We have had such a lovely Thanksgiving weekend! This is the only weekend of the year that we all get a few days off in a row just to hang out at home (and we aren’t on a vacation somewhere). It was really, really nice (and long!)
^^ That sandwich was pretty epic. Layers of turkey, cranberry sauce, greens and mashed potatoes. Toasted warm. Yum!!
Rewinding back to just before the holiday, we went to a cocktail party at my friend Sarah’s. We wanted our parents to meet, so we gathered together at Sarah and John’s new house. We were in charge of bread, alcohol and dessert, and Sarah put together this amazing spread of foods.
The day after Thanksgiving, we had a nice breakfast before hitting the Black Friday….gym! Matt and I went to Chris’s class for a great weight lifting workout. My parents left on Friday morning to go up to Maryland and visit with Larbs, Matt and his family for a few days. {Note the cup of amoxicillin…we were also dealing with double ear infections that were thankfully much, much better on Thanksgiving Day.}
Back home later that day, we had turkey salads for lunch. I made a cranberry sauce salad dressing with olive oil, dried rosemary, and Dijon mustard. My salad also had goat cheese and honey toasted peanuts. Plus more cranberry sauce!
Friday evening we went with Uncle Brain downtown for the lighting of the Cville Christmas tree.
Matt’s BFF Jeff, who plays in the Cville Municipal Band, kicked off the holiday tunes. He’s the trumpet in the middle!
For dinner we went to Yearbook Taco, my new favorite downtown casual restaurant.
Margs!!
The chip monster
I had the carnitas and fish tacos – delicious!!!
And Mazen’s quesadilla was quite yummy too
Uncle Brain and Mazen bonded strong in the short time he was here. When M woke up on Saturday morning his first words were: “WHERE’S UNC BRAIN LET’S PLAY TRAINS!!” We are excited to see him again at Christmas!
Saturday morning I made cranberry sauce smoothies for the group. This was one of the best smoothies I’ve ever had!! I didn’t measure, but I put about 2/3 cup cranberry sauce, a half cup of plain yogurt, and 1.5 cups milk in the blender. I loved the sweet-tart flavor!
Saturday daytime was spent watching many hours of Survivor!!
We said goodbye to Uncle Brain and my parents returned in time for dinner. We brought out all of the leftovers and feasted once more.
Sunday morning we had eggs, toast and clementines. Easy does it.
I went for a walk with Serial (OBSESSED!) and then we went on a family hike to the Monticello Trail. M did a good bit of walking, but I’m glad we also brought the BOB because he got quite tired after a while : )
Matt made salads for lunch with some of the leftover meat, goat cheese, honey peanuts and Great Harvest Stuffing Bread croutons!
We skipped nap in the afternoon and headed to Pippin Hill for a wine tasting and playing outside. It was a balmy 65*!!
Loooooved Jacob Allen’s old school country tunes!!
Hope you had a wonderful long weekend as well! xoxo
Linda @ The Fitty says
Cranberries in a turkey sandwhich? I haven’t heard of that one yet. Well, it’s no surprise that you always awe me with your choices; I learn something new each time I visit your blog(which is daily!) 🙂
Erin @ Her Heartland Soul says
What a fun weekend! I wish I had more Thanksgiving leftovers! All your food looks amazing!
Kaila @healthyhelperblog! says
Welcome to the Serial obsession! LOL It’s so good isn’t it!? I can’t wait for every new episode! Also, mashed potatoes on a sandwich!? That’s one thing I’ve never tried but it sounds amazing!
Fancy says
Beautiful post! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family 🙂
Ali says
Nice to see “uncle brain” back on the blog! What were Karen’s plans for Thanksgiving?
KathEats says
She was with us!
Shel@PeachyPalate says
Great weekend by the sounds of it!!! Loving all the leftovers…the sandwich truly looks epic. Love how cranberry sauce goes with pretty much everything, sweet or savoury, totally converting the masses in Ireland!
Melissa @battleofmarathonblog says
THAT LEFTOVER SANDWICH. Oh boy. The fresh greens on there was a nice touch. Should have thrown cranberry into my green smoothie this morning!
