Thanksgiving holds a special place in our hearts. Sixteen years ago, on Thanksgiving day, Ken and I had our first date. Our first meal together was Thanksgiving dinner, cooked by myself and eating late at night because of Ken’s arrival time. He had flown down to the United States to celebrate American Thanksgiving, and we had a great weekend together, experiencing many of the holiday traditions in Indiana.

With our family being at least 3 days drive away, Thanksgiving has most often been a holiday shared by the two of us — an anniversary of sorts.

For years, I cooked a turkey, made stuffing, glazed carrots, baked potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberries, rolls, pumpkin pie — all of the traditional Thanksgiving day dishes.

Then one year we happened to find that Cracker Barrel serves Thanksgiving dinner at a very reasonable price. We spent a few years eating at Cracker Barrel, and then even tried their Thanksgiving dinners to go.

When I found I was allergic to corn, potatoes, and carrots, the Cracker Barrel Thanksgiving dinner had to go. In fact, much of traditional Thanksgiving had to go.

That’s when we realized: if it’s just the two of us, why do we let cultural expectations determine what we eat anyway?

We began to rethink how we celebrated Thanksgiving.

If the traditional side dishes of Thanksgiving are out, who needs turkey? Our favorite celebratory meat is steak!

So for the past few years, we’ve eaten steak on Thanksgiving, along with our favorite sides, now that I’m not allergic to them anymore. Yesterday we added glazed carrots, green bean casserole, and blue cheese mashed potatoes. And dessert? I’ll tell you tomorrow!

Blue cheese mashed potatoes? YES. And they are delicious. They were inspired by the Blue Cheese Au Gratin potatoes from Old Hickory Steakhouse, but a whole lot less time intensive to make. They are a perfect side to a nice steak. Or even a not-so-nice steak!

Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes

• 6 small or 4 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1/2 Cup heavy cream, or milk
• 4 tbs butter
• 4 oz. blue cheese, crumbled
• Salt and pepper to taste

Bring water to boil in large pot and add prepared potatoes. Boil until fork tender. While potatoes are cooking, melt together heavy cream, butter, and blue cheese. Drain cooked potatoes and place in large bowl, pour cheese mixture over potatoes and mash together. Salt and pepper to taste.

To mash potatoes, I use a combination of a fork and a brief mix with a hand mixer (so they don’t become pasty), but what would be even better to use (if I had one) would be the Nylon Masher! I have other Pampered Chef Nylon tools and they are so much more durable than other plastic tools I’ve owned. And for only $6.50, it’s a great price!

Don’t forget, there’s just a few days left to join our Online Pampered Chef Party! The party closes November 30th!