So, um, it should be noted that I’m not working this week.  Feel free to hate me.  I would hate me.

Today, I’m sitting down to make a list of what we’re going to need for Thanksgiving this year.  This is my second year hosting, and to be honest, I LOVE IT.  I know.  I told people at work that I was hosting and they’d look at me like I was nuts and then ask me if I needed any Xanax.  True story.

But in reality, I .. yes, I turned down the Xanax .. I really LOVE hosting stuff at my house.  Now, my house’s layout is not all that conduscive to large gatherings, but the kitchen?  Man, our galley kitchen is MEANT for it.  It’s huge.  It’s so huge that I fell in love with the house having only seen the kitchen.  When we have parties, people never leave the kitchen.  It’s warm, roomy, beautifully decorated.. man, I could wax poetic for days on how much I love my kitchen.

Although?  We got into a conversation with our neighbor on Halloween about what our kitchen USED to look like and the wine fridge was previously a double-wall stove.  Um?  Ready, America?  I think I’d get far more use out of a double wall stove than I do the wine fridge.  I KNOW.  I feel dirty even typing that.

Back to the task at hand: THANKSGIVING.  I hosted last year and it was .. well, it was my first time.

(Also, um, DAMN, I WAS FAT.)

So this year, here’s my menu of what I’m making.  And, of course, it’s all shit I’ve found online.

This is my favorite dish: wild mushroom and sausage stuffing.  I found this dish last year online and made it on a whim, and it was CRAZY easy and OHMYGOD good.  It was actually requested again this year because it is so savory and rich and yummy and wonderful.  I typically double the batch because, let’s face it: can you ever have too much stuffing?

I will probably make a pan of Stove Top stuffing as well for the less adventurous. (BRYAN.)

I made this last year and it was SO GOOD, I ate it for days afterwards on ANYTHING. (Um, reference fat picture above.) I was so excited you could make cranberry sauce in a crockpot and the bonus is how amazing your house smells while you make it.

I will also have Ocean’s Spray Cranberry Sauce with Ridges for the more traditional eaters. (BRYAN.)

I can’t find the recipe I used for last year’s yeast rolls, which is.. um.. a good thing.  Because they sucked.  I worked my ass off kneading these damn rolls for-EV-er and they were dry and horrible and BLECH. (And I was mortified.)  So this year, I’m going to make these from Pioneer Woman.  Everything I’ve made of hers over the last few years has been awesome, so these shouldn’t disappoint.  Also, I have two packages of Sister Shubert’s Parker House rolls in the freezer.

Speaking of the amazing PW, I made her pecan pie last year (with additional chocolate and rum) and it was so yummy (and EASY!) that I’m making it again this year.  But I also know that it’s just not Thanksgiving without a pumpkin pie.  Having said that, no one in my family actually LIKES pumpkin pie in the traditional form.  THANK GOD FOR MY NEW OBSESSION, BAKERELLA: she posted this drool-worthy recipe for a suped-up pumpkin pie that has had my tummy growling since I saw it.

And because I’m THAT kind of hostess, I’m making this pumpkin dip for an appetizer on some ginger snaps while the meal finishes and this peppermint bark as a take-home treat for my guests. (Also, if you haven’t yet checked out Christy at Southern Plate, YOU SHOULD.  Yummy traditional southern food from a local gal.  Her recipe for banana pudding actually inspired me to try making things from scratch, no lie.)

Now that you’re all starving and stuff, I wanna know: what is your MUST-HAVE staple at a Thanksgiving Day feast?