Happy Thanksgiving, part 2

Thanksgiving dinner was for 4 people, hubby and me as well as a couple we had invited. Everything was pretty on course by the time they arrived - everything cooked and in the fridge, and the bird in the oven already. I had put the finger food in the little bar-like structure that separates the kitchen from the living room

Yellow corn tortilla chips with bean dip

Bagel crisps with herb cream cheese

Then our guests arrived and brought a metric ton of additional finger foods, desserts and drinks! Two trays of cheeses, crackers, olives and fruit (including prosciutto and parmesan rolls, cheese with cranberries, cheddars, and a nut covered cheese ball.. yum!), 4 different desserts (pumpkin pie, apple pie, peach pastry and two types of tartlets, AND neapolitan ice cream AND cool whip!) and three bottles of spanish wine. I particularly enjoyed the white one.

I didn't take any pics of the food that was brought in as we quickly sat down with drinks and chatting, and once we had a couple each, we played Apples to Apples. It was hilarious, and I managed to win. Yay!

Then the bird was ready, and it came out of the oven and hubby started carving it on the spot. We don't have a huge dining table so we put the food buffet style:

Mad carving skillz.

Top: Mash potatoes, corn bread stuffing, beet salad
Bottom: Bourbon black eyed peas, southwestern corn, gravies (one plain, one bell-pepper infused)

All the food was delicious, I got compliments on the mash potatoes and felt a little embarrassed to admit that it started with a couple of Steam-n-Mash microwave bags, however, it was just to eliminate the process of cutting and boiling the potatoes ;) Thinking some more about it, I think they turned out so good because the bags tell you exactly how much milk and butter to use, so the texture is foolproof - in addition, I used whole milk and butter for them - the diet could wait till the next day!

Happily stuffed with everything, we then watched a couple of comedies on the TV and then sent our guests home with at least 3 tupperware containers full of leftovers. Our fridge is still full of them though. I'm sending some of the desserts to the sports bar tonight, I think!

All and all, I believe this was the best Thanksgiving I had.