I give thanks for kitchen tools and butter…

…Because apparently those are the secrets to doing your own Thanksgiving!  This year my new hubby and I decided to stay in Brooklyn and host our very first Thanksgiving with wonderful friends and family.  I was determined to make as much as possible and to be the most able hostess, and make our home look picture perfect!  After all, when you’re beginning your own event planning business you should be able to host your own small dinner party as well, right?

But back to the tools and the butter….Butter is in just about EVERYTHING!  Milk makes quite the appearance at Thanksgiving as well.  And armed with my dairy aid pills, I was ready!  If you can’t let loose and eat whatever you want on Thanksgiving, what’s the point?  Now because we were just married a couple of months ago we suddenly have all of these amazing tools that make your life so much easier when preparing food!  The Kitchen Aid mixer….Beautiful!  And then there’s the Cuisinart Smart Stick which comes with a blender and a food chopper (and others), it’s what I call a time saver and brilliant!

I did my best in adding hints of sustainability to our Thanksgiving as well.  Sure there are those things that are just Thanksgiving Day staples, like jellied cranberry sauce and crescent rolls, that I had to make sure made their way to the table.  But our potatoes and sweet potatoes  and onions were from a local farmer’s market and our apples that went into the Apple Cobbler (along with the butter of course) were from Red Jacket Orchards from upstate (a staple of the Union Square farmer’s market).

The menu was great and mostly my mom’s (Thanks, Mom).  Christina, my sister-in-law and lover of cooking and baking, made several pies, provided the cheese platter and was an integral part of our mashed potatoes.  The images above show all of the other side dishes that I made, including stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin gingerbread trifle, and apple cobbler!  I have never made this much food in less than 24 hours ever before!  And it was tasty!  I did however cheat on the turkey…that was pre-seasoned and from Whole Foods. 

So for all of those people out there who think that doing your own Thanksgiving is completely daunting and overwhelming….well, you’re kind of right.  But it’s so much fun and so rewarding as well!  Just get yourself some fantastic kitchen tools and plenty of butter and you’re set.  And I only cut myself once!  Success!!