146.4...Thanksgiving is a Wrap

Thanksgiving in Palm Desert was a great success! Besides figuring out that my oven was off by 100 degrees, everything turned out fabulous!! 

Let’s rewind….

Tuesday we went to lunch at Bill’s Pizza. I had a house salad and a slice of pizza. 

They brought me an extra slice by accident which I ended up bringing home. 

The pizza there is really good!

My brother in law and sister in law and her family from Texas arrived that afternoon. We all went to dinner at Castelli’s. My husband and I split the Caesar Salad and the Caprese Salad. Both were excellent!

I couldn’t decide between the Risotto Tutto Mare (arborio rice with scallops and shrimp in a lobster stock, served with a smooth saffron sauce) and the Tortellini Romano (beef stuffed pasta in a Romano cream sauce with prosciutto, mushrooms, peas and freshly grated parmigiana) so they did half and half for me!

Loved both but the risotto was the winner! 

Breakfast on Wednesday was two scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese, salsa and avocado. 

I cooked and prepped a bit in the morning. Lunch was at Cheesecake Factory. I had the lunch pizza and salad. 

Good but not as good as Bill’s Pizza!

For dinner we went to Armando’s. We shared the Carne Asada Fries to start which were really good. The carne asada was excellent!

I had the fish tacos which rocked. I would definitely order those again!

Thursday’s breakfast:

Our family does something weird: every other year we do Thanksgiving on Friday to allow other people to have Thanksgiving with their in-laws every other year. This year our Thanksgiving was on Friday. So Thursday for me was still spent cooking and preparing for the dinner the next day. 

We had deli platters brought in from Manhattan in the Desert.

 I had a roast beef sandwich, cole slaw and a deviled egg. Yum!

More family arrived that night. We all went to our steakhouse at our club for dinner. We shared the Tuna Carpaccio and Beef (not pictured) Carpaccio. Both were excellent!

I had the wedge salad which came with candied bacon. Might be the best wedge salad ever!

My entree was a filet mignon. 

Desert was Butter Cake. 

And it was GOOD.

Breakfast Friday:

I made all the pies and put my finishing touches on everything. Time for my 32 guests to arrive!

All the appetizers were out and ready!

Chips and onion dip:

Slow Cooker Taco Dip:

Bean Dip (just layers of refried beans, sour cream, guacamole, green onions, cheddar cheese and tomatoes):

Cheese and crackers:

Mini Pigs in a Blanket:

Then it was time for the main event!

Good Eats Roast Turkey:

Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes:

Homemade Gravy:

Stuffing (my sister in law Stephanie’s recipe):

Gulliver’s Creamed Corn:

Peas:

Rolls:

My plate:

I also made Creamy Macaroni and Cheese which I forgot to eat and photograph until later! Lol!

Time for dessert!

Grandma Ople’s Apple Pies and The Best Pumpkin Pie Ever:

Blue Ribbon Cheesecake:

Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie:

Homemade Whipped Cream:

I also made homemade vanilla ice cream. 

I didn’t even eat dessert this year. Too full!! Maybe next year!  :)

Saturday’s breakfast:

It felt so weird not to cook that day. I feel like I’ve been cooking for weeks!

We all went to Spaghetti Factory for lunch. Salad with pesto dressing:

Half Mizithra Cheese, half meat sauce:

Spumoni: 

Most people went home that day but we had a few left for dinner. We went to Armando’s again. 

House salad:

Chile Relleno:

Another winner! Their food is great there!

Sunday’s breakfast:

We got the house all packed up and ready to go. We stopped for a quick lunch at the club. I wasn’t super hungry so I just had a cup of chili.

Then it was time to head back to San Diego. I was so sad to see our fabulous Thanksgiving week come to an end. :(

We ordered Ototo Sushi for dinner. 

I enjoyed it along with a glass of wine in my pajamas. Doesn’t get better than that. 

Today’s breakfast was back to the usual.

I took the kids to school then met my trainer at the gym. She did not take it easy on me. I’m going to hurt tomorrow. 

I ran errands and went to an appointment. Lunch was Urban Plates. 

I ran more errands and picked up the kids from school. I’m not feeling imaginative in the cooking department yet so it was just Caesar salad and spaghetti for dinner. 

Getting back in the normal routine is rough!!

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