how lucky am i?

my husbands parents will be tour guides for an asian trip over thanksgiving so we got to celebrate a little early, we had a thanksgiving last night. i feel a little like i have cheated on something, oddly. it got me to work early on the things we will be contributing to this thursday. i have been scouring, finding and cooking- here is what i have come up with!

lindsay never disappoints.ever. i tried a bunch of her recipes and was so happy. also, some inclusions of our family recipes. click on each title for the recipe!

day before prep:

butternut, apple sage soup.
{i think this would be awesome with a thinly sliced and toasted baguette with some melted brie right on top of a cute drinking cup with this soup (like french onion soup concept)}

fresh cranberry sauce

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
12 oz fresh cranberries (in the produce section this time of year)
1 orange {zest and juice}

combine all ingredients together in sauce pan and bring to a gentle rolling boil for 10 minutes. store in fridge until ready to serve.
{please take the pledge to never, ever buy canned cranberry! please, this is so easy, there's no excuse!}

holiday salad.

raspberry honey butter

{lindsey and cafe johnsonia turned me onto this one - fabulous!}

The Inn at Temple Square’s Raspberry Honey Butter

½ lb. butter, room temperature (2 sticks or 1 cup)
4 ounces honey
4 ounces good-quality raspberry preserves
½ tsp. vanilla
In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to whip the butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add the honey while mixing. Add the raspberry preserves and vanilla. Continue to whip until completely mixed. (You may have to beat it for a little while if it has separated.)


english toffee

rice pudding almondine

4 eggs
5 c. milk
1 c. cooked rice (up to 2 or 3)
1/2 c sugar
1 t. vanilla
dash salt
Combine all ingredients above and warm in a saucepan. Bake for 1 1/2 hours at 325. stir three times during cooking process. cool completely and add 2 cups (to your liking) of slightly sweetened whipped cream with 1 t. almond extract. serve COLD.
{this is a great recipe to have on hand thanksgiving day, there are some who don't love pumpkin pie, this goes along with the seasonal spirit and offers a different twist that makes a great dessert!}

cranberry slush
{thanks jane}

{i did all of the above the day before}

Holiday Turkey

sweet potatoe souffle
{try it, you will never ever look back!}

butterhorn rolls

now, there are some recipes here that called for canned cranberry, you can use the canned stuff, you can also use the fresh stuff and be just fine!

this is how an ideal thanksgiving would go for me:

1:00
soup and salad

2:00
the big meal....

3:30
a thanksgiving walk (it's tradition at our house)

4:30
pie

5:30
watch "it's a wonderful life" (another must tradition at our house)

during this movie watching time, you are allowed to reheat turkey and rolls for sandwiches, eat the toffee and the pudding.

yes, this is my idea of a perfect thanksgiving!