Yesterday’s Thanksgiving celebration was a very unique one. For both Bo, Meg, and I it was our first Thanksgiving without our parents, or in my case my parents or brother. Due to the cost of flights going home didn’t make sense this year as neither of us were sure of our work schedule until just this month. In addition, we’ll be spending the holidays together as a large group as both the Diamond and Rudolph family are celebrating in Vermont this year.

I would be lying if I said that our first Thanksgiving on our own wasn’t a tremendous success and pretty low stress.

Bo and I spent the morning in the kitchen together preparing each of our dishes that we’d decided on ahead of time thanks to Bon Appetit’s amazing Thanksgiving micro site and other recipes I’d previously pinned on Pintrest.

• Bon Appetit Simple Dressing
• Tom Colicchio’s Herb Butter Turkey
• Apple –Orange Cranberry Sauce from Williams Sonoma
• Healthier Sweet Potato Casserole

Meg showed up around 12:30 with our turkey and an arm full of pies. The turkey was in a bucket since it had been brining in her refrigerator. We were very thankful to have both our small refrigerator and her larger, full size refrigerator to use during the busy Thanksgiving prep time!

By 3pm, our table was set complete with our wedding china, silver, and crystal! It was such a treat to open everything and set the table using gifts that we haven’t enjoyed in 3 years! In retrospect, we have had many occasions when we could have used these and now realize that it’s well worth the effort!

Since we were only hosting five people, including ourselves, we were able to fit the place settings at one small table, as long as we set up a buffet on the counter for the food.

We spent the next few hours basting the turkey and sequencing things through the oven while enjoying each of the Friends Thanksgiving episodes! Meg had a great idea as this was the perfect way to kick back and relax together while laughing and sipping on wine!

By 6:30 it was time for appetizers, winter squash and onion confit with ricotta on toast and pears with Manchego cheese.

Our guests and good friends, Brad and Margaret brought the pear appetizer and a few bottles of wine and beer with them and were ready for a delicious evening!

At 7pm, the turkey was unveiled and was absolutely breath taking! Bo outdid himself and the turkey was moist on the inside, flavorful, and crisp on the outside. Brining a turkey makes such a difference!

After admiring the display of food we served ourselves and sat down for a meal filled with stories about each of our Thanksgiving memories and family traditions.

I served myself a bit of everything but was most excited for the dressing which I made from scratch for the first time yesterday! The large bread chunks and rich flavor had me after just one bite! Brad and Margaret’s collard greens were a new touch for us as neither Bo nor I have ever had these as part of a Thanksgiving meal but loved them! I can’t wait to get the recipe.

While our food settled, we chatted on the couch and sipped on cocktails, compliments of Brad and Margaret. Margaret has become known in our group of friends for her unique cocktails and last night didn’t disappoint! We sipped on pomegranate infused prosecco which was delicious!

Last but not least, we enjoyed dessert compliments of Meg. She made a pecan pie and chocolate pumpkin pie from scratch, both of which were enjoyed with homemade whip cream!

It was a wonderful evening which Bo and I will remember forever! We are so thankful for our friends and family, though last night was a special first for us.

What was your favorite Thanksgiving dish last night?