Thanksgiving 4 Week Countdown: Week 2

With one more week to go...we'll be focusing on everyone in my familys' favorite part of the Thanksgiving festivities: Games and Dessert

Dessert

I touched on dessert a little bit during week 4 but let's get up close and personal with the sweet treats that signal the end of the meal....and an onset of a sugar coma for the next three hours.

I am quite fond of pie.  Pie is a comfort food (at least to me).  It is a sign of victory...a successfully grown crop, tossed with some sugar and a few pinches of spice all wrapped in a tender golden crust.  My mom is an excellent pie maker.  Everything is homemade and seasonal.  I have to give her credit for even making homemade crust...I will admit I often buy the crust but do suffer a guilty conscience every time. 

Apple pie is my favorite closely followed by the sweet custard of pumpkin pie.  However in an effort to keep things fresh I will be making a Cranberry Walnut Pie this year.  It is also not uncommon for my Mom to make a surprise lemon meringue pie...with mile high meringue....fingers crossed!  

If you are feeling incredibly ambition and in the spirit of new things as well as self gifting (I am a big self gifter)....a worth while purchase would be the Hoosier Mama Pie Cookbook.  I came across the book on Serious Eats which is a site I commonly check for recipes and trends.  Hoosier Mama Pies was a vendor that I regularly visited at the Green City Farmers' Market on Clark Street in Chicago.  Yes, I lived in Chicago for exactly 364 days.  Fortunately for my waistline they had "mini" pies so I wasn't forced to buy a giant pie for my party of one.  They were excellent...so I can only imagine their cookbook is just as grand.  I mean how delightful to surprise guests with a delicate Sugar Cream pie from your new cookbook (I also suffer from a cookbook addiction).  Or try out the Apple Pie in the link I provided above.

If you really want to walk on the wild side here is a great link.... 25 Unexpected Thanksgiving Desserts (these are all non pie)

Here's some additional A+ options:
Sweet Potato Meringue Tart
Apple Slab Pie
Chocolate Chess Pie
Pumpkin Coconut Pie
Cranberry Apple Tart

Games

Games?

My cousin who lives in Manhattan told me how she shared with her friends that we play games at Thanksgiving dinner....they were so envious.  How fun that sounds...everyone loves games.  Everyone especially loves games when prizes are involved.  Inexpensive, completely random gifts.  All wrapped and tied with a bow.  Think Kleenex, chocolates, batteries, puzzles, toothbrush, pretzels, etc.

Cousin Molly, who is actually my Grandpop's cousin is known as the MVP of our family (I am an MVP in training).  She actually started the game thing and now it's something we can't go with out.  Each year she hand makes bingo boards and brings sheets of brain teasers and trivia.

 

The festive bingo board is easy and you can customize to your group.  The idea of having games also allows you to:
A. Sober up
and
B. digest in between the meal and dessert 

Even though we do bingo and various trivia I have found a few other ideas for you to try this year...perhaps create a new tradition.  If you're already a game family...please share!

Free Printable Trivia
Turkey Bowling
Grab Some Nerf Guns and Tally Those Points (I love this idea!)

I am all about making every moment count...making each gathering a memory. With the count down on to the day we stop and say Thank You to each other and God, I hope you will consider how to make the day the most special.