A Third Thanksgiving

Since my hubby and I spent Thanksgiving separately this year, we decided to do another celebration after he got back. This is our third Thanksgiving since we already had a Pre-Thanksgiving the weekend before! These are very simply baked chicken leg quarters with carrots, potatoes and onions. Not even a recipe required! It's just chicken seasoned with Italian seasoning and baked in the oven for about an hour. Served over stuffing, of course, cuz it's still Thanksgiving after all!

For dessert, I whipped up an easy boxed mix of Pumpkin Pie Bars with Gingerbread Crust. You can get anymore HOLIDAY than these!

Early Thanksgiving with my Hubby!

We usually spend our Thanksgiving with my in-laws but I have to work on Friday this year. My hubby is still flying down to SoCal but I'm staying here and spending the holiday with my mom. That doesn't mean we can't have a little celebration of our own beforehand though! I decided to make it a Pre-Thanksgiving weekend because why not right? It started off with Pumpkin Cranberry Cookies. So soft and yummy!

Then following our tradition, I made Bobby Flay's Corn Muffins that we all love so much from Mesa Grill. (Mine were made with yellow corn cuz blue just never comes out very appetizing!) They're spicy and full of bell peppers and corn.

Friday night, I used some of the leftover pumpkin from the cookies to make a VERY yummy Pumpkin and Thai Curry Chicken. Probably not the most traditional recipe given that it's from Betty Crocker but you can't go wrong with Thai over rice noodles. No complaints here!

Just for kicks, I decided to make some super cute Acorn Cookies from my new cookbook, Smart Cookie. I'm totally in love with all the recipes in there using storebought cookies to make some really creative stuff! In case you can't tell, these were made with Nutter Butter, Chocolate Frosting, Chocolate Sprinkles and Pretzel Sticks. SUPER CUTE right?

Saturday night was our real Pre-Thanksgiving meal with Herb-Roasted Game Hens over Stuffing. Not much of a recipe here. I just drizzles balsamic vinaigrette over the hens and sprinkled Italian seasoning on top. Baked for an hour and they're golden brown and SUPER tasty!

Finally a Sunday night favorite, braised Chicken Legs. Simply browned and slowly braised in my Dutch Oven with onions, garlic and more Balsamic. Served over (what else?)...STUFFING!