Kathryn @ Mamacado says
Looks like a beautiful Tday! What great family photos of you guys too!
Sam @ Grapefruit & Granola says
That cranberry smoothie sounds good 🙂 Glad you guys had a nice holiday weekend and got to spend time together.
Christy @TheMuddyApron says
Happy Thanksgiving! After all that food, a salad with goat cheese sounds amazing. C.
Joanne says
I thought your BIL name was Andrew… I’m confused…..
KathEats says
We call him Uncle Brain! (That’s brain not Brian!) A nickname from their childhood.
Vanessa says
I never would have thought to turn cranberry sauce into a salad dressing! Brilliant. I’m looking forward to trying that out with our Christmas leftovers this year.
Cheryl says
what a great photo of your folks! love it!
Alex @ get big, go to work says
Looks like a wonderful long weekend! Glad your family was able to enjoy some uninterrupted, restful days together. By the way, your meals looks fantastic. I love what you did with your leftovers.
Elyse says
Thanksgiving was in October here in Canada, but you’ve officially made me crave cranberry sauce! I have to try that smoothie tomorrow!
Anne Kim says
Hi Kath: Love all the photos that remind me of my positive version of this holiday times, minus the stress of too much noise and too much cooking and cleaning. The post was enticing from the start because I love the idea of putting all that good stuff into a sandwich, including cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes…oh, did you include the stuffing? Thanks also for ideas about what else to do with the leftover cranberry sauce! Holiday blessings to you. Anne
Crissy says
Does Cville have a lot of kid-centric activities? Thinking about making a trip there next year. Other than the children’s museum and the pool at your gym I don’t think you have mentioned any. My kids would not go for an afternoon at a winery, haha! Any suggestions??
KathEats says
We have a good amount of parks too, but other than the Discovery Museum, library and rec center activities, I’m having trouble thinking of more for smaller kids. Older kids might like Monticello, the ice skating rink or maybe riding the free trolley.
Livi @ Eat, Pray, Work It Out says
i love the cranberry smoothie idea- so delicious!
Sally says
Oh, I am obsessed with Serial! I probably listened to 4 episodes during my drive to and from Cville for Thanksgiving. I’m almost caught up!
Lisa C says
Happy Thanksgiving!
Dana says
Welcome to my Serial Obsession!! I’ll invite you to my Facebook group that I started (over 100 members) that are obsessed like us 🙂
How does M do without his nap. My son is just a couple weeks younger and when he doesn’t take his nap he’s great until about 6 and then he’s a nightmare!! Are you as “lucky” as me?
KathEats says
We are in the same boat! We always think he’ll go to bed at 7 too, but he ends up staying up even LATER then if he hadn’t napped – totally wired and wound up. It’s not my preferred decision to skip : )
M says
Quick question!
Could you tell me what the font is for your header – love the single storey ‘a’…
Many thanks Kath.
KathEats says
It’s Aliquam. I think I downloaded it as a free font somewhere.
Bobbie says
I am also obsessed with Serial. This week with no episode was looong. I also listen to the Slate Serial Spoiler. It’s very interesting and doesn’t really give spoilers like the name suggests. If they do talk about something that Sara Koenig hasn’t mentioned they let you know that episode will have a spoiler. It’s only happened once. Anyway, if you are obsessed you may enjoy it.
KathEats says
Cool thanks!!
Alex @ True Femme says
Mazen looks so grown up! Sounds like a great Thanksgiving though and that cranberry sauce smoothie looks amazing!
Lynn @ The Actor’s Diet says
Cranberry Sauce Smoothies – so genius!
Julie says
That sandwich just sounds delicious!
polly says
this post is so sweet, Kath! I was like wait… is that Andrew? Who is Brain? haha
I see that is his nickname! So Konz and Brain! haha love it!
Mazen is a little pumpkin, what a doll. His happy faces must make your mommas heart so full! he is a love bug!
have a great holiday time! I am glad uncle Brain gets to come back and see Maze for trains! and did he stay with his old girl? I remember in blog days of the past he had a girl. Maybe not now. He is a cutie, I am sure someone will snatch him up so you can get some cousins for Maze someday! 🙂 Or maybe your sis will beat him to it!
XOXO