thanksgiving inspiration

I love Thanksgiving. I love planning the meal, spending hours cooking it and enjoying it with my sweet family. I've already began thinking about this year's meal, the table setting and all of that good stuff and thought I would share some of the inspiration I have found online!


Aren't these table settings pretty? My rosemary plant is showing signs that it isn't going to live for very long even though I'm watering it and it's getting plenty of sunshine. I'm hoping that it makes it for just a few more weeks so that I can use it for garnish and to lay on the plates like in the first picture. I saw leaf plates similar to these at Target. I already own plates in the shape of pumpkins so will use them instead but a leaf plate would be pretty as a serving piece.

I would love to make some pretty cloth napkins using this tutorial. A simple project like this would be a nice break after the costumes I just finished! I think it would be fun to sew Elle and I matching aprons using this tutorial that we can wear while we are cooking together. I don't know if that will actually happen before Thanksgiving but it would be fun for all of the Christmas baking we will be doing too!

I've saved the best for last! You have to check out The Pioneer Woman Cooks Thanksgiving cooking classes and recipes! I wasn't planning on making a turkey this year but am seriously thinking about giving Ree's recipe a try for brining and roasting a turkey. Each year my turkey turns our dry and boring so this year I was planning on making the Jennie-O Oven Ready Turkey Breast in a bag. It's tasty and no-fail but not pretty like a whole roasted turkey. The gravy is another thing I haven't mastered but her recipe looks so good and uses the pieces of the turkey that I usually throw away. She's also got a creamy mashed potato recipe that sounds fabulous if you don't think about how many calories are in them! I'm excited to see the other recipes she posts in the next couple of weeks!