This was my first Thanksgiving away from my family. But it was also my first Thanksgiving with my new family. So it was a meal of new traditions and foods. First on the menu was Jesus soup made with a half decade old bottle of holy water… yup, you heard me.

For the main meal we had a turkey that was brined in maple syrup and then smoked, oyster stuffing (we found a pearl while eating it), heavenly hash, sweet potato casserole, Marco’s mom’s everything-but-the-kitchen-sink stuffing, and two kinds of cranberry sauce.

It was a lovely, satisfying meal full of new holiday flavors and laughs that can only be had around a family table.

But there is still an empty place in my belly that can only be filled by a stuffin’ muffin.

(Photos by Marco)

Tiff Arment