This week we thought we’d share our favorite Thanksgiving recipes/traditions. Despite my European background, Thanksgiving has become one of my favorite holidays! My husband loves it even more than I, and insists on doing ALL the cooking. Here’s one of our favorite appetizers that we enjoy together while he cooks away. Pair it with a mimosa or Sangria early in the day! It is very tangy, but very tasty for those of you who like stronger flavors:

One baguette       Goat cheese       Onion- finely chopped      Capers           Sun-dried tomato- chopped           Garlic- minced

Slice baguette and toast (easiest to toast on cookie pan in oven on broil- that way you can toast a lot in one go)

Mix together goat cheese, onion, sun-dried tomato and garlic, Spread on bread, Sprinkle with capers

 

Every year I looked forward to eating my Grandma Schomburg’s apple pie.  I begged her for years for the recipe and she always said she never wrote anything down she just “made it.”  One year she did write it down and even though hers always tastes more special, at least I can enjoy it more than once a year.  One simple change is that this year I bought the crusts at U-Bake and I received many complements AND I saved time.  My girls and I made 6 pies this year and it was a fun activity to do together.

 

 

 

For me this is more than holiday, this is tradition at its best!  I start helping mom on Wednesday night; about 5 or so we start with pies, 2 apple, 2 lemon meringue, and 2 pumpkin. Then my brother and dad show up, (from hunting) and usually end up messing with us in the kitchen, you know… putting their fingers in the dough, making a mess trying to help (especially from the meringue) then we finally kick them outta the kitchen for good! Gotta keep moms stress level under control.

See the whole reason for soo many pies is that we have both sides of my parents family over for Thanksgiving. It usually ends up being 20-30 people… Did I mention that I have a large family? Ok so 6 pies, 3 turkeys (one on the grill, two in fryers) and about 15 lbs of mashed potatoes. Being that all of us are from this area we have a VERY traditional feast, just add a little gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, veggies, rice crispy bars, of course a green bean hotdish and a marshmallow and whipped cream topped Jello thingy… (Thanks grandma!)  With all of this great food around it was hard to think of just one recipe that I could share, instead I wanted to share the traditional family part.

If it wasn’t for my moms’ dedication, hard work and phone tree skills, I’m not sure that this would be as big of a deal as it is. Thanksgiving is bigger than Christmas for the 4 of us; my mom is what keeps us all together, for both sides. For as long as I can remember Thanksgiving has always been held at my parents’ home, (the best part of the tradition), all 20-30 of us crammed and loving every moment!

WE wish all of you many of your own blessed recipes/traditions that our families share. Happy Thanksgiving!