Thanksgiving Ideas for 2011

Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday. I love that it's an entire holiday dedicated to mashed potatoes giving thanks. I grew up with lots of cousins and Thanksgiving was the time for all of us to get together and have fun. This year we will be doing Thanksgiving a few times - once with family and once with friends. But neither of those celebrations will occur at my house so my plan is to have a little Thanksgiving celebration of our own as well...just so we can eat the Thanksgiving leftovers for a week or so!

Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and desserts are definitely parts of my most favorite meal of all time. I normally do not like my food touching, but this meal is one that I can stand a little cross-contamination. Gravy on the potatoes, stuffing, and turkey, all mixed together is delicious! It just doesn't feel like Thanksgiving without these elements.

On top of wanting Thanksgiving food in our home, I'm sure we'll also be bringing food with us to the gatherings we attend with friends and family. I started a pinterest board exclusively dedicated to Thanksgiving Ideas. When some people say "ideas" they might mean center pieces, place settings, or name plates, but I mean food. Exclusively food. This is where I've started pinning my Thanksgiving recipe ideas - not just things to make at home, but ideas for what we can bring when celebrating outside our home as well.

Here are some of the things I plan to make for our Thanksgiving:

Source: therunawayspoon.com via Leanne on Pinterest

While I'm sure it won't look near as fancy, Jarrod got VERY excited when I showed him this bacon-wrapped turkey!

Source: picky-palate.com via Leanne on Pinterest

Source: thepioneerwoman.com via Leanne on Pinterest

I'm debating between these two green bean casseroles. The bottom one is our tried-and-true recipe and the top might be challenging to make gluten-free, but looks so yummy!

Source: picky-palate.com via Leanne on Pinterest

I could probably have a whole table full of mashed potatoes and Thanksgiving would be perfect. I LOVE mashed potatoes and these look delicious but simple and classic - exactly my style!

Source: handletheheat.com via Leanne on Pinterest

Jarrod's gluten-intolerance makes dishes like stuffing a little more challenging. However, we're in the process of finding the perfect corn bread and thought this recipe could easily be made with gluten-free corn bread. And anything with chorizo has to be good!

Source: budgetbytes.blogspot.com via Leanne on Pinterest

I could easily have an entire meal of just sides... I am a huge fan of corn, corn cornbread, and corn casserole. This looks delicious. Some would say it's overkill with the cornbread stuffing. I completely disagree. ;-)

Source: pauladeen.com via Leanne on Pinterest

I am a huge fan of desserts, but this is the only one on my list right now. My mom used to make gooey butter cake when we were kids - long before Paula Deen made it famous. I figure I can make this gluten-free by using gluten-free yellow cake mix.