Thanksgiving at the Liles

Thanksgiving is very probably my favorite holiday. It combines three of my favorite things, family, cooking, and eating. I get the joy of my family, the pleasure of eating way too much delicious food, and the fun of preparing the feast.

Some years we have lots of family and friends around our table, sometime it is a much smaller gathering. But there is always a feast. I am pretty sure any year an entire other family could knock on our door and we would have plenty of food for everyone and still have leftovers.

I love the tradition of Thanksgiving too. Every year I make old favorites. I also try to include one or two new items. Sometimes they are so good they even replace the old favorites.

And before you wonder how I can pull this off, or if I have a staff like Martha Stewart, let me assure that I do the cooking myself (no staff for me). But it does take planning. The planning starts around November 1^st with my question to the family – what do you want for Thanksgiving dinner. This is the foundation for the menu. I also ask who are we inviting – this tells me how big to plan.

And no plan would be complete without a project plan (yes a Gantt chart!)

The 2014 Thanksgiving menu

Pre-dinner appetizers

Olive medley (pitted)
Small sweet pickles
Small dill pickles
Cranberry goat cheese
Rum Raisin goat cheese
Hummus
*Olive tapenade
Tabouli
Sliced beef sausage
Antipasti meat plate
*Roasted garlic
Assorted cheese plate
Veggie platter
Shrimp
Cracker selection
Toast points (better toast crackers)