Being Grateful + A Cocktail

There is always such a build up when planning holidays and special occasions.  There is the meal planning, the grocery lists, the guest list, the table settings (linens, center pieces, candles, etc), the music and lastly, activities for the kids.  I love entertaining and although I am grateful for the home that I have, I secretly wish I had a bigger home, with a tad more room, making more space for more guests.  With that said, we seemingly shoved 28 people into our home yesterday and it somehow all worked.

I was hoping that todays post was going to be about all the leftovers that were lurking in my fridge and what I was going to do with them.  Sadly, I have a little turkey, some cranberry sauce, a slice of pecan pie, and a little artichoke dip (delish – and will post soon).  Today, for lunch, we will have a very simple turkey sandwich, with some cranberry sauce, english white cheddar, and some arugula.  There will not be any pumpkin soup or stuffing on the side.

Instead, today I will share with you our pre-dinner cocktail.  The cocktail was a toss up between a Persimmon Mojito or a Moscow Mule.  After I assessed my “to do” list, I went with the easier of the two; The Moscow Mule.  This drink has 3 ingredients; limes, vodka, and ginger beer.  It really doesn’t get much simpler than that. Before juicing the limes, I zested them and put the zest in the freezer.  I put the lime juice and the vodka in a pitcher and kept the beer cold.  I made it a self serve kind of drink and everyone was “happy”!

my nephew, Luca-the lego king-made a centerpiece, daisy’s, mac ‘n cheese crackers,
sunflowers, dish towels for napkins (IKEA=.49cents)

desserts: caramel apple cranberry pie, pumpkin-praline cheesecake,
pumpkin cranberry mini loaf, pecan pie

my nephew, shane turns 9, eli and his cousins,
nana and bunka with all 9 grandchildren