Our Week in Meals #367

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week we hosted Thanksgiving, cut down a Christmas tree, and celebrated another birthday. All of the highlights from the past few days, along with each of our dinners, are included in today’s roundup of Our Week in Meals.

For those of you who are new to the blog, Our Week in Meals is where I share a little bit about what we’ve been up to over the past week — as it relates to our dinners each night. This series gives you a glimpse “behind the scenes” at some highlights from our life, shows you how I balance a busy schedule with feeding my family, and offers a few new ideas for your own weekly meal plan.

Now, let’s back up to last weekend…

Keith took Spencer to the second day of his soccer tournament on Sunday morning, while I stayed home with the older two boys to get some work done in the kitchen. Testing recipes, photographing others, and washing a lot of dishes kept me busy for most of the day!

Casey joined me for a walk later that afternoon, and he had a great time exploring the abandoned mill house up the road. All sorts of treasures around back (but no, he did NOT go inside!)…

We had grilled beef tenderloin for supper,

along with Aunt Bee’s 3-ingredient cheesy potato casserole,

a Southern Caesar salad, and Hawaiian rolls for those little boys who didn’t want potatoes.

Book time! This week I read The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams, entertaining historical fiction about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s time in the Bahamas during World War II. Her writing reminds me of Fiona Davis’s novels (like The Address), as Williams weaves romance, mystery, and drama in a story that brings together true crime and real history with fictional characters and plotlines.

After a morning walk with my friend Ashley on Monday, I headed up to Culpeper to run some errands.

Harvest!

‘Tis the season for a cranberry bliss bar and a gingerbread latte while waiting in line at the car wash!

Speaking of cranberries, I made a batch of cranberry sauce that afternoon, which I stashed in the fridge for our holiday meal.

We had the week off from sports practices, since Spencer’s fall season is over and Casey’s team had a break for the holiday. Such a treat! I served dump-and-bake chicken fajita casserole for supper, along with chips, salsa, and guacamole.

It rained all day on Tuesday, which really put a damper on my plans! Hah. Instead of a walk with Mollie, I took Teddy to the vet that morning for an eye infection, and spent the rest of the day indoors.

I set the dining room table (these are the dishes and the pumpkin napkin rings that I’ve had and loved for years), pulled out my Thanksgiving serving bowls and platters, and sharpened our knives (this is my favorite knife sharpener).

These placemats were new for the kids’ table this year, and they’re perfect! You’ll find my affordable gold flatware here, the place cards here, and the sweet little turkey tealights here.

We had honey dijon roasted pork tenderloin for supper that evening,

which we paired with pearl couscous that I tossed with basil pesto (a kid-favorite), sauteed zucchini,

and the best easy one-bowl cranberry orange muffins.

A very foggy start to Wednesday…

I went to Adria’s farm for a walk that morning, where we encountered a very large flock of wild turkeys. It seemed appropriate on the day before Thanksgiving, but they flew off before we could get any good photos!

The rest of the day included some last-minute holiday prep. I made a double-batch of sausage stuffing to stash in the fridge and bake on Thursday,

as well as the dough for my easy homemade dinner rolls.

We kept supper very simple that night — crescent roll stromboli and a green salad with red wine vinaigrette.

We were blessed with a gorgeous Thanksgiving Day on Thursday!

Adria came over for an early walk that morning, and then Keith’s parents, brothers, and their families arrived for the day. There was a lot of football and soccer in the yard, and plenty of food and drink…

Keith smoked three 8-9 lb. turkey breasts, I made the sausage stuffing, gravy, ambrosia, cranberry sauce, and put together the bread basket (with pumpkin bread, cranberry orange muffins, dinner rolls, and corn sticks). My mother-in-law and sisters-in-law brought the rest — green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, wild rice pilaf, and shrimp cocktail. Plus pumpkin pie, turtle pie, and a Texas sheet cake for dessert. Such a wonderful celebration with family, but boy were we tired by the end of the day!

On Friday morning, we quickly shifted gears from Thanksgiving to Christmas-mode! I put away our fall decor, ironed the linen napkins from the day before, turned on the holiday tunes, lit a Christmas candle, and gave the boys this 500-piece Christmas puzzle to keep them busy for the next couple of weeks…

We ate Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch (of course!), and then headed about an hour away to a farm in Mineral, Virginia to cut down a Christmas tree.

The “Deluxe” hot cocoa — i.e., a giant size and topped with whipped cream, marshmallows, and crushed candy canes!

Keith took Spencer to play pick-up soccer indoors in Charlottesville that evening, and they grabbed dinner in town afterwards. Since the older boys and I were on our own at home, we picked up German takeout from The Bavarian Chef here in Madison.

I had some of the giant Bavarian pretzel, along with their house salad (a personal fave, thanks to all of the delicious pickled vegetables), and a bowl of cream of wild mushroom soup. Always a tasty, cozy meal!

And that brings us to Saturday! My friend Katie, who lives in New Orleans, was in Charlottesville for the holiday weekend, so we met for brunch at Greenberry’s that morning. There’s nothing quite like friends who you’ve known since you were 5, and I always treasure the times that we can see each other in person.

This was the Farm Fresh sandwich: sautéed onions, peppers, and tomatoes with applewood bacon, aged cheddar, and egg on an English muffin, along with a maple cappuccino.

Back home, I took care of some more decorating, tested a new side dish recipe, and then we all piled in the car and made our way to my parents’ mountain house at Wintergreen for dinner. November is definitely the month of birthdays in our family, and that night we were celebrating my dad!

Puzzles by the fire…

Mom served grilled steaks with sauteed mushrooms, Caesar salad, roasted potatoes, and a baguette. Plus ice cream, brownies, and chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

So there you have it, friends — another week of dinners! I hope that you’ve found some new inspiration for your own table in the days ahead. Thank you for joining me here, and have a wonderful Sunday!