Our Cozy Thanksgiving Dinner with the Family | 2024

We had the coziest Thanksgiving dinner last night with family. Growing up, we always did dinner in the early afternoon, but it often felt so rushed—scrambling to get everything cooked and on the table. Then, after eating, we’d just sit around the rest of the day feeling stuffed.

This year, I decided to switch things up with a candlelit dinner and gorgeous fall table decor. It was so much more relaxed, and I had so much fun styling the table for our family. I spent the whole day in the kitchen cooking with my brother, instead of rushing to prep everything the night before or early that morning. It ended up being such a fun, laid-back day doing what I love most—cooking and baking! I think I’ll stick to the dinner theme from now on! 

After dinner, we all sat around enjoying dessert and watching football games by the fireplace.I wanted to share some photos of our Thanksgiving before I jump into Christmas mode starting TOMORROW! We’re putting up the Christmas lights on the house, and this year, we’re even going with colorful lights instead of white! So, this will officially be my last fall post of the season. 🙂

I always love looking back at past photos from Thanksgivings as inspiration for the next year. Plus, there are some recipes I’ll be taking from our Thanksgiving dinner and making them again throughout the Christmas season. I hope you all had an amazing holiday, and I hope you enjoy these photos from our family’s Thanksgiving.The day before Thanksgiving, my toddler and I made cookie dough and sourdough dinner roll dough together! This little boy absolutely LOVES being in the kitchen. It can get a bit chaotic sometimes—like when he turns on the mixer before it’s ready or accidentally dumps flour all over himself—but those are the silly memories I’ll never forget.

If I can teach him to love the kitchen now, I know he’ll be making amazing meals for himself one day. As soon as he spots my mixer, he lights up and says, “Me help, Mama!!!” And, of course, I always let him help! ❤️

On Thanksgiving morning, starting bright and early around 6 a.m., I popped the pumpkin olive oil cake into the oven and got to work on the apple pies. Once those were finished, I moved on to making the cranberry sauce and prepping all the vegetables, potatoes, and boiling the eggs for deviled eggs.

---

---

Next up was punching down my sourdough roll dough and shaping the dinner rolls so they could rise. With the chilly Thanksgiving weather, I gave the rolls extra time to rise—and I’m so glad I did! Everything came together perfectly.

My brother and I made the best deviled eggs ever this Thanksgiving! I can’t get over how good they turned out, and I’m already planning to make another batch this week because I need more.

I made a batch of my butternut squash deviled eggs, and we also tried a similar version without the squash—using sweet and spicy jalapeños instead of pickles—and it was a total game-changer. The spice was mild, but that sweet jalapeño flavor was completely addictive. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so many deviled eggs in my life! Everyone was crowded around the kitchen, trying to grab the last ones before dinner even ended.

The morning before Thanksgiving, my brother and I headed to my parents’ house with our turkey to brine it, since I didn’t have enough space in my fridge. We wanted the turkey to brine for at least 30+ hours. After getting the turkey settled in the brine, we headed up the road to frisbee golf for five hours, which, looking back, was definitely a mistake! I was so sore, and spending 14+ hours cooking in the kitchen with a sore frisbee golf arm was not ideal. But, I can always count on a frisbee golf day whenever my brother visits. To be honest, I kind of love it, and I’m not so terrible at it! 

My parents brought the turkey over the next morning, and since it was a 22-pound bird, we knew it would need at least five hours in the oven. We washed and dried it, smothered it in homemade herb butter, seasoned it generously, and stuffed it with oranges and even more butter. Then, we covered it up, cooked it at 500°F for 30 minutes, reduced the heat to 375°F, and let it cook for another 4 1/2 hours. When it was done, it was absolutely mouthwateringly juicy! This was one of the best turkeys i’ve ever had. I did it different than previous years since my brother and I were working as a team, and I learned so much! I’ll make sure to get our turkey recipe up before next thanksgiving so you can try out our cooking method!

Once the rolls had risen, I popped them in the fridge to slow down the proofing process so they wouldn’t overproof. I will be adding new baking notes to the dinner roll blog post! I baked them just before it was time to eat. After the turkey came out, we added the sweet potatoes, Yukon potatoes, roasted vegetables (squash, zucchini, carrots), sweet potato casserole, and stuffing into the oven.

I cooked the green beans in a frying pan with olive oil and sea salt, warmed up the gravy, and my dad got to work slicing up the turkey for us. It was all coming together perfectly!

I’m apologizing in advance for the number of photos you’re about to see of this pumpkin olive oil cake with cream cheese buttercream frosting, but you know how much I love making cakes and photographing them! Remember my almond cranberry cake? I think I spent an hour photographing it after I frosted it! This cake, decorated with candied oranges, cranberries, rosemary, thyme, and a dusting of powdered sugar, was the star of the dessert table. I also used gluten-free flour for both the pie and this recipe so that I could enjoy it, too!

I made a gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free apple pie for dessert, and everyone loved it! The best part? They didn’t even know I swapped out the sugar for maple syrup! It was a hit, and I felt so good about serving something everyone could enjoy.

For the desserts this year, I kept it simple since in past years, I always made way too much! Last year, I ended up making boxes of Little Brittle, and we had over 10 desserts to dig into. I really enjoyed the simplicity of this year’s spread. It felt just right, and everyone still got to enjoy a sweet treat without going overboard! And for any of the chocolate for dessert lovers, I had those ooey gooey chocolate chip cookies out as well. I’ll be sharing that cookie recipe this week, and those are the cookies I made and sold out of at every single Little Brittle market!

I love a good mocktail, and apparently, so does my son because he kept grabbing them off the table and chugging them! He’d stick his little straw in, and I’d have to chase him to get it back. It was so funny! This mocktail had Fever Tree ginger beer, freshly squeezed orange juice, and cranberry sparkling water, topped with cranberries and oranges. Perfectly festive and a hit with both the adults and my little guy!

We do everything buffet style since there is no room on the dining table.

Here are some of the items on my dinner table:

• Rustic red runner
• Gold-trimmed glasses
• Seagrass glasses
• White speckled plates
• Black Plaid Napkins
• Wooden napkin rings
• Gold candle holders
• Rust-colored candle holders
• Velvet pumpkins
• Sparkly table garland
• Chargers
• Seagrass Placemats
• Olive Green Tapers
• Prelit Winter Garland

I LOVED how cozy and warm this table came together. I cannot wait to change it up for Christmas next month!

14 hours of cooking and it was time to eat!

And just like that famous meme going around, my child only ate the dinner rolls and a Siggi’s yogurt packet for dinner. 😂 Classic toddler move!

After my dad and I cleaned up the kitchen and packed everything up, I finally laid on the living room floor with my dessert and relaxed for the first time all day! I love hosting and cooking, it’s like my Super Bowl. There’s nothing like that feeling of everything coming together after a long day in the kitchen!

I didn’t do any Black Friday shopping, but I plan on taking advantage of all the Monday sales! I’ll share some things I’m getting, so make sure to follow me on Instagram!

I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving, and get ready for some Christmas content coming your way soon!!

Questions for You!

1. Did you host or attend Thanksgiving this year?
2. What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?
3. Did you snag any Black Friday deals?