My Thanksgiving photo diary

All my friends know that Laura is many things but a cook. I'm not even necessarily a bad cook... but definitely a lazy one blessed with a husband that loves to cook,  so if I was left to my own devices I would have a picnic dinner everyday of my life if. Yet every so often I like to make an extra effort and go all the way with an amazing feast. This year it happened to be for Thanksgiving.

All my beautiful things are in storage, so I had to be a little bit creative. I'm not a paper plates kind of girl, so last wee I made a trip to Ikea to buy plates. 

I borrowed my mother's festive table cloth that we've been using every Christmas for the past I don't know how many years and I set the table the night before so it's one less thing to do. I bought gold glitter paper tags and used them to tie cutlery and as name places with bright orange napkins.

I literally cooked all afternoon - the turkey takes forever and I like to have everything ready at least one hour before my guests arrive.

I made a traditional "Fantacci Thanksgiving" with butter-roasted turkey and our three sides of mashed potatoes, peas with pancetta and sweet and sour "cipolline" (trying to find them in the UK was a massive challenge!). 

For dessert I had a panettone sent from Italy which I serve with whipped cream and hot chocolate sauce (plus my guests all bring a dessert each).

One of the best bits was the "cocktails desk" set up by Greta's wonder godfather... Greta made an appearance too in her sparkly dress and massive bow...

My outfit was planned a few days ahead - I decided to go with lace culottes and a sparkly lightweight knit. Happy Thanksgiving!