This was hands down the best Thanksgiving we had since we moved to Fort Collins.  Our first year here, I was still getting my bearings around where to shop and find local ingredients.  Plus we had only been here a couple of months and I was still learning about our new city along with missing some things from our previous city.  It wasn’t much of a celebration to be honest.

Last year we were in a brand new house with two new dogs and we weren’t sure how they would handle all the new changes that come with the holidays.  This year we are settled, the dogs are settled, and I’ve got my routine figured out and that meant that Thanksgiving was awesome.

Our fridge is small and is pretty much barely functional.  I mean, as a storage unit, it works properly keeping things cold.  I didn’t think there would be room to brine but Scott worked his magic packing skills and was able to fit two huge bowls in the fridge.  For the turkey, I purchased two breasts and two legs from Whole Foods along with two wings.  The wings I used to make turkey stock and I did that using the slow cooker (more on that in another post!).

I bourbon brined the turkey and we had collards, mashed potatoes, and gravy, and cranberry sauce (new recipe!).  Scott also requested some stuffing this year so I made a small dish of that as well.  Everything turned out fantastic and the turkey was even better as leftovers.

The day was relaxing and warm.  So warm I had to open the windows to let some fresh air in to clear out the steam from cooking!  Most of the day was spent in PJs eating, drinking, and hanging out with the pups.

It was glorious and later we had pumpkin pie for dessert.

I could not have asked for a more perfect day.

The Christmas decorations are out and I can’t wait to unplug for a couple of weeks and just hang out.  Definitely my most favorite time of year!

Tell me about your holiday!