Thanksgiving planning....ALREADY?!?

Is Thanksgiving really upon us already? Halloween hasn't even come and gone and here I am planning turkey day. I guess the older you get, the more planning that's required to get people together. This will be my first year actually hosting a Thanksgiving dinner. It's always been at my mom's house where she cooks enough to feed all the neighbors on her block and then some. I finally got my first home and I want to do a simple, elegant Martha...I mean, Myrna Stewart holiday. Well, of course it will have to have my personal twist and flare, but I want it to be memorable.

My Mom is the Queen of Thanksgiving. Queen to all nations because she tries to cater to everyone in our entire family, co-workers, nieces, sisters, brother-in-laws, cousins and probably random people she met at church. There is Filipino fare, Spanish touches, Tex-Mex delights and then the classic "American" dishes. It's enough to make me reach for a bottle of Pepto-Bismol. Unless your stomach is as big as my Mom's heart, there is no way is Croatia that anyone could put a dent in her over 20 dishes. And if you did, you can pretty much forget that Thanksgiving nap. You'll be crunched over with a stomach ache from mixing all those different flavor profiles together.

So what to do? I want to host a smaller, intimate Thanksgiving with 7 AMAZING dishes and ones that pair nicely with one another. The only one I need to please is myself. Since I have such a picky pallet anyway, I know it will be delicious. I plan on doing typical American classics with a twist. I can't post my menu just yet because I want it to be surprise, but I will post pics afterwards! I want my Mom to rest and relax and leave this turkey day to the pro. Even though I went to culinary school, work as a chef professionally and teach people how to cook, she still thinks she knows best. In many ways she does, but not when it come to a stress-free, simple but refined menu. I will have to school her! But what am I talking about? Thanksgiving is 2 months away!


p.s. isn't pugs as a pilgrim the CUTEST thing you've seen all day?!