Thanksgiving Feast!

So my first Thanksgiving dinner! Well, actually my second being married but the first one I've cooked the dinner for! We had a friend from highschool, Eiliene, out in Calgary visiting so she and our friends Katherine and Josh and their cutey Memphis came over for dinner! I arrived home from Victoria late thursday night and spent all of friday cooking! Whew! My lovely husband did all of the shopping (according to the list) and so everything I needed was at my finger tips!

Here's my menu:

• Sausage Stuffing (as per David's request)
• Brussel Sprouts and Cheese Sauce (also David's request!)
• A HUGE 20lb Turkey!
• Steamed Carrots
• Mashed Potatoes
• A salad, courtesy of Katherine!
• Buns, courtesy Eiliene
• And an amazing Two Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie!

My first ever attempt at cheesesauce! The cheesy sprouts.

Here's the recipe for the sauce and sprouts!

Ingredients
1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk, warmed
1/4 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch cayenne
Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place Brussels sprouts in saucepan with enough water to cover. Add juice. Simmer, uncovered, 8 to 10 minutes, until tender. Drain.
Meanwhile, melt butter in small saucepan. Stir in flour; cook 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk; cook, whisking, until sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Stir in cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne.
Transfer Brussels sprouts to a 1-quart casserole. Pour sauce over top. Bake in for 20 minutes or until heated through.

From http://www.foodnetwork.com/

Notes: NOT CHEESY ENOUGH!! I put 1/2 cup grated cheese and it could have used more!

I have also discovered that http://www.kraft.com/ is an AMAZING website for recipes! I sure use capital letters a lot! But really, they're simple, fast, and don't use complex ingredients that you can never find in the grocery store!

The pumpkin cheesecake pie recipe was mostly from Kraft (mostly as in I modified it a bit, combined two recipes together). It was super duper uper good!

The pie, I really wish I had taken a picture before it got demolished!

The Recipe
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup plus 1 Tbsp. milk, divided
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
1 HONEY MAID Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.)
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

BEAT cream cheese, 1 Tbsp. milk and sugar in large bowl with whisk until blended. Stir in half the COOL WHIP. Spread into crust.
WHISK remaining milk, pumpkin, pudding mixes and spices 2 min. (Mixture will be thick.) Spread over cream cheese layer.
REFRIGERATE 4 hours or until set. Top with remaining COOL WHIP just before serving
Notes:

I used Peak Freans Bran cookies as a 'sensible solution' crust, about 20 cookies with 1/4 melted maragrine as a crust. I also used 95% less fat cool whip, and 90% less fat cream cheese, still tasted amazing, you couldn't even tell! You don't have to use the brand name stuff either, I got everything no-name.

David's lunch the next day. Leftovers!

Well, that was our dinner, I wish I had taken more pictures!