Thanksgiving with Extended Family

My brother lives near-ish to us and organized with my other two brothers to have an extended family Thanksgiving together. For the last few years, my hubs and I have been perfecting a holiday routine and invited over friends who were not heading home for the holidays. He has taken over turkey duties, and does a magnificent job roasting the ceremonial bird to browned perfection. I handle the side dishes and pre-dinner appetizers. 

This year, my turkey day duties were relegated to bringing a casserole, some extra serving dishes, and a pre-dinner snack. There was also an arts and crafts activity I did with my niece and one nephew. You can never have too many holiday table cards. I can make a cheese and charcuterie plate with the best of them. Judging by the sole piece of cheese left, my niece and nephews plus brothers  and wives enjoyed the cheeses and crackers, along with the other snacks my brother had assembled. The hubs enjoyed the peanut, raisin and chocolate mix. 

We have not seen my niece and nephews in a long time. One of the boys has grown so tall, he is taller than me and only in 7th grade. My niece is probably only a year or so away from being taller than me too. The littlest one is actually only a hair shorter than his cousin who's two years older. It was fun to see them wrestle and hanging out. 

My brother ordered from Whole Foods a Thanksgiving meal to feed 12-14 people. They provided turkey and roasting instructions, plus all of the sides ready for reheating. We were able to put everything together without setting off a smoke alarm or burning anything. While some dishes could have been a bit hotter, it was very nice to spend the holiday together, eating, playing games and catching up.

Macaroni and cheese, stuffing, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots and green beans,

Turkey white meat.

Turkey dark meat.

One of the nephew's dinner.

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My sister in law puts ketchup on her youngest son's mashed potatoes and turkey to get him to eat it. While ketchup on mashed potatoes sounds a little unappealing to me, apparently he's a fan and eats everything. Now his cousin is a picky eater and my brother has a challenge getting him to eat anything. He normally tries to make smoothies to sneak in vegetables or protein. Wonder if he'll try out the ketchup method soon.