I have rarely had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner… Growing up, my mom made sushi for T-day, though as I grew into my teens, big turkeys started to appear next to the sashimi. And for the last couple of years, due to work or lack of motivation, we went out for Chinese food.

I know. Sacrilege.

This year though, I’m cooking. It’ll just be the three of us because we avoid travel during Thanksgiving week (we had a harrowing travel experience five years ago and vowed never to subject ourselves to it again – it’s hard when you have no family in town). It’ll be nice and low-key, and the menu will be non-traditional. I probably won’t make sushi, but it will be stepped up a bit from our usual store-bought roasted chicken. Instead of pumpkin pie, I’m planning on making this panna cotta. There might be cornish hens and maybe a corn bread stuffing…

I bought a humongous 29 oz can of pumpkin puree by mistake, which is far too much for the panna cotta. So I made pumpkin muffins using half the can.

I used Sarabeth’s recipe, but didn’t have any raisins or sunflowers or pastry flour, so I made a few modifications: omitted the raisins and sunflowers and used cake flour instead. Not to worry, they’re still absolutely delectable. And when combined with Ina’s maple cream cheese frosting…well, these muffins are entirely too addictive.

How cute are those polka-dot cupcake cups?? I happened to have stripey washi tape in my supplies basket so I made little flags. Don’t they look great together?

What are your T-day plans if you’re in the US? We miss seeing our family, but it’s also nice to have the special day with just the three of us.