Thanksgiving 2009

I, like so many of you, love Thanksgiving for several reasons.  There is something so joyful in knowing that it's one of the few holidays that everyone in America celebrates - I love the feeling of universal love and happiness that the day brings.  


I spent the long weekend doing all of the things that I love: spending time with family, running, cooking, and hosting friends for a football party Saturday night.  Almost all of my best friends were in town visiting their families and we had so much fun seeing each other and reverting back to our college days.


Thursday morning started out with what has become a Thanksgiving tradition (ok, this was only the second time): the Atlanta Half Marathon!  It was a perfect morning for running - the weather was very cool but not too cold.  There were 10,000 runners - I am so inspired by all of the runners in Atlanta who want to get up on a holiday and run 13.1 miles (or some who are willing to do 26.2 - I haven't gotten there yet!).   John and I beat our time from last year by 5 minutes and finished in 1:48:33!  I was sore for DAYS but it was worth it.  This is us with our friends Bridgette and Chris after the race.

Such a feeling of accomplishment! 

From there, John and I ran over to his mom's house where we had appetizers with 14 of his family members.  I made homemade cheese straws (I'll post the recipe soon):

After a couple of hours of munching, drinking, and chatting, we moved on up the road to Alpharetta to spend the rest of the day with my parents.  My sister stayed in Raleigh this year and entertained some guests in her home with her fiance, and my brother is serving in Afghanistan, so it was just the four of us - definitely the smallest Thanksgiving I've had in a long time!  It was nice and quiet and we had a great time eating, watching football, and talking.  The food was, as usual, fantastic - my parents are excellent cooks!  My mom roasted the turkey in the oven and my dad grilled a breast on the Big Green Egg.  

My contribution was a spinach, pear and blue cheese salad and a slight variation of Martha's pumpkin pie!

This pie was my first shot at making a pumpkin pie and turned out fantastic!  I didn't make the crust (this is next on my holiday check list, I promise!).

Ingredients:

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin puree

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups evaporated milk

1 premade frozen "deep dish" pie crust (I used Pillsbury)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a large bowl mix the sugar, cornstarch, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pumpkin puree, and eggs.  Add evaporated milk, and combine.  Fill pie crut with the pumpkin mixture.  Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for 45 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.

I made this the day before and cooled completely before putting in the fridge.  It was great the second day - we served it with homemade whipped cream (beat heavy cream until fluffy and add in lots of sugar right before serving).  

I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving and spent the long weekend doing what you love. Happy Holidays!