Did y’all have a nice Thanksgiving? We celebrated with a big lunchtime feast with both our immediate families, as well as Mr. Handsome’s grandparents and cousins.Our table set for 25 looks very similar to last year’s table, but I promise it’s a new picture. If you look close enough, you’ll see my two-year-old niece’s head in the left corner.
We had most of the traditional Thanksgiving dishes, including turkey (smoked overnight in my in-laws’ smoker), sweet potatoes, stuffing (not cooked in the turkey, so I suppose it’s just dressing), kale salad (okay, so that’s not super traditional), homemade rolls, mashed potatoes, and pie.
We realized halfway into the meal that we forgot to make green beans. Oops. Do you think we forgot any other Thanksgiving staples?
Before we ate, my father-in-law read a Bible passage on thankfulness. After lunch, we spent the afternoon chatting and playing Bananagrams and various card games (euchre, up and down the river, and presidents).
My mom made a festive vegetable plate. Isn’t it adorable?
Sharpie for turkey eyes?
Haha, yep!
Ellie
Hope nobody ate that! Next year, you could use 2 whole cloves. Although given the choice, I think I'd rather eat Sharpie. :/
I enjoy seeing the pictures that you share of Thanksgiving. However, I can't help wondering why the napkins are on the wrong side of the plates every year? That's the first thing I notice.
The napkins are on the right. That's the correct side.
According to Emilie Post the napkins should indeed be on the left of the plates.
It may differ from country to country. I'm in the UK and have always placed them to the left. However, its no big deal really 🙂 Ellie, the table looks beautiful and festive!
I'll admit I don't know what side they belong on, but maybe it's different in different countries? Although it's quite possible that we did it wrong. Lol.
Ellie
who cares if you did it "wrong"? It doesn't really matter what side the napkins are on.
Ellie, I love your Mom's vegetable plate. I do love tomatoes and cucumbers. The table is set so nice, really looks like Thanksgiving. I love all of your stories,you and Mr. Handsome are fortunate to have such wonderful loving immediate families. Your a sweetheart,Ellie.
Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm grateful to have you as a reader. 🙂
Ellie
Your moms veggie plate is very cute. What kind of pies did you have?
Thank you! I thought it was quite cute also. We had apple pie, coconut cream pie, and pumpkin pie. I only tried the apple, but i heard the others were good. Do you have a favorite type of pie?
Ellie
Napkins always go on the right side.
Ellie I love your mom's veggie plate.
Thank you! I'll tell her that. She will be thrilled.
Ellie
In the United States the Napkins always go on the right side.
I live in the United States, and I've never seen the napkins go on the right side. Where did you get your information that they go on the right side?
The napkins always go on the left side of the plates underneath the fork in the US.
I cannot believe that people are actually debating such trivial details like napkin placement! Loosen up and enjoy your holiday! Who cares about what Emily Post says!
Nothing wrong with discussing the way to set a table. Maybe someone will learn something.
Amen such silliness. The problem is everyone wants to be right. Who really cares about napkin placement. Loving your family and being with them is all that matters when eating with them.
I know! hahaha 😀
Just throw them in the middle of the plate and everyone will be happy! lol:D
Yeah, I live in the US and napkins always go on the left side under the fork…. the knife goes on the right side 😊
No cranberry sauce??? 😳😱 lol 😉 Although something on the table DOES kinda look like it…..
I always had 2 choices for cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving: My mother, who would open a can of Ocean Spray at both ends and force it out with a knife until it plopped on the plate in a jiggling blob, or else my mother-in-law, who would grind fresh berries and orange peel and enough sugar to set your teeth on edge. But somehow the sugar never dissolved completely, so the "sauce" would be gritty and tart. Finally, I learned to make a delicious cooked cranberry sauce myself using honey, apples, and spices. I took some to my in-laws one year. My father-in-law LOVED it and wanted me to bring it again at Christmas! My SIL wanted the recipe. My poor MIL…her crunchy concoction had to be retired. Never could convert my mother to anything but the jellied kind from a can.
We had cranberry sauce, and I'm glad we did because it's my favorite! 🙂
That's a pretty funny story. I think I would definitely prefer your version over your mom's or mother-in-law's. Lol.
My mom used to make hers with canned pineapple and fresh/frozen cranberries. I'm not sure who made the one we had this year or how it was made. Hope it wasn't canned! Haha.
Ellie
As a kid, I was taught that "fork" and "left" had 4 letters, but "spoon" and "knife" and "right" had 5. That's how I could remember how to set the table. To this day, I find myself still spelling f-o-r-k/l-e-f-t to be sure! The fork looks too lonely without a napkin under it. The spoon and knife have each other for friends, so you really should give the fork something to hang out with. Then you have the Martha Stewart types who put the napkin on the plate! But they usually have a salad fork to keep the dinner fork company. 🙂
How clever! That's a great way to keep it all straight. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I love mnemonic devices. Whenever I have to figure out how many days a month has, I always find myself looking at my knuckles or reciting the poem "30 days have September, April, June, and November. All the rest of 31, save February, which alone has 28 and one day more. We add it to one year in four."
Ellie
I love the games Presidents and Up and Down the River! What is Euchre?
Hi there,
Euchre is a card game similar to spades but with slightly odd rules. The Jack of the trump suit is the highest card, followed by the Jack of the other suit of the same color, then Ace of trump suit, King of trump suit, Queen of trump suit, 10 of trump suit, and 9 of trump suit. You only play with cards 9 and up. It's a game for 4 people.
Ellie
Thanks! Sounds like a fun game!
It is! Takes a bit of time to learn, but once you get it down, it's a blast.
Ellie
You can put a mouse made of radish in a cheese plate, and you can make chicks out of hard boiled eggs, it is very cute too.
Josée
Those both sound adorable, Josée! Have you made them?
Ellie
I did not, but my mom used to do catering when I was younger and she always did this to decorate her plates. She also did chrysanthemum flowers with Spanish onions and food coloring.
That's neat. I'm sure you have lots of great recipes!
Ellie