Who else ate so much on Thanksgiving that you didn’t want to move the rest of the day? Me! *both hands raised enthusiastically* That extra inch struggle to even grab the remote may or may not have been the deciding factor in the show we watched on TV that night… You’ll notice that our Thanksgiving post is coming a little later than most. We wanted to put our whole focus into enjoying the long weekend so thank you all for your patience.

Our weekend started on Wednesday as a full cooking preparation day. Now, my mom and I may go a little overboard for our families Thanksgiving meal but we love every second of it. We flip on some Christmas music, start cooking at around 8 AM and cook all the way to midnight. It is exhausting and yet, the Thanksgiving preparation day ends up being my favorite part of the holiday because of the jokes and memories we share (especially as we both nurture coffee or tea drinks at 11 PM in hopes it gives us the extra motivation to finish more). On Wednesday we ended up making 5 pies (Pumpkin, Pecan, Apple, Chocolate Cream, and Blueberry Cheesecake), 4 breads (Dutch Apple, French, Rosemary, Simple White, and Cornbread), Lemon Bars, German Potato Salad, prepped the Sweet Potatoes, and Stuffing. The remainder we leave for Thanksgiving Day. Everything went smoothly. Sure, we had a Pecan Pie burn a little on the edge but we laughed it off and remembered how happy we are that we made two Pecan Pies. No use crying over spilt milk, or in this case a finicky pie.

I’m extremely lucky to have a wonderful boyfriend whose family welcomes me into their home for Thanksgiving as well. Which means him and I do two Thanksgiving meals in one day. Daunting? No way! It would be better described as deliciously ideal (Can we make this a monthly thing please? Haha). We are however very thankful for elastic waistbands after our day of indulgence. Both meals are delicious and packed full of gratitude and love. The key secret ingredients in any great dish.

*Pictured at the top of the page is our Guest Gift! This cute package contained apple butter, a mini bread loaf, and a cedar bread board. All three items were homemade and full of love!*