A Most Wonderful Holiday

Thanksgiving is, by far, one of my favorite holidays wrapped in the best kind of weather! It's cozy and snuggly and wonderful with nothing on which to focus beyond being grateful! I can't think of a better time of year than this! 

It's no different in The House as the family gathers this year! Most of the adults surround THE SPREAD.

There are all sorts of goods on the table both homemade and from the store. Isn't that how it tends to go at all houses? 😉 What's below is the original plan for this year's feast:

There are a variety of main courses as options for this crew! The berry-glazed ham and the lasagna, both in front of Hal at the top of the picture, came from the store while, at the bottom of the picture, I made some burger patties. Assume they are veggie burgers which is exactly what My Boy in real life is having! Plenty of sides provide ample stomach fullness including the home made broccoli, roasted brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes! After all of that effort, homemade rolls were not on the cooking agenda, so those came from the store, too. 

The kitty does not discern between home and store goods. She just knows she's about to score!

After reviewing the original plan of what I had ready to go, I just couldn't leave it at that. THE BIRD IS MISSING as are a few other Thanksgiving staples! One year, we decided that we shouldn't bother with a turkey because it was just our family consisting of 2 adults and 2 little ones. So, we thought it was a good idea to do everything we usually do but to swap turkey for whole chicken. Now, I looooove chicken, but, believe when I say that the swap kind of scarred me. It wasn't the same in any way, shape or form, and we often relive the travesty of that decision when we venture to the store to get our turkey.

Given my own experience, I just couldn't pass off ham as the main attraction! Not to mention, there are definite, important sides missing! So, I sat down yesterday with my cart of clay and supplies to redo the spread! Here is the evolution!

I'm really quite proud of the turkey. I'd looked to buy one, but I wasn't loving what they looked like (read: unappetizing). Also featured as the new attractions to the main table is the bowl of whole cranberries and the pumpkin pie!

With so much extra food, I had to bring in another table on which many of the sides now sit:

There's a bowl of stuffing to the right as well as sweet potatoes with mini marshmallows on the left. It appears those got overcooked, but that happens. And, who cares because ... yuck. However, I did make them for color, so I think I'll touch them up with some paints this afternoon! Anyway, I could dive face-first into that bowl of stuffing. That's truly my favorite Thanksgiving food especially when it comes from inside the bird! Droooool ...

Here the latest and greatest are up close before moving on:

Also in the dining room, across the floor, Eleanor loyally sits behind Polly with the popcorn box she drags around.

She's welcome in the dining room as she's not one to beg. 😊

Back to the feast, check out what else they have going on! On the side table, there are appetizers ...

In the back, there's a coffee bar ...

And, in the corner, desserts await!

If that's not enough dessert, there's more waiting in the kitchen. That is, if they survive the kitchen holding area ...

Back in the dining room, the family treated themselves to some long-awaited lighting above the dining table!

I've figured out that the most economical and effective way to really bring light into The House is to use led string/fairy lights. After experimenting with some other ideas, I came up with this one. The "glass" is a plastic case that held Star Wars Squinky toys:

These little critters are one inch tall, and, when I scored the bag of squishy Squinkies, there was a case for each. I tossed all but one of them which has been hanging out in Mowgli-Thurston Howell's room with the action figures. But, I figured a better use for it, at least for now, is to serve as a chandelier! It twists apart into halves. So, after separating them, I thread a 5-foot string of fairy lights through the hole that exists in the top of the sphere and loosely wrapped the wire and lights around my index finger to fit it into the case. I twisted them back together, and, voila! LIGHT. The wire is attached to the ceiling with masking tape right now, but no one really sees that anyway. Oh, and, yes ... If you were wondering, given this is a case from a Star Wars toy, the sphere is the Death Star. Hal finds it particularly charming. Because he's Hal.

With that, it's time to see if there's enough time to produce a turkey to add to the spread! Yes, yes, there's plenty there. But, there's nothing wrong with adding more! Now, I'm not sure where I think it's going to go when I didn't even figure out how to fit plates on the table ...

A very Happy Thanksgiving to all from The House to yours!