The First Snacksgiving

So yesterday my family celebrated it's first Snacksgiving. Because it was just going to be the Golden Girls for the holiday, I didn't want to do the whole turkey thing. So instead of making one giant meal to consume (and have tons of leftovers) we decided to eat all day long.

First, wardrobe. I had a new pair of lounging pants that were all fleecey and cozy. (They also shed all over the house, but they were cute and comfortable while they did it.) I baked yeast cinnamon rolls and we settled in to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and read the Black Friday ads from the paper. This was the first year in a long, long time, that I actually sat down to watch the parade. I'm usually stuffing the turkey or, when The Graminator was living at her house, driving to her place to put the turkey in her oven. So it was nice to watch the NBC smug-a-thon and do running commentary. I particularly enjoyed John Stamos' performance from "Bye, Bye Birdie".

After the parade is the National Dog Show, which we love. John O'Hurley isn't quite as funny a commentator as the one in the movie "Best in Show" but he's still better than the Westminster guy. We were rooting for the Scottie, and she won. During the dog show we enjoyed the 'cheese and cracker' course of Snacksgiving. I made our Thanksgiving staple, which is homemade cranberry sauce over cream cheese served with Ritz crackers (I know it sounds weird but it's actually really good, and so addicting. Plus the cranberry sauce I made this year turned out extra good.) I also made spinach artichoke dip which we ate with flatbread crackers. Yum.

It was two o'clock when the dog show ended and The Graminator wanted a nap. Mom and I decided that a nap sounded good to us too, so we each headed off to our rooms for a little snooze as well. Our nap was interrupted by my bother calling to say that they made it to Modesto okay. Even with the interruption, we agreed that it was a lovely nap, so very indulgent and decadent.

After the nap, we cleaned up the kitchen and I started making the 'hot snacks' portion of the day. I made tenderloin of beef crostini with blue cheese and caramelized onions. (In the interest of full disclosure, while technically we didn't have a holiday 'meal', on Wednesday I did make an herb crusted beef tenderloin, twice baked potatoes and haricot vert. I used the leftovers from that for the crostini. I did all of the prep cooking on Wednesday so that Snacksgiving would be as easy as possible.) I also made some crab cakes and supplemented with mushroom turnovers and mini cheese souffles from Trader Joes. Oh, and deviled eggs, you can't have Snacksgiving without deviled eggs. We consumed that while watching the movie "Almost Famous" which is my favorite Cameron Crowe film and I thought my mom would enjoy the period piece featuring her favorite style of music.

After the movie, we cleaned up the kitchen (again, cleaning was minimal, mostly plates and utensils, no pans to soak or scrub.) we watched the CBS Monday sitcoms, which I DVR during the "Dancing with the Stars" season and enjoyed the 'sweets' portion of Snacksgiving. I made mini pecan pies in phyllo crusts and a pumpkin custard (okay, it was crustless pumpkin pie.) That way we had a taste of the holiday in mini-portion size.

My favorite part of Snacksgiving? The complete lack of stress. It was such a relaxing day (did I mention the Winter Sangria we drank starting with the "hot snacks' course?) No fuss, no muss, just good food, good conversation and good entertainment. Of course we missed the company of our larger family, but without them here, this was definitely the way to go. And because we ate small snack courses throughout the day, we never had that "oh my god, I'm so stuffed, I ate five carb dishes together" feeling.

I know what you are thinking, "But Shae, you don't get any delicious leftover turkey sandwiches". Well, we have that covered too. Today, after my mom gets off work, she's going to stop at Capriotti's and pick up a Bobbie. For those of you not from Delaware or Las Vegas, Capriotti's is a sub sandwich shop that makes their own turkey and roast beef (not sliced sandwich meat, but the real home roasted kind) and one of their signature sandwiches is the "Bobbie", which is turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and mayo on a roll. Yup, it's basically Thanksgiving on a bun. So tonight for dinner we are having 'leftover' turkey sandwiches without having to make the turkey. Smart, huh? The best of both worlds.

Whether you celebrated Thanksgiving, Snacksgiving or something else entirely, I hope, Loyal Readers, that you are as blessed as I am to have such wonderful family and friends. I am thankful for you. And deviled eggs. But mostly you.