Thanksgiving!

We spent Collin's absolute favorite holiday (besides his birthday...which I've told him is not actually a holiday....) in Denver with his sister, brother-in-law, and niece. We had an awesome time!!
I was in charge of desserts for the big feast so on Wednesday while Collin was at work I got a head start. I made Nana's famous pumpkin pie (with my own touch to the crust) and a rustic Meyer lemon tart.

Super easy, delicious, and pretty!

The pumpkin pie:

I decided to add a pretty crust with individual cut-out leaves

I had extra pumpkin filling so I made a mini pie too!

Well, the elevation finally got to me! I had to cook this thing forever and by the time I put foil around the crust it was already pretty dark. And then to top it off, the foil messed up the middle of the pie. I was not happy but it did taste just like Nana's!

The sunset as we were packing the truck for Denver

Wednesday night Allison had her annual Thanksgiving-eve party and it was a blast! She made loads of food and I contributed with my mini-salmon croquettes (from Collin's Alaskan stockpile!) It was open-house style and about 50+ people showed up. It was nice to meet new people and also see some familiar faces.

Alli's friend and a few of the neighbor kiddos

Thursday morning I still had an apple pie to bake but with their apple corer/peeler/slicer gizmo it was super fast and easy! I need to get one of those things!

Collin's favorite

Table set up

Before we started cooking we realized we needed a few more things from the store so Collin ran out and came back with shrimp cocktail and oysters too!! This time he shucked the oysters himself so we knew they were good and fresh. Mmmm, sooooo delicious!
For dinner we made a turkey of course, stuffed with bacon, sage, and butter + butter under the skin...mmm! We also had stuffing, chive and sour cream mashed potatoes, parmesan butternut squash, smashed sweet potatoes w/ candied pecans, green bean casserole, rice salad, corn bread casserole, and homemade gravy...+ my three desserts and another cheesecake!!! We were overwhelmed with food...to say the least!!
Everything looked delicious but before we dug in, Collin made a nice toast to Brennan. Definitely a bitter sweet moment for Collin and Allison.

The spread!

Ready to eat!

Mimosas helped us along!

The face says it all...

Mr. Tini!

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving! Stuffed ourselves full as usual!

I was definitely missing my family that day but having Collin and part of his family here made it much better. We shared lots of laughs, just like I'm used to during family get togethers!! We had so many leftovers and took some with us when we left Friday morning for Wolfcreek and some awesome skiing (that post is next!).

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am always thankful for my amazing family (especially Mr. C who I've been missing more than usual lately), wonderful friends, best friend of a boyfriend, and everyones health and happiness. And of course, Suki girl too!