What's For Dinner?: Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a great time in BR with Walter's family. Walter and I arrived on Tuesday to get everything ready. Remember the table we bought on our last trip? It was delivered and we got it set up in the eating area. Here it is set up for Thanksgiving Day:

And here's a closeup of the centerpiece. I took the Garden District trough and filled it with rhododendron leaves, blackberry branches, fresh fruit, and flowers. Sarah arranged the flowers and did an excellent job - thanks, Sarah!

I cleaned out my Memphis freezer before we left and took packages of chili and spaghetti sauce with me. Tuesday night Walter and I had the chili. Wednesday evening our guests arrived in three waves - two from Atlanta, two from Ft. Pierce, FL and four from Jacksonville, FL. As they arrived and got settled, I dished up spaghetti and cornbread.

Thursday was the big day, of course. For breakfast we had pastries that I bought at Stick Boy Bread in Boone. This was our Thanksgiving Dinner menu:

Smoked Turkey (sorry, no recipe. Walter did this ad hoc and it was delicious!)
Squash and Cheese Casserole
Sweet Potato Souffle
Szechuan Green Beans
Cornbread Dressing
Gravy from Bogies (in Memphis)
Cranberry Sauce from Bogies
Yeast Rolls from Stick Boy (in Boone)
Carrot Cake from Bogies
Pumpkin Cheesecake from Stick Boy
Pecan Pie (purchased at the BR Farmers' Market)

Yum, yum, yum! It's funny about the dressing. We ordered some from Bogies, Walter picked everything up on Monday evening, we packed everything into a cooler for travel, unloaded the cooler in BR, started getting organized on Thanksgiving and said, "Where's the dressing?" No dressing...it wasn't in the order we picked up! Then I remembered that I had leftover cornbread from the spaghetti dinner the night before, so I went to the trusty internet, found a recipe that a lot of people had said was good, and made it at the last minute. It was delicious! Saved by the internet - again!

Walter's sister, Kathy, and her husband, Mike

Friday morning we had a super Breakfast Casserole from my main man, Emeril. Those of you who've had the Cooking Light breakfast casserole...well, this one is way better! What's not to like about pork sausage? Friday night Walter's nephew made a crockpot barbeque that was out of this world and his niece made an ultimate comfort food shells and cheese and broccoli dish. I'll post the recipes as soon as they send them to me.

After this meal the kitchen closed. Two groups left Saturday morning and the rest of us ate leftovers for lunch and went to Ristro Boca for dinner.

Saturday morning we all went out to Bolick Pottery and watched the annual opening of their wood-fired kiln. The Bolicks have been potters for generations and the extended family lives in a little valley outside of Blowing Rock. The kiln opening is a big thing, with a mad dash for one of a kind pieces. Our niece Shelby snagged a great Santa face jug for me! Wish I had a picture of it! Here's the Bolick mailboxes: