Original Thanksgiving Menu Dinner

Welcome to our original Thanksgiving

menu feast - not your mashed potatoes, stuffing,

and pumpkin pie feast, but more closely related

to what the pilgrims would have had

with game and seafood, nuts and berries.

My husband is a Bishop in a Young Single

Adults Ward in our church

(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)

and once a month members of the Bishopric

put on a Family Home Evening dinner for

the young single adults.  This beautifully attired

pilgrim couple above are our High Councilman and his

wife.  It was their turn to host and they went all out.

She wanted to have a more authentic Thanksgiving

Feast.

They rented a hall that is used for wedding receptions

and dinners - The Startup Candy Building for the feast.

It had a really cool feeling to it and we were able to

seat about 75.

The tablesetting was very casual with

silver paper plates on a white paper plate

charger, silver paper cups and silver plastic flatware.

The rustic tables and walls really added to

the theme of the dinner.

Fruits and nuts and sparkling cider were also

placed on each table.

Lesa is the foods teacher at our high school,

so she planned the menu and arranged for

Andy and others to do the cooking.  

Andy and Lesa used long salvaged boards to present

the cooked meats on.

Original Thanksgiving Menu

Venison

Roast Fowl (chicken)

Smoked Ham

Sausage

Salmon

Boiled Lobster

Breads

Assorted Fruits

Nuts

Sparkling Cider

(Salmon getting ready to go on the grill.)

Servers were asked to come up with some

kind of costume.  This is my hubby dressed

in his mountain man leathers, bringing the meats

out by candle light to the tables.

The end of each table was left open so the

serving board could be placed on the table.

The kids came up and sliced off what 

food they wanted.

You can tell these guys didn't really want their

pictures taken.

The meal was amazingly satisfying, and even the

venison was delicious.  I have had venison quite a

few times in my life and have always had it taste gamey,

but they had soaked it overnight in buttermilk and then 

topped it with beef fat and slow roasted it.  

The picture is missing the lobster.  They almost

forgot to bring those out!!!

At the very end, Andy felt the kids couldn't get by

without pumpkin pies and whipped cream, so

they did serve that.  I have to say at our table, 

people were so full and satisfied that they didn't

eat much pumpkin pie.

Here I am in my leathers too.  When we built our

cabin 25 years ago there was a local lady who

sewed leather clothing.  She is not there anymore,

so our outfits are real treasures.

What a fun way to teach the Young Single

Adults a little about Thanksgiving.  They really

enjoyed it and it was a fun evening.  I truly

didn't miss all of the modern twists - in

other words the carbs, which are my favorite

part of Thanksgiving dinner.

We have so much to be grateful for.

Our prayers go out to all those who

have suffered lately with storms and

fires and who don't have a warm home

left and who are missing loved ones.

I hope you and yours 

have a lovely Thanksgiving.

I will be posting this with

Tablescapes Thursday

Mickey's 90th Birthday Party

Did you know that Mickey and Minnie Mouse

are turning 90 this Sunday, November 18, 2018?

They have been entertaining the world for 90

years now, and we at Purple Chocolat Home

sure love them.

I bet we are all wishing we could be rocking

it at 90 like they are.

I decided to set a table celebrating their

big birthdays!!  90 years is quite an

amazing accomplishment.

They are still working hard and dancing

and giving it their all.

Our red and white polka dot plates

combined with a stack of red and white

plates and ruffled chargers set

the perfect table for their big party.

We even have polka dotted flatware

for the party.

 Mickey is still active at his playhouse,

and Minnie is still baking up treats

at her bake shop.

Of course she would be baking some of

her famous Mickey Mouse cookies

as a gift to Mickey for his birthday.

Red and white glasses compliment their

birthday table.

Mickey is all decked out in his red and white,

because they are already celebrating

Christmas at Disney parks around the world.

 Minnie has her sparkling holiday shoes on

so that she is festive too.

Give us a kiss to celebrate 90 years of

fun and entertainment.

ABC hosted 

Mickey's 90th birthday gala.

(It is Minnie's 90th too.)

You can celebrate at home with 

Oreo's special Birthday Cake cookies,

Campbell Soup's special birthday cans,

90th birthday Goldfish and

even a 90th birthday party Le Creuset pan.

