Halloween isn't here yet, but I'm ready for THANKSGIVING!

As I may have mentioned before, I'm a huge sucker for THANKSGIVING!!  

Not only because I get 4 whole days off work (although, that's a big reason), but I love the food, the cooking, the drinking before noon, the family & friends, the smells of the warm house, the crisp air outside, the fall colors - oh, my - just about everything about it!  
 
Since I'm so ridiculously excited about it already and it's not even Halloween, I have (as usual) started my menu REALLY freakin' early again this year.  Here's what I've come up with this time around!

THANKSGIVING MENU 2011

Breakfast

Quick Sticky Buns (this is seriously the yummiest & easiest recipe ever!) 

Appetizers / Snacks

Brie with fig preserves & caramelized pears (with crackers)

Coconut Curry Cashews & Maple Candied Walnuts

Side Dishes

Salad (Deb will help with this again - she's so good at making delicious salads!) 

Spaghetti Squash Casserole with Ricotta & Spinach

Mashed Potatoes (classic-style)

Cranberry Sauce (Taryn always gets this job, because she's awesome at it!!) 

Vegan Gravy (my favorite recipe - that's popular even with meat-eaters!)

Fake "Sausage" Pumpkin Cornbread Stuffing  (obviously this recipe calls for real sausage, but that's not how I roll)

Stuffed or Roasted Mushrooms (my mom is taking this one over!)

Garlic-roasted Asparagus Spears

Biscuits & butter

Main Dishes

Chickpea Cutlets (this one is still a "maybe", as I've never tried it before, but I'm going to give it a shot sometime this week/weekend.  It's from my Veganomicon cookbook, and looks a bit challenging, but it could be a nice change!) 

Tofurkey Wellington

Turkey (John is going to tackle this sucker!) 

Dessert

I was going to make Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie, but I think Taryn is going to take over with the pie-baking as well. She's just so darn good at it!

My little sister can't eat dairy, so most things are going to be vegan (except of course the obvious meat-stuff, and anything that literally says it contains cheese).  But luckily that means she's good to go with about 80% of the menu which is rockin'! :)

I'm going to see what recipes Martha Stewart has come up with on her website too, as I'm always a big fan of what she creates!  

  

John's sister Angela will be here visiting for the holiday too, so I'm excited to finally meet her in person.  It's going to be a really fun (and LONG) weekend!!  I totally can't wait.  

What are your plans for Thanksgiving??  Are you as excited to cook as I am, or are you more of a watch-football-until-everything-is-ready type of person?  

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!! :D

All photos from www.weheartit.com.