Thankful for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of my most favorite holidays ever.  Family, food, grateful hearts - what's not to love?  This year was the Thanksgiving of the Cheesecakes for me.  Hey, I fully admit I am swayed by the whims of the food bloggers, and since my two favorites each posted divine-looking cheesecakes in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, I knew I'd be recreating each for our family gatherings.  I really love making cheesecake - it's not actually that hard to do, but it creates a stellar impression (and tastes delicious!).  We stretched our Thanksgiving celebrations (and preparations) over a week, packing in baking, adventuring, eating and visiting with many loved ones.

First, I made candied oranges to garnish the cheesecake for the
Blanchard meal.

After the oranges were done, I used the syrup to
make sparkly cranberries - also to garnish.

On the Saturday before, we met up with Laurel and Bret and the
kids to play at the Bean Museum at BYU.  I liked this quote on
the wall there.

After the museum we dined at In 'n' Out.  I tried the animal style
fries. Heck. Yes.

Back at the Farrer's house, Melia practiced her
"face-painting" skills on a very willing Callie.

We played at a park. For a few minutes anyway - it was pretty
chilly once the sun dipped behind the mountain.

After church on Sunday, while others napped, I
assembled my first cheesecake masterpiece,

Cranberry-Orange Perfection.
(Recipe here.)

Grandma Gallagher came to celebrate Thanksgiving and her
birthday and meet her newest great-grandbaby Sam.

Ready to feast!

Melia gets her Sam snuggles in.

Time for dessert!

Cal's favorite part? Playing with cousins!

Conversations with Aunty Heather.

Grandpa knows how to get the kids to hang around.

As soon as we finished our first Thanksgiving on Sunday, Cal
and I were back in the kitchen, prepping our next cheesecake
creation for the Thornley bunch. This time: Reece's Peanut
Butter Cup!

We got to Logan on Thursday morning in time for
Cal to get her first lesson in roll-making from the
master herself,

I loved watching them in the kitchen together,

Cal is a dough eater. She did not get that from me.

We had a huge group at Grandpa and Grandma Thornley's.
That meant TONS of pie!

Aunt Joan made most of them - amazig woman!

Here's my contribution.
(Recipe here.)

Simply put: YUM!

We have much to be thankful for, indeed.  At the top of the list is family and fun times spent together.  But just below that? Yep. Cheesecake.