My Thanksgiving Table Decor and Menu: Holiday Entertaining Guide Continued
Thanksgiving is all about celebrating life’s blessings and I believe the table should be a reflection of that gratitude. My Thanksgiving Table Decor and Menu includes simple, yet elegant touches, and a few of my favorite holiday dishes. I love the holidays because it’s all about celebrating with family while enjoying good food. There is no better combination!
This year I created an entire Thanksgiving menu, in advance, in hopes of inspiring your taste buds ahead of the holiday season! I have it all covered for you! From the appetizers, to the Turkey, to the desserts, and everything in between.
I partnered with my friends at Fairway to Buckingham to create a gorgeous, yet simple Thanksgiving Tablescape. They pulled in some Fall elements with pumpkins, natural color with an oversize cutting board, and fresh inexpensive flowers from Trader Joe’s.
These ladies are so talented! You have to check out their Instagram page for holiday decor inspiration! They have you covered for Thanksgiving and Christmas! How adorable is my table?! 
The star of Thanksgiving – the Turkey – gets some extra special treatment from the Big Green Egg. We smoked the turkey and I’m telling you – it was the best turkey I’ve ever eaten. The smokey flavor was perfect. 
The fresh herbs, butter, and citrus just took it over the top. We simply stuffed the turkey with a mix of oranges, lemons, garlic and onions. Brushed the outside skin with butter and fresh herbs throughout the smoking process. It was delicious!
I’m all about presentation – especially on Thanksgiving. And it doesn’t take a lot of work to make things look pretty! I simply garnished the turkey platter with rosemary and pomegranate seeds. I had both on hand as I used the herbs and seeds in my other recipes below.
My favorite item on the Thanksgiving Table is always the stuffing! This stuffing recipe is my all-time favorite. It has been in our family for generations! It’s incredibly flavorful and moist. Lots of fresh herbs, good day-old bread, and sausage are key in this stuffing recipe.
Now lets talk about these mashed potatoes – so yum! They’re certainly not your traditional mash potatoes which I love! Again, the fresh herbs helps to give this dish a great depth of flavor. I add some creme fraiche and Parmesan cheese which really gives it a decadent touch. The potatoes are so creamy, so flavorful, are go perfectly against the smoked turkey, and herb infused stuffing. I shared a funny story about my first experience making mashed potatoes, too! Click on the recipe at the bottom of this article for some laughs. 
A great fall salad is a must on my Thanksgiving Table. It’s the perfect balance to the heavy side dishes and so colorful! This Fall Panzanella Salad it incredibly tasty! It’s a great addition to the menu! This salad will be on repeat throughout the holidays!
I love to kick off a holiday meal with elegant appetizers! And my make-ahead appetizers are fuss-free and are perfectly bite-sized. They add color to the table and helps to activate those taste buds before the big meal. I love how appetizers bring people around the table ahead of the meal and keep the conversation going as I continue to prep the full meal in the kitchen.
And what’s a holiday meal without dessert? I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin pie, but I do love pumpkin flavor. I’m also NOT a baker. So I came up with this delicious pumpkin tiramisu. No baking is involved. It’s simple to assemble and can be made ahead of time! It’s the perfect Thanksgiving Dessert. And I know people do love pie on Thanksgiving, so I added a pecan pie to the table (one I bought of course). Our local bakery – The Crust – has the best pecan pie!
Pulling an entire menu Thanksgiving menu together is no easy task. However, it’s a challenge I LOVE! I love to incorporate my own recipes, ones passed down from my grandparents, and recipes from my favorite chefs and food bloggers! I’ve done just that in this year’s menu. Everything turned out so well! And I was able to prepare some of the dishes in advance. A Thanksgiving recipe that can be made in advance is a huge bonus! That way you have more time to spend with family on the actual day.
Here is my Full Menu
Side Dishes
The Star
Sweet Treats
Four Make-Ahead Appetizers
I made Autumn’s brining recipe and then roasted my turkey in the oven at 325 for four hours to feed my work peeps for our potluck. It was a huge success and they all raved and even a complaint about how it wasn’t carvable, but just fell off the bone! Definitely try this at home!
[…] The Thanksgiving Post from 2018. For the reasons, I described in the answer above. I partnered with some interior stylist friends of mine and we had so much fun working on the post together! […]