Our Healthified Thanksgiving Feasties

We had an incredible Thanksgiving down in Springfield with Neil’s family. Three wonderful days in the country with little connection to the outside world. Even though we are active bloggers, we value the precious little time we get off  and really took the holiday as a time-out for ourselves. We made no new blog posts, took no work with us, and instead pooled our hours into some much needed self-indulgence. We read books, watched movies, played video games and spent hours warming couches and cuddling with Clive and the cats. We also walked the many trails Neil’s dad has made on the property. So while you didn’t see any last-minute Thanksgiving food posts or some early Christmas cookies out of us, know that we are refreshed and ready to hit December running!

And now, on to our holiday! We had an awesome feast, all healthy recipes we kind of made up as we went along. The turkey was local, organic  and free-range that Neil’s mom got from someone who raises them, and it was perfectly smoked by Neil’s brother Ben. We had tons of sides and lots of fresh fruits and veggies to snack on. A perfect feast with a little something for everyone.

Neil’s cousin Austin made his first latticed Apple Pie for Thanksgiving!

It’s a skill every teenage boy should master don’t you think?

Ladies, Austin is single and can lattice!

A close-up just in case you weren’t already convinced.

Deb’s baked sweet potato balls. I’m making them this weekend to share with you!

My cranberry-orange sauce.

I love watching cranberries pop!

Working on my cranberry-artichoke stuffing…

Our Thanksgiving Turkey, perfectly smoked by Neil’s brother Ben.

Neil’s Red Wine Gravy, perfect as always!

My corn and herbed mashed red potatoes, carefully atop every black-Friday ad.

Deb’s cayenne and smoked paprika deviled eggs, Neil’s favorite.

The guts of my cranberry-artichoke stuffing.

Sliced Turkey.

Fresh cold weather garden slaw. I just love the color.

The finished cranberry-artichoke stuffing.

Deb’s all-veggie stuffing. Mine had chicken stock.

Freshly washed green beans in an antique collander.

Neil’s mom does the snapping because she does it lightning fast.

Fresh veggies for snacking.

My heaping plate. Hey, it only happens once a year!

Neil’s brother Ben ate the leg. It looked so funny on the plate I had to take a picture! I was actually kind of jealous, it looked really good.

The required picture of Austin for his dad.

Clive wore himself out just watching us cook.

The desserts! Apple Pie and Neil’s mom’s super special rum cake. Special meaning she puts the rum in after the cake is baked.

Neil’s dad’s first photobomb.

While we were cooking and eating, it actually started snowing, so we went outside to play after dinner with our cameras. Austin took these incredible shots. I’m envious of his lens collection!

Snow, snow SNOW!

ice covered all the branches…

…some with leaves still on them.

Grass poking through the snow.

Clive looking out over the yard. It was his first snow and he loved it, despite loving neither wet or cold. His hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Mimi from a perch.

A shot of Lucy taking a sun nap on the porch.

Perfect little crystallized flakes.

A shot of Neil from the trails.

A view of the setting sun from the front porch.

It was a perfect holiday that like so many are gone before you realize it. Before we knew it, it was Saturday and we were driving home to a mounting pile of emails and work. Ah well, Christmas is only a few weeks away right? Thanks again to Austin for taking all the wonderful photos for us to share!

How did you spend Thanksgiving 2010? Did you succumb to the turkey sleeps? Spend time outdoors?