The Tylers Host Thanksgiving!

Two years ago today, Evan proposed to me on a beach on the Oregon coast. It was an amazing day. I decided to celebrate the occasion by writing a blog about how we, the fledgling Tyler family, totally conquered Thanksgiving. 

Not too long ago, we were sitting in my in-law's living room, opening all the amazing generous gifts from all of our friends and family. As we excitedly opened a box of brand spankin' new plates, serving dishes, and cooking stuff, I heard myself say, "Well, I think we will be hosting Thanksgiving this year, so we can use all of this!"

Somewhere, in the far reaches of my mind, a small voice said, "Are you out of your mind?" But I didn't listen. 

So imagine my surprise when, on the Sunday before 12 people are due at our house to eat the biggest meal of the year, I realize the potentially catastrophic mistake I made over a pile of wrapping paper and Crate and Barrel boxes. We were hosting Thanksgiving, and we didn't even have a turkey! 

We raced to Fred Meyer and spent a small fortune on everything we would need, and ended up getting our 18 pound bird for free. Kind of. It depends on how you look at it. Either we spent $120 dollars on groceries, and got a free turkey, or we bought a $120 dollar turkey. It's all about perspective, I guess. 

Anyway, I also realized upon arriving home that we had absolutely zero decorations, and I wanted our house to look homey, cozy, and Thanksgiving-y. And so commenced the scouring of Pinterest. I made an entire board, and on it went every idea that seemed even remotely feasible for my craft-challenged self. I settled on using Mason jars that we had used at my bridal shower, some corn kernels I found in our pantry, a little bit of raffia, and some tea light candles I found in a random closet. I threw it all together, and I was honestly a little bit amazed they didn't look totally heinous. Evan and I also did an emergency gathering mission to Michaels and Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and scored an appropriately kitschy turkey decoration, and some autumn-colored napkins on clearance. Oh, and bought squash. I've always seen squash in Thanksgiving ads, so we had squash, too. 

And now onto the big day. I swear, I was more nervous on November 22, 2012 than I had been on my wedding day. Probably because I knew that my wedding day would more than likely end on a good note, while Thanksgiving could end with food poisoning. I spent the entire afternoon vacuuming, dusting, and setting out the squash in appealing formations, while Evan manned the kitchen. We had actually found some recipes on Pinterest (I LOVE Pinterest. It makes me feel craft/cooking capable, which is quite the feat!) that we wanted to try, such as a sparkling cranberry punch, crock pot mashed potatoes, and jalepeno crescent roll poppers. We had initially planned on trying both of these out beforehand, but subbing, graduate school, and a severe case of naivete got in the way. 

In all honesty, I was freaking out right until every one came over. Seeing my family (original and new acquisitions) gathered together, laughing, catching up and drinking the cranberry punch without wincing made everything else seem kind of petty. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have minded too much if we had had to order pizza. But, as it turns out, everything turned out totally, totally awesome. I had a wonderful time, and I'm pretty sure everyone else did, too (that could be because we may have forgotten to mention there was wine in the punch, but hey, whatever helps). And, I think I'm still full. There was so much food, it was unbelievable. Oh, and it has to be said that I, Mariela Tyler, made jalepeno crescent roll poppers successfully. Seriously. I owned those poppers. 

Now, onto pictures from the big day! 

Our foyer, with our last minute decorations!

Kitchen going full-force. Note my jalepeno poppers on the counter, next to  phone, in case I set the whole place ablaze and needed to call 911. 

Our table, all prettied up! 

My most crafty moment! I think they looked cute! 

The appetizer table! Seriously, these are just the appetizers! Tamales, pepper poppers, deviled eggs, veggies, and crackers and cheese. 

My squash! 

We actually lit a fire in our fireplace! It was totally worth the entire house smelling like a campsite for the next few days! 

Sparkling Cranberry Punch! So good! Thank you, Pinterest! 

My adorable husband, mashing away. 

Norman Rockwell, eat your heart out. 

The dessert table. So. Good. 

I also made turkey cupcakes for the occasion. I think the one in the middle looks especially terrified to be eaten.

There you have it! We survived hosting Thanksgiving. In fact, I'd say we pretty much conquered it. I actually didn't get a shot of all the finished food, because it was pretty much hoovered as soon as it hit the table. But it was good, I promise. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, full of love, laughter, and of course, squash. Ours was full of all three, and we are actually considering doing it all over again next year!