I’m getting to that point in my life where my idea of fun is inviting people over and cooking a big meal. That’s probably part of the reason that we invented this fake holiday called Hallowsgiving that we celebrate right after Halloween. Last year’s feast:

Our moms are still in charge of Thanksgiving dinners in our respective families and so it will probably be years until I get to host the holiday myself. Until then, I like being able to practice and make my own menu! The other reason we do this is that Jason and I both LOVE Thanksgiving food and find it a real shame that you normally only get to have it once a year. So we changed that!

Hallowsgiving was so much fun this year because I had a lot of time to shop for the food and to cook (unlike the last couple years when I was doing this in between law school classes). Just like Thanksgiving, we use Hallowsgiving as a time to be grateful and reflect on the things we’re thankful for. Unemployment can be a difficult pill to swallow, but I’m starting to see how much of a blessing this time really is for me. I’m thankful that we’re okay financially despite the fact that I’m not working, and I’m thankful for this time that I have to honestly just do what I love and relax. Probably sounds strange for someone who just failed the bar exam, but I am relaxed! Life is good and I’m thankful.

I woke up early on Saturday and got to cooking!

Since we were celebrating after Halloween was over, I was able to snag a little Halloween decor on clearance! This tablecloth will come in handy in future years.

My family was running late coming over to our place so Jason and I enjoyed the appetizers on our own: marcona almonds with rosemary, double cream gouda, olives, and pita chips.

My family arrived soon after and we dug into dinner! This year I made roasted turkey pieces, buttermilk mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, moroccan carrot salad, roasted brussels sprout salad, whole wheat rolls, oyster dressing, and brown butter apples with candied pecans. I also made a little champagne cocktail that we enjoyed with dinner. This might look like a lot of food, but it’s still a miniature version of the Thanksgiving that my family has every year which is usually around 12 side dishes.

All of the sides except for the oyster dressing were vegetarian, and I actually ended up eating the oyster dressing anyways! Call me a bad vegetarian, that’s okay. It was an awesome meal.

I asked my mom to bring dessert and she made a delicious sour cream apple pie that we savored along with vanilla ice cream. She’s sharing the recipe with you all so I’ll post it later this week!

Overall it was a success and I think Hallowsgiving will be sticking around for a while. Plus now I barely have to cook this week with all the leftovers we have! In fact, I’m going to go heat some up for lunch right now.

-Lauren