Thursday, December 1, 2011

Turkey Day at the Cannon Casa!

First of all, HOW was your Thanksgiving? I'd love to hear about it! Especially if you have pictures of tablescapes! I want to see them!

This year was the very first Thanksgiving that Eric and I were the hosts! It was so much fun! We had Eric's mom, grandparents, and our friend Jim over for the day, and then my mom and her friend came by later in the evening for dessert. At first I was nervous about preparing everything and having enough time... but everything turned out beautifully!

First, I set out all of the serving dishes with labels designating which food goes to that dish. That was super helpful because---
A.) It helped me to make sure I had enough serving platters for everything,
B.) My presentation was pre-set and dummy proof,
and C.) As Eric and I worked on things individually, there would be no mis-communication about what goes where. 

Another thing that was super helpful was the little assembly line Eric and I had going in the kitchen. I cleaned while he cooked, and when I got caught up with the cleaning, I would help cook... but when the dishes got piled up again, I would stop cooking and go back to cleaning. At one point, the dishes were coming too fast, so Eric stopped cooking to help me clean, and then started back cooking once we were caught up. Having a messy kitchen is unbelievably stressful to me... so I loved that we were able to manage the whole thing without a bit of messiness!

The night before Thanksgiving we had the dinner table set, the serving platters put in their place with labels, the green bean casserole pre-made and ready to cook, turkey ready to be put in the oven, stuffing pre-made and ready to cook, and my little Pinterest-inspired cookies already made and ready for display! That way, on Thanksgiving morning, we weren't stressed at all!

On Thanksgiving day, we woke up just as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was starting, poured ourselves a mimosa, and picked up right where we left off in the kitchen. At noon, Jim and Eric's family arrived with more food to add to our presentation-- and they knew just where to put everything thanks to my handy-dandy labels! :)

We planned to eat around 2:00pm, and wouldn't you know it... right at 1:59pm everyone had a full plate of food, making their way to the formal dining room! We were right on schedule-- pretty impressive for Turkey Day hosting rookies!!

Everything turned out so yummy, and we had quite the menu...

For starters, we had: Chips & queso (a must in my book for any occasion), spinach and ham baked snacks, a vegetable platter, homemade banana bread and blueberry bread, and sharp cheddar cheese and port wine cheese balls served with water crackers.

For the main course, we had: Turkey (of course) with cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, dinner rolls, and green bean casserole.

For dessert, we had: Pumpkin pie (no Thanksgiving is complete without it), cherry pie, and (can't forget about) my Pintrest-inspired pilgrim hat cookies! YUM!

I was also really proud of our tablescape, which consisted of Lennox linens and china, with decorative chargers in gold and chocolate brown crocodile print. The contrast looked perfect with the decor in the formal dining room. Additionally, the super fun napkin rings that I found at Pier 1 imports were the icing on the cake, as they were gold with a spray of gold beads and chocolate brown crystals! Our centerpiece was made of real gourds that I carved into candle holders! I got the idea from a photo I saw on Pinterest, and I tweaked it just a bit. I think it turned out really cute and festive! We were excited to use our Waterford crystal wine glasses (from Ed Albrecht and John Bittrick) and the Wusthof seak knife set that our fab friend, Sean Morgan, gave us for our wedding! I also enjoyed using all of my Arthur Court serving platters... I have used them before, but never all at one time. They were so pretty! I have acquired a good amount of the "Grapevine" Arthur Court collection so far... and I plan to keep adding on for as long as possible!

By the time we finished our meal, it was time for the Dallas Cowboys football game, so we all headed up to the media room-- fully furnished with seven recliners, each with individual tray tables and cup holders-- for an afternoon of relaxation! (Or, in my case, an afternoon nap!)

It was a really nice day off from work (excellent preparation for the craziness of Black Friday that followed) and we had a wonderful time seeing Eric's family. They are always such a joy :)

Here are some pictures taken from my iPhone (you're probably noticing that I've been using my iPhone a lot for pictures lately, huh? It's just so much easier!)... I hope you enjoy!!

2 comments:

lots of love said...

I LOVE pictures of tablescapes too! I feel redundant, but I take the same photo of ours every year lol

Brianna 'Haggerty' Cannon said...

There are sssoooooo many ways to do a table scape! It's so much fun to see how different everyones is! I thought yours was beautiful!! :) I hope your thanksgiving was perfect!