A Couple's Thanksgiving

This year we will be spending Thanksgiving day with my family at the beach. I am very excited about this because I love, love LOVE the ocean and being on the beach. Plus I always find holidays that center around cooking a huge meal for 10 hours to end up being rushed and chaotic. But a day with family at the beach? The exact opposite. I think this really is a genius plan - skip the traditional feast to instead focus on simply being. As a family.

We also won't be doing a traditional Thanksgiving meal with the hub's family...just spending a day relaxing and playing with the niece and nephews.

But part of me is really missing the idea of eating all the delicious food (despite my protestations above). So I thought, why not make a mini-feast for the hubs and I to enjoy?

And that is just what I am going to do! However, neither of us likes turkey (thankfully! because there is no way I am tackling that kind of a project - I lose interest in things too easily to try to cook a turkey). So we will be forgoing the bird in exchange for some steaks. Oh yeah. I think we will be winning in the end :)

Here is my menu:

Drinks: White and red wine, sparkling cranberry juice

Vegetable 1: bacon-wrapped green beans

These look so delicious. We both love bacon, so of course we have to find a way to work it in! Also I love how crispy both the beans and bacon get in this recipe.

Vegetable 2: baked sweet potatoes

I might make them this way, or I might simply wrap them in foil and let the yams bake in their own juices - they are very sweet that way on their own and we find we don't even need to add brown sugar or butter.

Side 1: mashed potatoes

with garlic and tons of butter...perfection!

Side 2: Crescent rolls

These look really good! I will probably just cheat and use pillsbury dough ;)

Side 3: jello salad

My Grandma makes this every year - and I almost hate to admit it...but it's one of the things I look forward to the most!

Dessert 1: pecan pie

I'm probably not going to attempt this - I'd hate to risk screwing it up - so I plan on buying one from Marie Callender.

Dessert 2: pumpkin cheesecake

I will be making three mini cheesecakes (I've found two friends who love this as much as I do). So excited for this!!! Pumpkin cheesecake is my favorite of all holiday desserts :)

Writing this post is making me hungry! Only two weeks to go :)