california thanksgiving.

hello and happy black friday! if you're into that sort of thing...

but more importantly, i hope you all had the happiest of thanksgivings yesterday. i know i did! ordinarily i'm on the east coast for this fine holiday (and all others, of course), but this year i'm not flying home until christmas, so my awesome cousins up in Thousand Oaks generously offered me their home and kitchen. plus, my aunt from North Carolina actually flew in to visit, too, so i got to see her for the first time in years! :)

our day started off with a buffet lunch at around noon, since you can't very well not eat anything until thanksgiving dinner...i tried to eat moderately, knowing i would be stuffing my face later in the day, but i did go back twice and try most of the dishes. i mean, we all know how i love buffets.

that would be salad with pears and gorgonzola, turkey, honey glazed ham, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and a small piece of bread. when i went back for seconds i tried the pork loin, more turkey and mashed potatoes. everything was so delicious, i literally had to stop myself from getting more. except i did get dessert...which was a small brownie, some fruit, and half a carrot cupcake. while the brownie was super rich and amazing, the cupcake didn't really come close to my carrot cake, so i only ate half. who says i don't have willpower? oh, i do.

we spent the afternoon chatting and playing with the baby, while my cousins prepared some food for dinner. at around 7:30, we sat down for our second thanksgiving meal of the day and it was awesome. whoever thinks all that turkey, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, lima beans (recipe coming soon!) and potatoes should only be eaten once a year is off their rocker. i think it should be thanksgiving once a month, at least.

since my aunt is a vegan, i tried the vegan mushroom gravy which was actually delicious. it didn't have an overwhelming taste of mushroom, but i liked it much better than regular gravy. kate also made a side of roasted beets and pecans in balsamic and sugar. i'm going to need to try making that soon...

for dessert, i had made a sweet potato coconut pie (another recipe coming soon!) which i made last year for christmas and was a hit! everybody seemed to like it this year, too. i think it may become somewhat of my signature pie...

and a piece of pumpkin pie, too, because it really wouldn't be thanksgiving without it! honestly, while i missed thanksgiving on the east coast a whole lot this year, it's nice to celebrate the holidays with family i rarely get to see.

this year, i am thankful for a supportive, loving and welcoming family. and though i missed out on seeing these three for this particular thanksgiving, i absolutely cannot wait to see them for christmas and know we will be together for many thanksgivings to come :)

xo jordan