out a new roll recipe a friend gave me today.
~Thanksgiving appetizers. Today we will have a veggie tray, some flavored popcorns, wasabi almonds, and spinach dip.
~Gravy. I think my gma makes this for us every year. lol. Maybe I won't be busy when she's doing it and can learn from her this year.