This Thanksgiving was truly perfect in so many ways. This was the first thanksgiving, in about 10 years, that we have shared with my side of the family and a plethora of cousins. I really didn’t have to slave in the kitchen baking and cooking for the feast, but instead got to enjoy my sister-in-law Stephanie’s perfectly cooked, homemade Thanksgiving dinner. Every dish she prepares is so mouth watering, you eat until you can’t handle it. Actually for the past 10 years, I’ve been cooking and using her recipes for Thanksgiving, but they never come out as perfect as hers. My brother Aaron smoked the turkey this year and it came out so tender, moist and juicy. Then to top off all this perfectness, I got to decorate my brother and sister-in-law Carolyn’s barn for the Thanksgiving feast. It just felt so ideal to have it out in their adorable barn. It was an organic, rustic setting that we decorated elegantly with Christmas lights and gorgeous gold-rimmed china plate settings and wine goblets. I couldn’t have done it without my man helpers–my hubby and brothers.
The barn was decorated with items that were used and owned by someone. Stephanie provided the gorgeous gold-rimmed china and silverware. I marveled over its beauty. She had every piece to the set. It was flawless and so elegant. We had the older kids shine and polish the silverware and press the linens. It reminded me of a true old-fashioned Thanksgiving. The vintage blue glass jars were Carolyn’s. The linens were mine. All the furniture was Carolyn’s that we just pulled in from the house. The chandelier was the family’s friend. My niece Sabrina helped me arrange the farmer’s market flowers of sunflowers, daisy, roses, berries and blue thistles.
There was a built-in worker table in the barn that we used to serve the food. It was right height and width, and we covered it with all the yummy food. My adorable niece Sabrina was the best helper, and she wrote up the large chalkboard menu.
