Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I totally feel like Charlie Brown in Charlie Brown Thanksgiving saying that to you 
I normally would say Happy Turkey Day, but, seeing as we didn’t have ANY Turkey this year, I don’t think I can.
The Husband and his mom both do not like Turkey or any of the Thanksgiving sides….they are weird, I know! I actually pondered making a Turkey with all the fixin’s since I LOVE it all, but, I figured it would be a bad thing to have a ton of leftovers just for me 
The Husband asked to have Christmas Dinner instead….since, I LOVE him and it’s our anniversary tomorrow I decided to just go with it. Who knows, maybe he want to have Thanksgiving Dinner on Christmas in return….confused yet?! LOL….
Since I knew I’d be cooking all day long, I took a short cut for breakfast….Trader Joe’s Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake!
After popping the cake in the oven, I brewed up some Morning Coffee Cake Coffee.
Layers and layers of cinnamon crumb flavor…..
Since we didn’t get to hit up Tartine yesterday, this moist, buttery, cinnamon coffee cake totally hit the spot.
After checking out all the ads for tomorrow, I put out some snacks for the day. Foodbuzz sent us a pretty cool box from Hickory Farm’s as part of their tastemaker program.
Tons of cheeses, summer sausages, crackers and MUSTARDS!
The best part of the box we got, is that $5 of the sales go to Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign ~ I LOVE that!
My personal favorites ~ I LOVE the Cranberry Mustard on everything!
My mom used to put Hickory Farms out for us to snack on while she cooked up our holiday dinners growing up so I told The Husband to pick out what he wanted to snack on. I LOVE how he threw the olives in there too 
For good measure, I put out a veggie tray.
My plate with veggies x’s like 5 ( I snacked on the veggies all during cooking).
The Husband’s plate he made up to take outside and work
Then, I spent the rest of the day, cooking, baking, whipping and needing away. Here is what our Christmas Dinner on Thanksgiving included (you might recognize this from my A Healthy Holiday Series” last year).
GREEN BEANS WITH CARAMELIZED ONIONS & BACON
HONEY BALSAMIC ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS
I also made two new additions to this year’s menu that I have been totally wanting to try. I figure our main menu is 80% healthy to allow for these 20% treats….read on and you will see why
A 100% Whole Wheat Version of the Pioneer Woman’s Parker Rolls.
I worked on the dough all through out the day, mixing, letting it rise, kneading, letting it rise.
They turned out fantasic! Totally soft and completely buttery, melt in your mouth like. I only used half the dough (froze the other half for another time) and that made 23 rolls that look like Big Lips.
Or maybe little pac – man’s.
This dessert was probably the very first recipe I picked out that I knew I’d make. A few weeks’ ago my co-worker told me about this Salted Caramel Banana Pudding Pie recipe and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
What’s not to LOVE about Vanilla Wafers, Vanilla Pudding, Bananas, Caramel & whipped cream!
The crust is made of butter & crushed vanilla wafers.
I also learned how EASY it is to make Home Made Caramel.
I am NOT so sure this is a good thing to know considering I’m a caramel girl.
I’d pick caramel over chocolate any day.
The only reason I get latte’s is so I can get caramel drizzled on top.
This recipe includes 1 cup Homemade “Salted” Caramel (just add 1 teaspoon pink sea salt)
I probably could’ve just stopped here and called it dessert.
BANANAS + CARAMEL = LOVE!
Here is how the pie goes together.
Top your browned Vanilla Wafer Crust with Caramel Bananas <3!
Add Homemade Vanilla Pudding & Vanilla Wafers
Repeat finishing with Caramel Bananas.
I actually used Coconut Extract in my Homemade Whipped Cream instead of Almond……Salted Caramel Coconut Banana Cream Pie
Top with Whipped Cream, more Homemade Caramel and Crushed Vanilla Wafers. SO FREAKIN’ AMAZING!!!!!
I am off to catch some zzzzzzzz’s so I can get up early and go shopping I was too busy today to recap my San Fran Trip so that is to be continued.
Night all!
Amazingness on the menu! Sometimes ya don’t need Turkey, esp. with a spread like that. Happy Thanksgiving!
What a fantastic party! That banana pudding looks so amazing!!! Happy Thanksgiving Danica! 🙂
YUMMMM! And I LOVE your healthy au gratin potatoes!
Everything looks so delicious!
We had a very traditional Thanksgiving, and the sides really are my favorite part. I love a good turkey sandwich but it’s not my favorite part of the dinner. Now the TJ’s brussels sprouts au gratin were something to write home about.
Hope you got some rest!
PS. So funny. We were just talking about Nilla Wafers yesterday and how they don’t really get the credit they deserve.
OH MY GOD LOOK AT THAT PIE! …sorry I was shouting! lol 🙂 YUM!
Wow…your thanksgiving looks fantastic! Glad you enjoyed the day! As always, your photos are spectacular!!!
What a great thanksgiving!!! I love the variety that strayed away from the traditional stuff; sometimes i think it’s fun to change it up a bit, ya know?!