Thanksgiving Table 2018

 First off, I apologize for the preponderance of  table photos.  However, one of the main reasons I write this blog is to create a pictorial for myself.  Next year I will come back to these pics over and over to study what I did this year.

 This table seats 24 people so there is a lot to document.

 The centerpiece this year was partially edible.

 I wanted people to be able to sit at the table and graze on the centerpiece.  If you click on the pics to enlarge them, you can see what I mean. I scattered crackers. cheeses, nuts and relishes among the pumpkins, hydrangeas and ferns.

 I went through my garden and cut anything that I thought would work on the table.

 I placed bunches of dried grasses to add some height.

 Bowls of molasses butter were set along the table so people could spread it on their rolls.

 Bowls of cranberry relish were passed around.

 I poured water into my pewter goblets which keeps it very cold.

 Someone used my camera to take pics of the desserts but they had it on the wrong setting so they look strange.  But, next year I will be glad to come back to see what I made. Above are The Blog Techs favorite gingerbread cookies and my cranberry cornmeal cake.  I was surprised to hear how many people look forward to eating this cake each year.

 Starting on the left is a Kentucky Derby pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, coconut cake and maple sugar cookies. There was a duplicate of these desserts set out on the other radiator cover.  Someone counted 19 desserts.

This table was covered with maple walnut squares, caramel pretzel cookies, candied ginger shortbread, rosemary shortbread and rum cake.

More bad pics.  This is my Heisy punch bowl filled with the eggnog I made.  What a hit this was.  Some people had never tried eggnog and no one had ever had it homemade. They are all fans of it now.

 Though this pic is dark I thought it showed the candles nicely.

 Lights back on.

 I had a bit of a panic right before the guests arrived.  All of my circuits blew.  We had too many things plugged in.

 We scurried around and The Blog Tech saved the day by hauling out extra extention cords and he got every up and running.  Phewwww!

 We had one guest that was visiting America for the first time and this was her first Thanksgiving experience.  She was thrilled to be a part of it.

 I made pretzels and placed them in the centerpiece so guests were able to nibble on them with nuts and cheese and fruit.  I place my pomanders along the table and people were very happy to be able to take them home.

 Everyone was excited to see their little Nantucket baskets filled with chocolates.

No one remembered to take pics of the food.  We had:

2 roasted turkeys
1 smoked turkey (a huge hit) The Chef was up early smoking it and it took 10 hours.
ham
mashed potatoes
gravy
stuffing
Tennessee onions
collards
corn pudding
sweet potato casserole
rolls, rolls and more rolls.

And now I am going to take a day off from cooking.