Thanksgiving Pre-Game

Although my mom is technically hosting, I'm doing a ton of cooking for the holiday this week. In case you're interested, here is the menu we're having:

• Baked brie and water crackers
  
• Herb brined turkey with Riesling gravy
• Corn bread stuffing (with sausage and apples)
• Mashed potatoes
• Vegetables (to be determined, based on whatever looks good at the market)
• Cranberries in Pinot Noir
  
• Sweet potatoes with caramelized apples
• Fresh rolls
• Lemon ginger cheesecake
• Birthday cake (for Kenny! Happy Almost-1st Birthday!)
• Chocolate pecan squares

To get a jump on things over the weekend, I made the cheesecake and cranberry sauce, assembled the sweet potatoes and prepped the bread (baked cornbread, diced and dried it) for stuffing. I also prepped some layers of the cranberry chocolate torte I'm bringing to dinner on Wednesday night with Chris' family and made the chocolate pecan bars. Whew - that's already a lot of cooking!

If you're still looking for an excellent recipe for cranberry sauce or sweet potatoes, take a look below!