Big Occasion Meal-First timer!

So one of the ultimate culinary tasks...putting a full meal together...to match perfectly a special occasion!  When it comes to special occasions, I've found you have to really put some thought into what kind of people your serving to and what kind of cuisine that specific special occasion calls for.  I'm still learning the whole art of special occasion cooking...my repertoire is still pretty small...but that said, this past Thanksgiving (forever ago, I know !), I took it upon myself to make the entire meal, including the meat portion, for my extended family!  So there it was, I had an audience (oldies) to cater too and an occasion to match food too.  Now, first of all note, when I say "match" I don't mean pick the same ol' turkey slapped on a plate and bowl a box of whipped up potatoes, but I mean think about what delicious food and smells warm your heart on this occasion.  Convey a sense of classiness and respect for what kinds of food the occasion calls for, but add your own special touch, that can only come for you!  The next step was planning a menu for this fantastic brainwave I had.
This is what I came up with and How I did it:
-Sundried tomato and white bean crock pot cooked ham : tossed in the crock pot cans of sundried tomatoes, white beans,worchesire sauce,water, a bay leaf, and a bunch of secret spices ( use your imagination)
-homemade cranberries : bought a fresh bag ( is that an oxymoron?) of cranberries and boiled their little berry lives away, plus sugar, then refrigerated.
-homemade buns: found a dinner roll recipe on the interwebs and baked the little devils.  I also made an executive decision to make them somewhat smaller so there were more !
-baked puff potatoes (puff means...there PUFFED !...just fluffy and melt in your mouth type good): boil potatoes then whip them up real good with cream and an egg. Proceed to spice ! I used garlic powder and dill and a pinch of dried mustard.
-boiled carrots: cut enough carrots into little round orange disks ( you know how that goes...) then boil them until their nice and soft to bite.  These should be ready to go just has your setting everything else on the table. Season them with a little salt and parsley right before serving !

-crock pot...slowly cooked...stuffing! : bread chunked...cut up celery...threw in some butter...minced onion...eggs...can of chicken broth...parseley...minced garlic gloves...rosemary...and let the crock pot work its magic
-pumpkin pie truffle (keepin' it real...truffle style!) : found a recipe on the internet..and followed it to a tee, because I can't lie, this was at risk of being the biggest screw up !

So my first big occasion meal turned out to be a success.  You can usually tell when a meal is a success when people are filling up their plates 2-3 times over, which is basically what I am basing my success rate off of.  Also, my taste buds tingled in agreement.   One of my favourite things about cooking is making people eat it !  Luckily everyone is usually willing !  After this meal was over, I was later told that it was thought that my first time big occasion meal was going to be a disaster....something akin to what's pictured below.

Bender-Futurama (Whatever...I'd eat his cooking!)

                                     

But me, being unaware that screw up rates are high for first time big occasion meal makers, dove into the thick of it with confidence and spice ! ( Which is what everyone should do ! There is nothing to be afraid of!) Below are the results !

Sundried tomato and White bean ham

buns...puff potatoes...stuffing...carrots

Pumpkin pie Truffle ( I could work on my food photo skills ! hehe )

Fun foodie fact: apples, potatoes and onions allegedly all taste the same when you plug your nose !  Can anyone confirm? I plan of testing it out.

Slainte