Cannot wait for Thanksgiving

Even though this year we will not be spending it with family, it will be just us here at home and a family friends of our, originally from the NE. Luckily the very next day we will have an amazing couple friends of ours joining us too. She has been one of my very best friends since Iowa. We talk almost daily and I enjoy reading her stories as she is a great writer. Enjoy her stories her her blog.

So going back to Thanksgiving. Every year I try different recipes, different combinations. As of now this is the menu which is yet to be finalized:

• Organic turkey from a local farm that we will be leaving in a brine for 24 hours (water, salt, molasses, honey, olive oil, soy sauce, lemon slices, LOTS of garlic, chillie peppers, peppercorn, bay leaves, dry thyme and onions). We will be smoking the bird
• Mashed potatoes with lots of garlic, bacon pieces, egg yolks and cheese (am thinking in trying it out with a Portuguese cheese called Queijo da Ilha), then just before serving broiling it for a little while
• Sweet potatoes (still have to figure out how I will prepare them)
• Green beans sauteed in garlic with shitake mushrooms
• Pumpkin bars (recipe from another dear friend from Iowa)

I will be posting all these recipes within these coming weeks and adding photos as we will be preparing these meals.