And a good meal was had by all

Here was the menu at our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday:

• Turkey
• Cornbread dressing (made by my mother, who makes the BEST cornbread dressing)
• Sweet potatoes
• Mashed potatoes
• Gravy
• Creamed corn
• Cranberry sauce, both homemade and jellied straight from the can
• Homemade rolls
• Apple pie
• Chocolate chess pie

Whew. I used my new mini pie pans from King Arthur Flour, so we didn't have two full size pies. The mini pies were the perfect size.

We brined our turkey this year using a recipe from Emeril Lagasse:

That 48 cent per pound turkey (love love love my Wegmans) was both beautiful and delicious:

As you can see, I don't put any effort into fancy table decorations or linens; instead, I put lots of effort into preparing delectable food:

And Thanksgiving dinner at our house was well the effort.

Surprise!

My mother arrived on Sunday to spend Thanksgiving week with us. Although her birthday is on December 6, we decided to surprise her with an early birthday celebration. We got a lovely cake from The Gingersnap Bakery, which James was able to pick up the cake this afternoon without her knowledge:

It is a French vanilla cake with chocolate mousse filling between the layers, and ganache frosting. Pure decadence and about ten pounds in weight.

I prepared one of her favorite meals for dinner, beef stroganoff, and then we put a candle on the cake and brought it out, singing "Happy birthday to you!"

I am pleased to say that she was completely surprised. Spenser, of course, got into the spirit in his own little cat manner:

Happy early birthday, Mom!