Thanksgiving 2011 was a huge success this year! There was a lot of experimenting going on and I have to say that everything turned out perfectly.

The day started off with a 2.5 mile run for me while Scotty slept. I tried waking him up but he kind of mumbled, rolled over and went back to sleep.  I was on my own.  The body was a little stiff and sore from all the prep work earlier this week (mostly my back was super achey) so I just did a short run.

Back home to some fantastic coffee and a date and fig coffee cake.  My favorite coffee cake and made with beer! Whoo!

Once Scott got up, I pulled the turkey out of the brine and let it rest on the counter for a bit before setting it in the oven to get roasty and delicious.  I kept the menu simple this year, making a few key items, but experimented along the way.

On the menu we had:

• Bourbon Brined Turkey
• Mashed Potatoes
• Collard Greens
• Stuffing
• Gravy
• Rolls
• Cranberry Sauce

The turkey turned out so flavorful that we could not stop talking about it through dinner.  Both of us declared it the best turkey yet and we’ll probably be having this for years to come.  Tender, juicy, and made you want more and more!

For dessert we had Sweet Potato Pie, made with rum and it had a pecan crumble topping.

We hung out and chatted the day away as the turkey cooked.  Then we hung out some more but with less chatting as we ate because both of us were so focused on the tasty turkey.  When Scott starts gnawing on the bones, I know that things were done right!

Next week I’ll be posting recipes from dinner and talking about what my strategy was this year to keep things simple yet leaving me room to experiment and try different things.

How was your Thanksgiving? Did you try anything new this year? What was your favorite?