Happy Thanksgiving 2017!

This year, Ben and I weren't able to make it to either of our families' homes for Thanksgiving. Ben actually ended up having to work the day of Thanksgiving itself, so we celebrated the day after in our sweet little home!

I braved the grocery store early in the week and managed to be in and out within the hour. Our little kitchen was well-stocked!

Even though it was just the two of us, that didn't stop us from cooking up a storm! I was able to get LOTS of prep work done while Ben was at work on Thursday. ALL of the chopping, grating, and portioning was complete by the time he arrived home that evening.

First up, breakfast! I made the traditional holiday sausage pinwheels that we have every year on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Served with jam and French press coffee, these little rolls are a great way to start off any celebration!

Next, I got the beverages brewing. I made some mulled wine for myself as well as some spiced apple cider for Ben. They were kept cozily warm throughout the day in a duo-powered crockpot station. I felt very pro-FESH!

The day before I'd prepared both a tart cranberry sauce and a rich gravy, so two items were already out of the way!

We queued up some fun Thanksgiving tunes and got to cooking!

Ben brined and stuffed the turkey with aromatics and spices and we put our little bird in the oven very early in the morning.

Our dinner menu in full consisted of...
- A turkey, of course, brined and roasted
- Garlic parmesan mashed potatoes
- Gravy
- Homemade Cranberry Sauce
- Sautéed corn with bacon, onion, jalepeno, and a touch of cream
- Roasted Brussels sprouts
- Apple "Crippler" (crisp + cobbler) with vanilla ice cream

We made everything from scratch, but with all of the chopping and portioning already done it was really easy to toss everything together. I felt like I was able to manage prepping all of the dishes simultaneously, even in our tiny, not-so-well-equipped kitchen! In the end, we had quite the spread prepared!

Ben did a great job of styling the dinner table...

And we enjoyed a delicious meal together!

After several hours of resting and digesting, we also enjoyed dessert: the Apple "Crippler" recipe I got from one of Ben's sisters.

Even though we weren't able to make it home for the holiday, it ended up being a really fun, relaxing, and special day! Cheers to the first of many Thanksgivings together!