Goodbye Halloween, Hello Italian Thanksgiving

My little pumpkin at the Patch

Though we had a great month, with more than 5 Halloween festivities behind us, I’m over October. I’m packing up the skeletons, spiders and spooky kitty-cats and deleting all those Halloween episodes of Word World and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (sorry, Rocco). I’m done with the orange & black. Bring on Thanksgiving! Though, I’ll have to ditch the left over trick or treating candy (I guess the trick’s on me) in order to work up an appetite for the feast I have ahead of me.  My husband and I switch off holidays with our families each year – this year Thanksgiving is with his family, Christmas/Hanukkah with mine, and next year vice-versa. So, I’m only lucky enough to get this amazing Italian New Jersey Thanksgiving meal every other year…which may be a blessing for the waistline. In fact, it’s actually been 4 years since we’ve been blessed with this heavenly food because two years ago I was a week away from giving birth to my son, Rocco. So, flying up north wasn’t an option. Here’s a glimpse of what the spread entails…

Antipasto of grilled zucchini, fresh buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto, salami, bread-crumb stuffed mushrooms, grilled asparagus, marinated olives, roasted red peppers, pepperoni, aged provolone, parmesan reggiano, artichoke dip, eggplant tapenade, italian semolina bread, sausage bread, & lots of wine

Homemade Meat Lasagna

25 lb. Roasted Turkey, Sausage, Apple & Cranberry Stuffing, Orange Cranberry Sauce, Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Sweet Potatoes, Gravy, Steamed Spinach, Corn Casserole, Broccoli with Cheese, Mixed Greens Salad

Desserts including Cheesecake Factory cheesecake (do you know how many calories are in a slice? unfortunately, I do), pumpkin pie, apple pie, chocolate mousse pie, chocolate cake, cannolis, chocolate chip cookies & coffee

I cannot wait for this meal and will begin fasting now in order to enjoy every last morsel. What’s even more exciting, besides spending a week with family (don’t hate us, we’re the lucky ones that love being with our family), there’s snow on the ground right now!  Yes, it will probably be gone by the weekend, but I’m dreaming of a White Thanksgiving. Listen, if it snowed in October it’s not such a crazy wish. This Miami girl will take snow whenever she can get it.

Now, I must start working on my packing list.  The short sleeves and sandals I’ve been sporting the last few weeks down here won’t cut it in Jersey…it’s 39 degrees there today.

Comments

comments