Happy almost holiday everyone!  It’s turning out to be a low-key occasion over here.  Some of our plans have changed, and it now appears that I will be cooking a (very small!) Thanksgiving at our house.  It will probably just be John and I, but I’m excited to put my first ever Thanksgiving meal on the table!

I know I mentioned that, in addition to celebrating my sister’s birthday, I went home last weekend to have an early Thanksgiving meal with my family.  I was thankful for the opportunity to see everyone, and the food was ridiculously wonderful.  I thought it would be fun to show you guys exactly what was present on our holiday table in honor of What I Ate  Wednesday.  Head over to Jen’s blog to see more great submissions this week.  I’m sure I’m not the only posting about Thanksgiving food!

My sister and I started the day off with a wonderful 4 mile walk around my dad’s neighborhood.  It was great to have the one on one time with her, and by the time we got our exercise in and talked our heads off, I was starving!  I bet you’ll never guess what I decided to have for breakfast.

Hey, I’m a girl who knows what she likes.  This bowl of oatmeal was special because it included one of the Honeycrisp apples I bought at the Farmer’s Market the day before.  I’m fairly certain that it was my first time trying a Honeycrisp and wow do I have a new favorite apple!  They were so delicious, and I’m very sad I finished my last one up today.

Thanksgiving dinner was ready about 2, and the smells emanating from the kitchen all morning made me more than ready to eat at that point.  I managed to snap a few pictures before everyone dug in.

This is the sweet potato casserole I mentioned the other day.  I found this recipe last year, and it has quickly become my new favorite holiday food. The topping turned out a little funny, but I think I solved the problem and it was delicious, regardless. For those of you who asked, it’s a Pioneer Woman recipe that you can find here.  I make a few modifications to make it slightly more healthy, but if you’re not concerned about it, then this works perfectly as is.

My sister wanted to include a recipe that my mom has made for years.  The recipe is a newspaper clipping that she found years ago, and it has become a huge tradition in our family.  It’s a broccoli, cheese, and rice casserole, and it’s so good.  If you guys are interested, perhaps I can get mom to let me share the recipe before Christmas rolls around .

Here’s what my plate ended up looking like.  You’ll noticed that, for me, the side dishes are the stars of the show.  I like both turkey and ham, but I would forgo either one to load up on the rest of the meal!

And now for everyone’s favorite part-dessert!  We didn’t have too many desserts on the table this year, but the two that were present were spectacular.  My dad made an apple cheesecake per a special birthday request from my sister.  I just grab a bite of this one off Caite’s plate, and, as I’m thinking about it now, I wish I would’ve had a whole piece!  My mind, however, was completely on banana pudding.

My step-mom makes the best banana pudding I have ever tasted.  She always makes it for special occasions, and I would pick this over traditional pie any day.

After that meal, I was stuffed for the remainder of the day.  Of course, I may have managed to have a small portion of sweet potato casserole after we got back from the movies later in the evening!

For those of you traveling today, I wish you safe and speedy travels.  I hope you all have a wonderful day filled with family, friends, and great food!

Do you like ham or turkey?  Ever had a Honeycrisp apple?