Prepping the bird.

I've been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving this year.  This year will be the first year that I am not able to spend it with the whole family and though it saddens me that we won't be able to spend it with our entire family, I'm determined to have a fabulous one with our little family.   We will be spending it in our home, just the 3 of us (me, husband and our dog), with a home cooked meal and some Christmas decorating.

I consider myself a relatively experienced cook.  I spend a lot of time perusing the web for yummy meals to try and usually have a pretty good basis of what I'm doing, however, turkeys a whole new experience. Standing at the grocery store alone trying to decide what turkey to get along with all the other turkey panicked shoppers was an experience in itself.  Let's just hope it turns out well.  And that it doesn't burn.

I've started a tentative menu plan:

• Roasted Turkey
• Artichoke Parmesan Sourdough Stuffing
• Cranberry Sauce
• Mashed Red Potatoes with Garlic and Parmesan
• Gratitude Dinner Rolls (with surprise messages for the hubby)
• Pineapple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (Mom's recipe from old church fundraiser cookbook)
• Uncle John's Cranberry Wine (Amazing! Discovered on wine tasting last week)

I'm thinking I'd like some snacks for during the day.  Any suggestions?  What are your Thanksgiving traditions?