Y'all know by now I'm a foodie through and through. I love food, and I love sharing my "foodventures" with you guys. Needless to say, and apparent in my previous article, the holiday season is a foodie's favorite time of year, and this year's Thanksgiving goodies did not disappoint.

I'm from Norman, Oklahoma, but I always spend Thanksgiving with family who live out of town. Most years, we travel south to my aunt's house just north of the Oklahoma-Texas border; however, with my parents recently moving from Tennessee to Missouri, I spent Thanksgiving this year in the Springfield area.

My mom made Thanksgiving dinner, and she stuck to the traditional dishes, as usual. We had turkey, cornbread stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, Hawaiian sweet rolls, a simple gravy, and the star of the show - my crispy, crunchy green bean casserole. (All the fried onions...)

For dessert, she made a no-bake cherry cheesecake (which my fiance inhaled) and our family's gelatin salad recipe. The gelatin salad isn't the most aesthetically pleasing dessert, but it tastes great, and it's special to me because my mom only makes it this time of year, and it reminds me of all the holidays growing up.

We spent Friday at Silver Dollar City in Branson, and if you aren't there to ride rides (we weren't), it's a foodie's paradise. I had two types of succotash: a harvest skillet [country ham with a green bean and carrot base] and a southwest skillet [seasoned chicken with a corn and okra base]. However, my mom and I kicked ourselves because the succotash we really wanted hid in the back by the barbecue restaurant, and we were too full by the time we got there. It had brisket with a drool-worthy skillet potato and onion base.

Aside from the skillets, I indulged in some of the best apple cider I ever had (but their wassail is better), various types of fruit butters including blackberry and cherry, the flaky goodness that was a caramel apple turnover, a caramel apple with nuts, house-made fudge and peanut brittle, a ranch burger and fries, and my favorite treat of the day... a giant s'more.

Let me tell you guys about this s'more though... First and foremost, you can get a combo with a large hot chocolate. (It was cold, so I was all over that.) However, the real magic is the s'more itself. They make it with two, thick chocolate chip cookies inside of graham crackers, and then you get to roast your own marshmallows!

Saturday, we bummed it on the couch and watched football games all day, but my mom still made a fabulous beef stew for lunch (one of my favorites), as well as an easy Velvetta queso with chips.

Yet, without question, Sunday gave our stomachs the true test...

We ate a light breakfast (eggs, bacon, Texas toast with fruit butter), and then we had early dinner at Lambert's Cafe in Ozark, and you never leave there hungry.

They serve stick-to-your-ribs country classics in huge portions, but they're most famous for their table to table appetizers or "pass arounds" [black eyed peas, fried potatoes and onions, macaroni and tomatoes, fried okra, sorghum, and apple butter] and their "thrown rolls". (Yes, they literally throw them at you.)

I ordered the roast beef with mashed potatoes, green beans, and corn, and then I sampled some fried potatoes and onions, fried okra, and (of course) the hot rolls.

I honestly didn't think I could down one more bite... until I remembered they had blackberry cobbler with ice cream (a.k.a. our kryptonite). However, I was glad my dessert stomach came through because it could honestly be the best I ever had.

(Not sure if you guys are as much of cobbler connoisseurs as I am, but the crust is what makes a good cobbler, and this cobbler had the perfect crust.)

My sweet tooth is huge, so it's no surprise the desserts topped my list, but fried things always come in a close second (tied with wine spritzers and mimosas). All in all, my stomach and I are pleased with the holiday weekend. Nothing is better than family, football, and festive food.