Guys, I’ve been busy.

Work travel, fun travel, home projects, new friends, new hobbies, getting engaged — all that stuff.

But I hate it when part-time bloggers apologize for not blogging. Who cares, right? I’m here now. And it’s Thanksgiving, my favorite.

This is the first Thanksgiving where I’ve been in the country, and not done Thanksgiving with my parents. It’s just too far to go home for the weekend, especially since my partner has to work Friday. And it’s exciting to feel like this year we’re starting our own traditions. I am so pumped for Thursday.

Here’s what’s on our menu:

Pork belly — we had a big pork belly in the freezer, just waiting for the right occasion. This feels like the right one, so we’re going with pork instead of turkey. I know, treason.

Green salad

Celeriac & leek soup

Mashed potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes with pork gravy — I had never had a Jerusalem artichoke until this year. If you haven’t had one, the flavor is rich and nutty and they cook pretty much like potatoes, with a similar texture, so they add something really special to mashed potatoes.

Cranberries (obviously)

Garlic-stuffed mushrooms — I’m actually just experimenting here. I’ve been wanting to try just stuffing mushrooms with whole garlic cloves and roasting them. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Sweet potato pie

Pumpkin pie

And the salad veggies, celeriac, leeks, Jerusalem artichokes and garlic are all coming from the farm my partner works on. I love that.

I’ve been baking a lot of pies, because it’s fall, so… naturally. Pies. This weekend I baked my first butternut squash pie. Apparently, squash pie is the dessert pie of choice in the UK–not pumpkin, or so I’ve heard. It was delicious.

What are your Thanksgiving plans? I want to hear.