Thanksgiving came and gone.  Typically I either host a small Friendsgiving party at my house or spend the day at a good friend's house, this year two of my friends invited me to their friendsgiving dinners for both Wednesday and Thursday and I ended up meeting some really awesome new friends and had a amazing time.  I came home with some super delicious recipes and inspired to host some nice dinner parties at my own house.  For people that don't have large extended families, holidays can still be heart warming and fun, it all takes a little bit of pre-planning.  This year I still got to cook and bring a dish to my friends' house but it was rather stress free because I did not have to be responsible for the whole meal.

Recently I had a conversation with a friend about not having large families near by and holidays do get a little funny, but at the end of day I don't think everyone's family fits into that picture perfect mold like how it shows on tv, but I guess I'm ok with that.

I made no plans for Thanks Giving this year, a couple friends invited me over but I thought I would just laid back and relax, but at the last minute I decided to cook anyway since all the holiday special ingredients were for sale at the store and looked so tempting.  Every year I like to do something a little different, this year I tried to make a butter herb mix to coat and stuff the turkey, the aroma turned out quite lovely.

I don't use anything like onion or wine to prepare the turkey because I wanted to share the left overs with my pups, it would be a shame to make something so delicious and then just to have the doggies stare at it.  They knew it was some sort of a special occasion too, eagerly waited by the kitchen to see what comes of all the cooking.

I'm a rather slow cook and to make a complete Thanks Giving meal takes me about four hours, from prepping and roasting the turkey to making cranberry sauce, stuffing and gravy, but after a few years of practice a lot of the dishes became quite easy.  The pups really benefited from the turkey this year, I gave them a few pieces with each meal and they seem to love it! 

One of the dish I've made without fail every year is the cranberry sauce.  It's an easy enough dish and homemade ones always seem to taste better than the store bought type so I always make it.  If I visit friends then they look forward for me to bring it.  I like to present the sauce in lovely antique sauce tureen and this year I used my blue and white sauce tureen to make a prettier presentation.

So much to be thankful for when I put things in perspective.  For one I am not sitting in movie theaters during holidays like I often did in my 20s staving off hunger on pop corn.  There is immense happiness being able to sip coffee, play an old movie and cook delicious food in my own kitchen.  I also have lovely pups and my health to be thankful for, and it's good to be reminded of things we often take for granted!