Happy Belated Thanksgiving everyone!!! This year was the best! I have so much to be thankful for, not just on a Holiday, but all year-round - each and every single day!

I'm so eternally thankful for the family I have made my own. To my husband - thank you for your constant support and endless love. You are my rock and without you I really don't know where I would be right now. Thank you for saving me and always having my back - I am so proud to be your wife!

To our furry child, our baby boy Maq: Thank you for your magical healing powers, your unconditional love and just being the silly ole goofball that you are! Your fierce loyalty has nicknamed you the'velcro-dog' because no matter where I go, you're stuck right next to me! Every day with Maq is a gift. Thanks bubba, for always being by my side! Love you always and forever, my good boy!! <3

Lastly, I am forever grateful for all of your support, far and wide; all walks of life: my friends, whether longtime or new, my colleagues, my skaters and clients - without you all I wouldn't be who I am today!!

Now onto my favorite part of Thanksgiving: COOKING!

This Turkey Day I made, of course, the big bird (all 13 lbs!), homemade stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, cranberry sauce, fresh whole wheat baguette bread, rosemary roasted acorn squash, cranberry pecan Brussels sprouts with crumbled bleu cheese and homemade pecan pie! I think I did a pretty swell job as a wife's first Thanksgiving meal! ;)

Check it out:

For Thanksgiving breakfast, we had whole wheat toast open sandwich with avocado (straight out of CA - thanks to our new awesome friends Jim & Natasha!) and a fried egg, with a sprinkle of black pepper. YUM!!!

Fresh pecans

Add rising flour to below mixture - shout out to Aunt Jemima! ;)

Mixture of brown sugar, light corn syrup, vanilla extract and rising flour.

Mixing all the ingredients together!

Stir butter and beaten eggs into the mix.

Add pecans after completing mix.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes.

Now onto stuffing made from scratch! Mushrooms, celery, white onion, fresh parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme and Italian sweet sausage.

Close - up

Who doesn't love sausage?!

After prepping my goodies for the stuffing, I toast my bread next. I do 4 slices of whole wheat and 4 slices of white bread and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 7 minutes.

While the bread is toasting in the oven, I start cooking the rest. Brown sausage first with EVOO.

Next (in order) - onions, celery + herbs. Cook for a couple of minutes.

Now add mushrooms last.

13 - Pounder!!

Final prep shot of my turkey! This bad boy took over 5 hours of cooking time this year!

Two acorn squash.

Cut each acorn in half.

Cut each halve in fours, totaling 16 slices. Drizzle with EVOO and salt, bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes.

Make a paste of brown sugar, softened butter and chopped rosemary to put on the squash.

Spread paste on squash evenly so they can all get some of that yumminess! Put back in oven for another 30 minutes. :)

End result! Make sure to spoon some of that yummy sauce onto the squash one last time before serving!

A bouquet of Brussels sprouts!

Cut off the ends of each sprout, rinse in cold water then dry. Roast sprouts in EVOO for about 10 minutes, then mix in chopped pecans, dried cranberries and crumbled bleu cheese.