Thanksgiving Dinner--A little early!

Well, last year we tried something new...we went to Cracker Barrel for Thanksgiving Dinner. Normally we have always gotten together with my family and Frank's family (yes, all of us together--we actually all get along well enough to have dinner together!) and had the traditional Thanksgiving meal with each of us contributing something. But for some reason we changed the tradition last year. Well, we went about 4:00 in the afternoon and just as they seated us, they informed us that they had run out of turkey and dressing. What???!!!! Ran out???? On Thanksgiving??? So they offered free pumpkin pie to make up for it. Well, I wasn't to thrilled about it, but stayed anyway. My parents wanted their turkey and dressing and so did Conner, so they left and went to another restaurant. So Thanksgiving didn't turn out like we really like it. Somehow the decision got made to go to Cracker Barrel again this year, but we are going around 11:00 instead. I figure that they should have turkey and dressing still available at that time. However, my sweet, quiet husband, didn't speak up until the other day to let me know that he didn't really like this decision that we had made. He wanted to have Thanksgiving dinner at home they way we have always done it. Of course it is really a little late in the game to change our plans now, so I decided to "The Meal" myself. This is a first for me. I usually bring 3-4 items, but my mother always does the turkey and dressing. So I attempted it! I bought a turkey breast (instead of the whole turkey) and my mother came over yesterday and taught me how to do the turkey and how to make the dressing. I made mac-n-cheese, green beans, broccoli cheese casserole, pink cherry salad, and rolls to top it off. For dessert I made a pumpkin pie (a diabetic one at that!!) and chocolate chip cookies for the kids. Normally we do have a lot more when it is all of bringing items, but these were the foods that Frank requested. I must say he was so sweet about it and thanked me several times for making the meal just for him.

I will come back and add the recipes for several of the items tomorrow (probably).