Thanksgiving: Cooking, Eating, and Shopping; Oh My!

Oh. Em. Gee.

I love Thanksgiving so much. And, not just because of the amazing food. Partly because of the amazing food, not completely.  

I love going back to my hometown and spending time with my family.  That is totally the best part.  

The wonderful dressing that my mother makes is the second best part.

Here are the recipes for the dishes that I will be preparing:

I've use this recipe for Broccoli Bacon Salad before and it is just perfect. It is the perfect balance of sweet and tangy.

This Squash Casserole is originally from Southern Living Magazine, so you know it's good.  No doubt about it.  And, it's not really Squash Casserole if it doesn't have Ritz cracker, now is it?

I've already purchased my ingredients and will take them all to my mother's house to make the dishes.  

So, yes, my kitchen will stay clean! ;)

Every year we all say that we don't need to have so much food, but we always have sooo much. It's all so good, too.  I will eat way more than I should, but I will enjoy it.

Do you have a favorite recipe that you bring to the Thanksgiving meal, or that someone else brings? You know there are those dishes that really MAKE the meal, and it wouldn't be complete without it. What is that dish for you? Please share! We all love new recipes to try!

Here is a new one that I will be trying out. 

I have had Pecan Pie Muffins many times, so using the batter to top off a delicious apple pie mixture sounds like a no brainer!

We will have so many desserts it will be ridiculous.  I'm sure it's the same in many homes across the country.

Will you be going out shopping on Thursday or Friday? I considered it, but now that I have been able to get quite a few early Black Friday deals, I don't really have a need to. Thank goodness!

If you're looking for great deals early, I recommend signing up for daily updates through Passion For Savings. You will be able to stay current on what deals are available each day, and which sales have gone live in stores and online.

I was able to find out that Target had Skylanders Swap Force available online at their Black Friday price yesterday.  You couldn't actually order it, though.  So, I went to the store where they had it at a "sale" price of $49.99. I took it to the checkout and told the lady that it was $37.00 online.  She scanned it and said, "well, it's $49.99 here".  I asked her to call someone and got a Customer Service Manager to look it up and got the deal.  That was a 51% savings off the original price people! Woot!

And, I didn't have to fight the Black Friday crowd to get it.

Several Black Friday sales are going live today, so be sure to check them out.  Also,  you can see in the sidebar all the items that I am shopping for this year!