"Count Your Blessings" Thanksgiving Table and Carrot Coriander Soup Recipe

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This year my family will be out of town on Thanksgiving. Police officers don’t get holidays off so my husband will be working. Knowing that the rest of us decided to celebrate this year at Disneyland. Ryan will be flying down to meet us once he’s off. I didn’t get out of planning a traditional meal, however!! My kids requested an early Thanksgiving this year and here’s how it turned out!

When planning a tablescape for my family, I always have to keep in mind that my kids are KIDS! They are messy and clumsy! So whatever’s on the table needs to be washable or disposable. I love the idea of the brown paper runner that I was able to personalize. I tried my hand at a little fancy writing and the visual of the tally marks representing how blessed we are.

I laid a couple burlap pennants from the dollar section at Target down the center with a collection of pumpkins as the centerpiece. I’m not a huge fan of my dining room being two stories high except for when I’m able to take awesome pictures of my table from upstairs!!

These mini Martinelli apple cider bottles made each of my kiddos feel special. Such a fun thing to have their very own! It was also a perfect way to get them to use their napkins! They had to pull them out in order to get their drinks. 🙂

My placemat/chargers were 12×12 cardstock papers from Michaels that I fancied up with my Cricut. My pumpkin soup bowls are by Martha Stewart from Macy’s. The pumpkin plates were a Nordstrom Rack find. My classic white plates are Crate & Barrel and my water glasses are from Cost Plus World Market. I’ve been searching everywhere for gold silverware and finally found these kid-friendly pieces at Target!! You buy by piece so you can have a full place setting or 25 forks! Love me some Target!!

I set the table the night before so my kids kept walking past saying they couldn’t wait!

We had all of the traditional fairs with the addition of a favorite soup that I felt fit perfect with our Thanksgiving deliciousness! I found it years ago in a magazine that a reader submitted. I feel bad not giving credit but I honestly don’t know who to give it to!!

Carrot Coriander Soup

2 T butter
1 medium onion, peeled & chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
1 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced
1 medium sweet potato, peeled & cubed
2 14oz cans of chicken broth
2 t coriander
1/2 c half and half
1/2 t salt
Pepper to taste

Melt butter in a saucepan, cooking until golden brown. Add onion and cook over medium heat until lightly brown.

Add carrots, celery, sweet potato and stock to pan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and purée with an immersion blender or in a food processor. Return to pan and stir in coriander, half and half, salt and pepper. Cook for few extra minutes to heat through.

Yum!! So good and it looked perfect in my pumpkin soup bowls!