Thanksgiving Menu

It is really crazy around here these days.  We've added a new member to the household (my father-in-law has joined my mother-in-law out here) so we are getting settled in and readjusting to having a family of 6!  The kids love having their grandparents here and Mr Pears and I love having the extra hands and a little bit of free babysitting services. ;) Being able to run errands during naptime or have dinner out with the Mr after the kids are in bed is sooo nice!

Anyway, that, on top of Thanksgiving next week...yikes!  Lots to do.  I thought I'd post what our menu looks like so far along with a few recipe links.  Please feel free to comment if you have any great Thanksgiving dishes to share, I'm always looking for new ideas!

We are serving 11 adults and 2 children this year and this is what we've got planned:

Turkey (duh!) we will be using this brine
along with an additional turkey breast
(We'll be buying them organic, the treatment of turkeys in this country is abominable so that is important to us)

Gravy, of course!....but I don't have a recipe yet...hmmm
Cranberry Relish - a guest is bringing it!
Bread.....uh oh, I need to figure out what kind of bread we are going to make
2 Vegetable sides to be brought by guests
Dressing/Stuffing to be brought by a guest
Mashed Potatoes, this is my favorite recipe...simple and easy and delicious.

Sweet Potatoes, recipe from Pioneer Woman, these are sweet and amazing but I am going to half the topping this time because I thought it was a bit too sweet for my taste.  If you try the recipe I would make all of the topping and just put on what you think looks good to you.

Pumpkin Cheesecake, here is a post on that

Old fashioned Gingerbread, I made the one out of Thomas Keller's new cookbook Bouchon Bakery and it was awesome!  I'll probably get around to writing a post on that one soon.

And I think that is it....am I missing something!?  I'm really happy we are having guests this year and I'm glad they are all bringing something to share.  I think it will be fun and I am looking forward to seeing what kinds of great dishes they bring.  Because sometimes the sides are the best part, don't you think?