Thanksgiving in Omaha Nebraska...

Our goal each year is to visit our son's family in Omaha for Thanksgiving plus a visit to Laurie's extended family in St. Louis Missouri...all on the same road trip.  Usually we visit St. Louis before the Holiday followed by David II's family for the 'big day'.  We reversed the trip this time, overnighting in Jacksonville Illinois before making that final push to Omaha, our first family stop... 

At our stage and age, the fate of this annual family quest is tied to the weather.  If snow is in the forecast in either location, we spend the Holiday at home.  This year we got lucky!

It was meal prep time in Omaha.  Amy and David II led the production team but David III and Emmett Lee worked together to produce one of the menu items.  This year was a first for me in a number of years.  I didn't carve the turkey with David II providing backup...taking over that task.

I decided to take this photo of the dining room table in its pristine stage while it was still untouched by food.  My mother's watercolor paintings hang on the wall at the end of the table.  

Amy and David II had decided to approach this Thanksgiving feast a bit differently than either Laurie or I had experienced before.  This Four Course Menu was created so we'd know the order of the food to be presented and what items we could expect with each course.  The intention was to extend the length of the meal as well as the family time at the table.  As most of us have experienced previously, hours are spent putting the Thanksgiving meal together, but 20 minutes after its served, typically everyone is done.

Now onto the food...

This is the first course menu item that David III and Emmett Lee put together.  This is the cucumber/tomato/mozzarella (with basil) appetizer.   Simple but satisfying... I ate 4 of them myself.

These were the sausage cups...cheese and sausage in won-ton wrappers.  This may have been the most popular of the items offered in the First Course.  Even better, there were enough extra ingredients, we enjoyed more sausage cups the following day!

These were the bacon-pimento crostini.  Like almost any offering involving bacon, these crostini were a hot item.  The good news for me...don't like pimento...was that everyone else loved them so while they filled up with crostini I was able to 'raid' some of the other items.

This was one of the items I was able to 'raid' while others were focused on other items included in the First Course.  I managed to snag 3 of these deviled eggs, my favorite being the ones with the blue cheese.

This was Laurie's plate for the First Course.  Note the 2 sausage cups and she did grab one of those deviled eggs.  Fact is that Laurie makes the best deviled eggs...but these were very nice indeed.  

A few more food photos... This is the Chorizo stuffing, part of the Second Course.

This is the standard style of stuffing...still my favorite, especially with a late night turkey sandwich!

You might notice that I didn't take any photos of the platter of sliced turkey, the mashed potatoes or the gravy.  I thought that y'all have seen plenty of those types of photos in the past... Incidentally, the turkey was nice and moist!

On to the Third Course!  This was the Zucchini Casserole made using Laurie's recipe from her mother.  Excellent as usual and David II reported that it was better than the stuffing as part of a follow-up turkey sandwich.  

I've always loved sauteed carrots...even more now that I can't enjoy most green vegetables.  I had 3 helpings of these carrots.

Ah!  Mac and Cheese, our grandson's staple food item.  When they were young, it was one of the few items they wanted to eat.  Now they still love it...along with a plethora of other foods as their dietary menu has greatly expanded.

This was the Sweet Potato Souffle.  I'm not 'into' sweet potatoes but just about everyone else at the table was.  

...and the Fourth Course, fruit, cheese and olives.  I focused on the pineapple, cheese and blueberries.  What a feast!

Bottles of this wine...Albino Armani Pinot Grigio...were served with the Thanksgiving meal.  It was such a big hit with Laurie that she actually took this photo so she could visit our local Total Wine store to buy some for her cache of wine at home.  

The primary advantage of me taking the photos is that I don't have to be in them!  This was our Thanksgiving family photo.  From the left: Amy, daughter-in-law and mother of our two amazing grandsons; Grandson Emmett Lee (21); Grandson David III (24); Amy's mother Bonnie; Amy's father Dan; our fabulous son David II; Grandmother Ru Ru (Dianne), and my better half, Laurie.

This Four Course Thanksgiving Dinner was a winner...pacing the meal out over time and allowing everyone to be together and visit.  Definitely more work and coordination for Amy and David II.  But Laurie and I really enjoyed this approach to this big holiday meal! 

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them...

Thanks for stopping by to share Thanksgiving with us!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave