Thanksgiving in Tacoma

Matt really wanted to stay in Tacoma this year for Thanksgiving so we had our own little Thanksgiving with just the four of us.

Wednesday night Gabriella and I made cornbread and pumpkin pie. She was my helper for everything I did for cooking this year and I LOVED it!

Stirring the cornbread batter. 

Watching the cornbread bake. 

All finished baking. Then we cut it into 6 large pieces and put it in the freezer. 

After teaching her how to "cut in" shortening (don't worry, I use organic palm oil shortening), I let her help press the crust into the pan. She thought that was the best thing ever, and actually did a really good job with it.  

Pumpkin pie all done. I'm not really sure why it turned out looking this way (Matt called it a giraffe pie), other than the fact that I let Gabriella add and stir all the ingredients so maybe the cinnamon didn't get mixed in right. At any rate, it sure tasted good. 

Saturday morning we puttered around the house and had some giggles. Then at noon we put in the turkey. 

Here it is all rubbed and ready to go in the oven. I rinsed it and then patted it dry. Next I rubbed on a homemade rub that I made with garlic, dried carrot, sage, rosemary, basil, thyme, salt and organic sugar. I rubbed it all over the outside, inside the body cavity and in between the skin and the meat on the breast. I covered it in aluminum foil after placing an orange sliced in half inside of it and 1/2 cup of water in the bottom of the pan. 

While the turkey was baking Gabriella got to stay up from nap and help with the rest of the side dishes. Cutting up the cornbread (for the stuffing)

Cutting squash

Helping peel the sweet potatoes

*While I was having to put down what I was chopping to help Gabriella, for the tenth time, it made me smile. Sure having your toddler "help" you do things generally makes for a lot of extra work for you, but I would have been so bored and lonely being in the kitchen by myself all day. I absolutely adore having my kids "help" me do things, even if it means that it takes longer, makes a bigger mess and doesn't turn out as well as if I had done it by myself. Because without them "helping"  me, there would have been less giggles, fewer memories and a perfect meal. I would go for a Giraffe Pie made with my 3 year old than a bakery quality pie on my own any day! 

Ahhhhh, organic turkey, perfectly cooked and out of the oven!

Helping carve the turkey

Snuggles with daddy while I finished up carving the turkey and making gravy. 

Here we go, dinner is ready to eat!

We took a quick trip to Walmart (hey, we were bored and the kids wanted to go, don't judge!) to score some Black Thursday deals and then headed home for Gabriella's giraffe pumpkin pie. It was delicious served with whipped coconut milk on the top!

Here is the Gluten Free Stuffing Recipe. It is amazing!! I found it on the internet last year (I can't remember what site) and tweaked it to fit our tastes. Hope you enjoy!! My pumpkin pie recipe (gluten and dairy free) can be found here . 

1 pan of cornbread (or a dozen cornbread muffins)

4-5 T extra virgin olive oil

1 cup diced celery

1 cup diced sweet or purple onion

2 large crisp apples, peeled, cored and diced

1 tsp dried or freshly diced thyme

1-2 tsp mild curry powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup fresh (or dried) chopped cranberries

1 cup diced pistachios

1 cup vegetable broth (I always use chicken)

2 T honey

Sea salt and ground pepper to taste

Bake cornbread, cut into 5 or 6 squares and freeze. I alwasy do this step the day/night before. 

Before making stuffing allow cornbread to partially thaw and then cut into cubes before completely thawed (so it doesn't crumble as much)

Toast cornbread cubes on a baking sheet for 20 minutes or so at 325F. Remove and let cool. Heat 2 T olive oil in a large deep skillet, stir in thyme, curry and cinnamon, add celery, onion and apples. Cook until softened. Remove from burner and let cool a bit before adding cranberries. 

Stir in toasted cornbread cubes and mix well, add the remaining olive oil and the broth. Stir gently to combine. Add more or less broth depending on if you prefer a soft or firmer stuffing. Spoon into a baking dish, cover and heat for 20-25 minutes, until heated throughout.