Thanksgiving Dinner, 2015

November has been a sad month here at The Gazebo House.

  It started off on November 1st, when my husband's hospital held a Memorial Mass for him on All Souls Day. 

The Auxiliary Bishop of Cleveland officiated & at the end, read a portion of Ern's obituary.

  I cried, of course.

They gave me these beautiful flowers &
this lovely candle to bring home & I
enjoyed them for days until the fluffy gold stuff
in the arrangement started to make me sneeze!

It was all very touching but sent me into a blue funk for days.   

However, keeping busy is the antidote for
wallowing in sadness,
so I dove straight into making an elaborate
EARLY Thanksgiving dinner
for my daughter & family.

  My oldest grandson was invited to spend
Thanksgiving with his girlfriend's family in Boston,
so we decided to hold our gathering a little early
so they could be together here with us
to celebrate ahead of time.

This is the first year I've ever been able to cut some
of my own flowers to use as a centerpiece!

We've had an extraordinarily warm autumn
plus that fact that the celebration
was a week early allowed me to cut
the last of my yellow mums,
plus a few yellow roses, too!  

Ms. C. immediately noticed that one of the blossoms
had PINK on it! 
She has loved PINK since she was a tiny toddler &
said "My PINK",
every time she saw it anywhere.

You've seen these pinecone adorned napkins,
placemats, wooden chargers &
my Eternal  by Lenox china all before.

  I think I even used them
last year for turkey day, too.

However, the flatware is new!

I've always wanted a touch of gold to go
with the gold trim on my china &
when Mary (Home is Where the Boat Is)
featured this Mikasa "Cameo Gold" pattern,
with 24 karat gold trim,
I jumped at the chance to buy it
with her discount. 
Thanks Mary!

I must also thank Mary for the idea to make these
goofy turkey cupcakes with Nutter Butter cookies,
candy eyes & red licorice.

They were a HUGE hit with the kids....
of all sizes.

  The only thing I did differently than
Mary was I used orange Tic Tacs
for their noses.

They look so silly, perched upon my antique

Americana cut glass square cake pedestal. 

Thanks for the inspiration, Mary!

I used both the dining room table
as well as the little round table
off to the side to set up the desserts...

pumpkin & pecan pie,
chocolate chip cookies (DGS#1's favorite),
along with cashews &
chocolate covered almonds (MY favorite)!

Of course, per tradition,
my Mom's little after dinner mints
were on the table in my sugar scuttle as well.

She ALWAYS had those mints out
for every occasion &

this is my way of remembering her on holidays.

My daughter bought me this
beautiful leaf-embossed oblong
serving dish by Hallmark.

It looked so pretty with its copper colored ribbon
that I didn't have the heart to unwrap it!

She knows I have a serious addiction to dishes!!

My collection of milk glass
continues to grow, thanks to my friends, sisters &
their families' contributions.

I wish for each of you a very Blessed & Grateful Thanksgiving holiday. 

I'm counting my blessings & one of them is that my sweetheart went to Heaven before me,
because this grieving process would have been
so much harder on him!

  I'll be glad when this year of "Firsts"

without him are in the past. 

Thanks for stopping by The Gazebo House today.