My First Dinner Party

What is the best thing about Thanksgiving?....besides the paid days off of work?...besides spending time with the family?...besides crazy early shopping the next morning? Guessed it yet? While all of those things make Thanksgiving a wonderful holiday, the best thing I can think of is the leftover goodness. Unless, you are not the one to do the cooking. Then it is one day of yummy goodness, and then back to your own skimpy cooking. That is why I came up with this ingenious plan. Why not cook my own "Thanksgiving Goodness Dinner"? So I did. November 2007 became the month that I cooked my FIRST turkey.

Boy is it a process.

The Before

The After

I had the house to myself, and was excited for my first Dinner Party to be a success. I had Christmas carols playing in the background, holiday lights twinkling their hearts out, and a table all set for a frolicking time.

I pulled out all the stops by finally unpacking my own dishes and silverware. We toasted the holiday by using my snowman goblets for the first time this season.

Some of the guests were unsure

what to make of the napkin rings...

We enjoyed the food that we all brought and each other's company.

Each time I cook for others, I like to try out at least one new recipe. This year that recipe was the Herb and Cheese Bubble Loaf, from Betty Crocker. It was a winner!

P.S. Do you let the girls-who brought the Green Bean Casserole using 6 cans of green beans for 5 people-near the pumpkin pie? I guess I should have thought that through a bit more...

Thoughts from the Cook

The Consensus; I would definitely do this again. But if you ever find yourself on a guest list to one of my Fabulous Dinner Parties, it would be a good idea to ask some of the veterans how they felt about it.