A Very Sullivan Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has come and gone and it was amazing to have the whole family home for a few days, Here is a little introduction to my family, a run-down of our Thanksgiving and all of our favorite tried-and-true recipes! *Every underlined recipe is a clickable link!

My parents, nine kids, two husbands and one grandbaby (and our little one on the way!)

If you hadn't noticed yet, pie is my family's favorite part of Thanksgiving. I think we had about 11 pies this year! I don't know if that's admirable or overkill but we love it. I'll share all our pie recipes at the end!

My sister Florie made her famous harvest mimosas that were enjoyed with some appetizers in the living room with our guests. Florie is the queen of fun cocktails to spice up the holidays and I love how pretty she makes everything look! She lives close by so she came over the day before to make 4 pies, all the gravy and our family favorite for years, fresh cranberry relish. * If anyone decides to make this relish ensure that you put it together it right before eating otherwise the ginger is too strong!*

Rowan took a break from being sick to be a very destructive tiny human for the whole day. Most of his time was spent either under the table touching people's feet, or attempting to climb on top of the table to steal "PIE!". He decided not to nap and not to eat anything decent. He was very opposed to pictures. He was very opposed to getting his nose wiped.

My mom made two turkeys, along with creamed spinach, carrots glazed with mustard and brown sugar, and of course, pies. My mom has a way of putting her French flair on everything, even American Thanksgiving! I love the festivity she adds to the holidays. She makes everything look so beautiful, she finds unique recipes and she always dresses up. I think all these little efforts really make the day stand out from every other day. It's a true celebration.

The newlyweds, Faustine and Luke, made it to us through the snow and no one was happier than Rowan. These two love to cook together, so they busily made their own dishes of butternut squash, these yummy green beans and custard pies.

Luke is Ian's childhood best friend from growing up. He met my sister at our wedding since they were both in our wedding parties, a few months later they started dating and the rest is history! Ian and Luke went from BFFs to brothers-in-law which just adds to the bliss of being together for holidays!

My brother Liam was home from college and insisted on making the stuffing because, as he put it, "we NEVER have enough stuffing". This was a Trader Joe's mix, and it was delicious. Now we have two giant ziploc bags of stuffing leftover in the fridge. Mission accomplished.

I made our mashed potatoes, which I can't share a recipe for because it's just a ridiculous amount of mashed yukon gold potatoes and however much cream cheese and butter your heart desires. Season with salt and pepper. You're welcome.

My dad, a distinguished PhD in pharmaceutical economics (don't ask me) carried on his annual tradition of being the turkey carver extraordinaire, completing his look with one of my mom's flowery aprons. I am kicking myself for not having picture proof of this.

We gathered around the table and enjoyed my grandpa and some dear family friends and an incredible meal. We were only slightly interrupted by the sick, destructive toddler throwing food off his high chair.

Sister pic because we #BASIC. Domitille was in town from college so we had to get a picture of all the sisters! Emeline is in high school and she is also Rowan's second mom. I'm still trying to convince her to be our live-in nanny but apparently she has a life.

This is my saint of a husband, Ian. He spent his Thanksgiving being the best dad ever and chasing Rowan and looking for his other sock. I love him.

Fintan, Thomas and Callaghan (ages 14, 11 and 9) are Rowan's crazy uncles and they kept busy this Thanksgiving by continuing to teach Rowan everything he knows. Rowan is very advanced because of them. He can snap people with towels, say "WHASAAAPPPPP" and shoot you with a nerf gun. We are so proud.

The pie bar. A thing of beauty. Let's get into these pie recipes!

This is a Pecan Praline Pie by Williams Sonoma! The recipe is from the Williams Sonoma Thanksgiving cookbook and I couldn't find it online to save my life so here are a couple of terribly unprofessional pictures. This pie is gooey and caramel-y and the pecans are chopped so it has the best crunch!

This is my mom's most beloved cookbook so don't judge the food stains, people.

Florie always makes a to-die-for Chocolate Silk Pie. It's like the perfect marriage between the richest chocolate mousse and a decadent graham cracker pie crust. Heavenly.

I shared this Pear, Chocolate and Hazelnut Crostata last week, but here it is again folks! Think nutella meets juicy pears and somehow it WORKS.

Caution: dramatic statement ahead. I tried a new pumpkin pie recipe this year and I'll never go back. If you don't follow The Pancake Princess blog, you should. She takes all the most famous recipes and invites a bunch of people to her home to taste test them and rate them! She did one for pumpkin pies so I followed the recipe for her pie that won for best filling. I didn't use the crust recipe since I wanted to do my own graham cracker crust. You guys, this filling was AWESOME! It takes a little more time because you reduce your pumpkin, but it gives it a way stronger pumpkin flavor. And it's SO silky. Check out Flour Bakery's Pumpkin Pie recipe!

And last but not least, the star of the show and my favorite pie, the Apple and Cranberry Galette by Williams Sonoma. Sweetened from apples and honey, tart from the cranberries, and wrapped in the perfect crust, this is just Thanksgiving in a pie.

Well, I hope I gave you some inspiration for Thanksgiving next year, or even for some Christmas recipes! On the Sullivan front, after our very magical Thanksgiving everyone caught Rowan's plague and we were the Sullivan hospital all weekend. We drank tea and my dad made turkey bone broth and we watched movies and we were very lazy. Everyone, I'm sorry Rowan coughed on your food. We are working on it.

If you're still here, thank you for reading the ramble! A la next week!