We knew MONTHS ago that we would not be able to travel home for the holidays. It was scary enough to travel from Montana to Texas when we relocated back to Austin this summer. Even so, it was odd to spend Thanksgiving alone (knowing Christmas and New Years will be the same). We decided to not do a traditional Thanksgiving feast, but we are both suckers for a pumpkin pie, so I made one of those from scratch!

I thought it would be fun to walk you through our meals yesterday. Warning- meal 2 was pie. 🙂

Meal 1: Charcuterie

I made a cute little menu so my partner Jon could pick out exactly what he wanted for his plate. I tried to use items we have around for other purposes (fruits, veggies, cheeses, meats) but also purchased little baguette crisps from HEB cause I wanted a cracker option and we generally do not eat crackers.

Meal 2: Pumpkin Pie!

I made Joanne Chang’s pumpkin pie. She has a REALLY great pie crust recipe. Here’s a link to her books and my YouTube video rolling out the dough.

The final product was DELIGHTFUL! I cut out the uggo slice that has to be sacrificed when taking pictures. That is not available because I ate pieces of it and the bottom of the crust did not come out because I stupidly thought a butter knife could cut the pie. Yup.

As you can see, the pies were topped differently. The top pic was my partner Jon’s. He is team Reddi Whip. The second pic is mine (yes, I coordinated my coffee cup for this picture) with fresh whipped cream. I had leftover heavy cream from the pie, so I figured it would be a fun addition. It was. And I forced a spoon of “the real stuff” on Jon’s plate after the pictures were taken. He is still team Reddi Whip. You have to admire his conviction.

Meal 3: Jonny want Wingies

The final meal of the day, followed by a brisk walk to avoid a food coma, was oven baked buffalo wings and veggies. I used this recipe, which is a staple over here. It is what we eat each Super Bowl and generally what Jon asks for as his birthday meal. We also had Topo Chicos, which are the BEST sparkling waters on the planet. We bought a pack from Costco and treat them like fine champagne, only using them for special occasions.

As you can tell, the chopped veggies from meal one made a comeback! I use Whattaburger buffalo sauce because I will eat anything they make, TBH. Especially their spicy ketchup, which might be made of angel wings and unicorn sneezes.

Thanks for reading! I am making a bread pudding with leftover items from the pie. Stay tuned for that “baller on a budget” adventure.

xo,