It started with the pear pomegranate crisp (inspired by Grace)

and then we swung into action. Food had been prepped over the last couple of days, so today was the dance of bringing it all to the table.

Jeff basted the ham in honey and orange juice until it was mahogany.

The dressing was made because dressing doesn't need turkey. Our recipe has sausage and apples and dried cranberries. I made approximately five times as much as we needed. Hello, lunch for the next week.
Lindsay developed a sudden hankering for deviled eggs, so she found a recipe and made them all herself. People, this is the girl who thinks that if there is no packaged food in the house then there is no food in the house. Maybe there's hope for her after all.

And we sat down to a feast. We didn't do a fancy table or match all of the dishes. It was just the five of us gathering together as a family and being grateful that above all else, we have each other.

Oh, and we were grateful for pie. Lots of pie. Lindsay and a friend made these two pies yesterday. She made them from a pumpkin. Not from a can. Not from Costco. I'd think this wasn't even my kid if not for the fact that she asked me to do her laundry for her. But still, major props for making pies that were delicious.

also in the pie lineup was a sweet potato buttermilk pie. It was light and tangy and delicious. I did add some meyer lemon juice to the filling, which made it quite tangy. I'd probably reduce the amount of juice but not leave it out. It will make a delicious breakfast tomorrow.

Along with this. Gingerbread, apples, caramel. How could you go wrong? I was napping when Jeff took it out of the oven for me, so by the time I flipped it over, the caramel had soaked into the cake, making all of it gooey and delicious. I'll be making this one again and again and again.
We brought the desserts to a neighbor's house and we had a lovely gathering of friends for pie and cake and play and talk. We weren't able to spend Thanksgiving with family this year, so having this time with people who mean so much to us was really special. Life would be much more empty here without them, and I'm thankful every day to call them our friends.
At the end, Gunnar had to shove away his dessert plate after six - count them - six pieces of pie. He had been bested by the pie at last. Until next year.