Ooh le le!! Haha!

(I need one of those, but it is a bit pricey!)

Just do a search for Mickey's 90th and

you can find a host of fun things to purchase.

(Minnie is turning 90 too - just saying!)

I will be celebrating with Mickey and Minnie

on Sunday night on TV.  Wish I could be there,

but I will be visiting Disneyland a week later.

 I will also party with

Tablescapes Thursday

Dishing It and Digging It

Fall Elves for Thanksgiving

The elves have invaded the house to

begin preparations for Thanksgiving

and fall.

I just love my fall elves and am so

glad that they want to come back 

each year for fall.

They have just hopped right onto the

dining room table to participate in

decorating the table for Thanksgiving.

I love having tables set throughout the

various holidays as part of the decor.

It just makes the house festive, no matter

what holiday is coming up.

This table was also inspired by these

new burlap placemats from Home Goods this

year.  I love their rustic yet elegant appeal.

They work perfectly with the rustic, yet

elegant table and the gold flatware.

The table is set with gold and and white.

These gold rimmed china plates are 

ones I bought years and years ago and

are my only real china plates.  I still love

their elegant rims.

I stacked them with gold beaded salad

plates and gold and white chevron snack plates.

Extra Thanksgiving plates are added

to the sides of the setting.

Rather than use gold rimmed goblets,

I decided to use my bubble goblets

to go with the rustic quality.

Whitewashed candlesticks are topped with

pumpkin candles and gold candles.

More fun pumpkins and pumpkin candles

add to the center of the table.

This is one of my favorite pumpkins.  I love

the stem and the details on the top with

the soft orange mercury color.

We have so, so much to be thankful for.

The family is coming this Sunday for 

a Thanksgiving Dinner as we usually go

down south for Thanksgiving Day and

not everyone can come.  

Food assignments have been made and we

will get the holidays started this Sunday.  

Can't Wait!!!

Thanks for stopping by.  It is always so busy from

the beginning of school to after New Year's - 

it seems to just fly!  I appreciate you taking time

to visit.

I will be posting with

Tablescapes Thursday

Have a Daily Cup

Dishing It and Digging It

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from 

Purple Chocolat Home

and my youngest grandchild!

Hope your day is sweet as can be!!!

Harry Potter Tree and Mantle

I saved my favorite new Harry Potter

decoration for last - my new Harry Potter Tree!!

Hubby went on a backpacking trip and left

Beaulah and me to our own devices, so

we had a lot of fun creating a Harry Potter

Tree for the living room.

I already had a lot of collectibles,

but I purchased quite a few more,

all off Amazon to complete the tree.

There are so many fun collectibles out there,

of course we had to have a Dobby and a

quaffle.

I already had a sorting hat from a visit to

The Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter,

both in Orlando and California.

I got this Monster Book of Monsters a 

few years ago at Barnes and Noble.

Hedwig is new because our old Hedwig

had been loved a few too many times.

I found a great pair of socks for

Dobby and glued this one to his hand.

Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem was new this year.

As was this Gringott's bank that

lights up.

I ordered a kit and it had Dumbledore's Army,

a Marauder's Map, a ticket to Quidditch World Cup Finals,

and a letter from Lily Potter to Severus.

The cup was also purchased years ago at The 

Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

This Wizard Chess piece talks when you

press a button.

The skeleton of a dragon was one of

my old Halloween items, above it is the Quidditch

Finals ticket.

This Honeydukes store lights up also.

Of course I needed a Golden Snitch.

And of course we can't forget Nagini, as she is

critical to the end of the story.

I also decorated my Mantle this year with

a Harry Potter theme with a banner I had

from a previous party, letters to Harry from a

previous party, and new Harry Potter themed

dolls.

Now what are we going to do with all of this

Harry Potter stuff you ask?  Beaulah and I

asked ourselves the same thing.  We came up

with a brilliant plan - when my daughter gets all 

of her furniture for her new house out of my

basement, I am going to turn my TV area into

a Harry Potter themed area, that way I have

room for the tree and the cauldrons!

I will be posting this with 

Metamorphosis Monday.