The important stuff #thanksgiving #onthetable #nom

Whew. What a busy, fun, delightful weekend. I love Thanksgiving. It was never a huge holiday for us growing up but a fun one surrounded by family and listening to old stories. This year, our first Thanksgiving in Maryland, my parents sort of announced they were coming to us for Thanksgiving. They told us back in June, so we had plenty of warning. Plus, my parents and brother and sister are amazing and I’m always happy to spend time with them. Although, they did show up with ten bottles of wine and by Wednesday we’re asking if I thought there was enough left for Thanksgiving. Read into that what you may.

996975_10102239635244864_334250961_nIt was the first time Nate and I had hosted Thanksgiving. So, we were a bit nervous. A flurry of activity led up to the visit including trying to rid the house of as much dog hair as possible, making sure we had enough dishes for everyone, and of course coming up with a Thanksgiving menu.

Luckily, we had a ton of ideas for Thanksgiving food since I was working on a story for PBS NewsHour on having a local food Thanksgiving complete with regional recipes featuring local foods.
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We had an almost locavore Thanksgiving. We bought a turkey from a Maryland farm, had potatoes and corn from local sources, had local cheese with our smoked salmon and cheese board and the vegetables in the salad were locally. The desserts-Smith Island Cake, the state dessert of Maryland, and the homemade apple pie were local. However, we didn’t have local crab meat. I know we’re in Maryland right? But Nate’s from Washington and they always had crab meat in their Thanksgiving salad and smoked salmon as an appetizer. We also added French macrons to the dessert menu, which while from a local store, were doubtfully local. All in all though we a Maryland almost locavore Thanksgiving and it was delicious.
Now, it’s time to start thinking about the holidays.