Thanksgiving 2014

Another {made-ahead} feast goes down in the books!

This was the first year that we had a full-fledged vegetarian at the table {my tween} and his plate overflowed with tons of veggie options: stuffing {which I'd added roasted butternut squash to this year}, mashed sweet potatoes tucked under green beans with smoked paprika vinaigrette, roasted brussels sprouts, {totally decadent} mashed red bliss potatoes, sweet-tart cider braised cabbage {minus the apples this go round} and two kinds of cranberry sauce.

This year, I roasted our brussels sprouts at 425 until they were fork tender and browned, after tossing them in some olive oil, balsamic glaze, salt and pepper. Easy and delish.

New, healthy entrant to the feast spread this year was fennel slaw. A simplified version of this recipe, to which I added some roasted slivered almonds. Ahhmazing.

As in past years, I made just about everything ahead of time, so we could

watch football

and play Mexican Train

while the turkey roasted and our kitchen was filled with the smell of roasting garlic, herbs and lemons.

Today's a day of R&R by the fire.

I'll be whipping up a batch of these stuffing fritters later on

and a batch of turkey bone broth is simmering as I write. {So worth setting aside a few hours to make.}