2012 Thanksgiving Feast Menu

It’s that time of year again for giving thanks, sharing blessings with family & friends and feasting till you explode. Every year, the Queen Mum and I put out heads together to plan a menu for our Thanksgiving Day Feast featuring old favorites yet always adding in/trying something new.

 

Once again, I believe we are going to put our foot off in this dinner ~ of course, we are having help with the superior culinary turkey roasting skills of our BFF Joe Pollhein, Sr. (yeah, that turkey last year ~ finger lickin’, tryptophan inducing awesome). P.S. We are at 15 people so far. I LOVE IT!!! So, without further ado:

 

Thanksgiving 2012 @ True Blessings Estate

 

Appetizers

Avocado, Bacon & Tomato Crostini’s

Crab Rangoon Dip

 

Main Course

Cider Bourbon Glazed Roast Turkey w/Homemade Gravy

Crown Roast of Pork w/Fennel-Apple Stuffing & Cider Bourbon Sauce

Glazed Ham

 

Cranberry Sauce w/Pinot Noir

Three (or more) Cheese Macaroni & Cheese -Erin

Queen Mum Baked Beans

Balsamic Green Beans

Spiced Mashed Squash w/Marshmallow Meringue

Wilted Garlic Kale

Cornbread, Sausage & Pecan Dressing

 

Dessert

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

Rum Raisin Bread Pudding

 

Libations

Pumpkin Spiced Mudslides

Coquito De Mami Morrillo

Wine

 

We gonna throw down. The doors to the Estate are open if you don't have a place to hang your hat & pull up a seat. Bring a bottle of wine and wear stretchy pants (or bring some sweats for the inevitable tryptophan coma). Give me a holla if ya wanna join us.

Do you plan a menu or go with the traditional staples? Do you have your menu planned yet?

Cooking w/Love: Amazing Avocado House Party

Now this was a great time!

 

Carving Pumpkins & Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

I had nothing to all day while waiting for THE PHONE CALL but drink champagne…and Carve Pumpkins! So, that’s what I did. In between glasses of mimosas (which really became more and more like orange colored champagne as time passed), I carved our pumpkins and separated the seeds out to roast.

 

 

 

Not too shabby for a tipsy carver, huh? I used the recipe below for my pumpkin seeds…and they are DELISH!!!

 

Sweet & Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

 

1 egg white
1/4 cup natural cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grained sea salt
1 cup fresh pumpkin seeds

 

Preheat oven to 375. In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the egg white, sugar, cayenne and salt. Add the pumpkin seeds and toss well. Drain off any excess egg white (using a strainer) and place seeds in a single layer across a baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until seeds are golden. Sprinkle with a bit more sugar and cayenne pepper when they come out of the oven. Taste and season with more salt if needed.

Makes one cup.

Cooking With Love: Homemade Funnel Cakes

I saw a recipe this week on The Chew to make homemade Funnel Cakes. Having just got back from Ocean City and enjoying a hot funnel cake on the Boardwalk, I thought a lazy Sunday afternoon would be the perfect setting to gather the family around & reminisce over about our vacation over hot funnel cakes in my kitchen.

 

I followed the recipe - Daphne Oz's Funnel Cakes – but I had to had about a 1/2 cup more flour to make the batter just a tad thicker. You could probably use a box of pancake mix, but I would add sugar & vanilla to get the same taste.

 

MAKE SURE THE OIL IS H.O.T. by dropping a bit into the oil and making sure it fries up.

 

Don’t walk away cause they cook fast.Like 30 sec on each side fast. I used two spatulas to turn it over and placed the hot funnel cake on a napkin covered plate.

 

DELISH!!!!

 

We topped with strawberry compote & powdered sugar. You can do any number of combinations.

 

It was a good evening with the family.

Cooking With Love–Living Social French Cooking Class

Last night, the Queen Mum and I used the  Living Social Modern French Cuisine Cooking Class with Chef Bernard Henry vouchers I purchased for QM for Mother’s Day.

WHAT A BLAST!! And now I am seriously considering putting together a dinner party. Chef Henry was entertaining while imparting cooking tips over each course paired with a glass of wine. What a wonderful way to learn some new recipes and cooking skills.

 

Two new rules or key takeaways that I got out of the class:

1. You can always add – you can NEVER take away. Cooking is an art. Following a recipe is part just being able to read AND taste. If it calls for 1 Tablespoon of Salt…start with half and…
2. TASTE, TASTE, TASTE. – you can always add.

Since the microphone and the monitors were malfunctioning last night…and the class was small (under 20), Chef Henry would have us gather around the main island/station, demonstrate a skill or how to get a part of the dish together and then send us back to our station to get to work. He would then come around and taste everyone’s dish and make a suggestion or give us the thumbs up. It was like a friendly Top Chef.

      

      

The Menu

 

Zucchini-Basil Soup

Lamb Skewers With Green Olive & Mint Sauce

Sautéed Cod with Asparagus Sauce and Fennel

Rum Raisin Bread Pudding

 

All I can say – DE-FUGGING-LICIOUS!!!! OMG! OMG! OMG!

     

          

The FireMarshall is VERY excited that I have a new recipe for Bread Pudding – his absolute favorite desert.

 

Cooking with Love…and the Joy of Cooking.

 

Do you have a passion for cooking?

Cooking With Love–Deviled Easter Chicks

I saw a picture earlier this week that originally came from Pintrest and then circulated on FB of these deviled eggs that looked like chicks hatching. KEEEUUUTE! I just had to make them. There were no instructions that I could find, but if I can make deviled eggs on the fly, I should be able to handle copying some deviled egg looking chicks just from the picture.

 

Start with some boiled eggs – like DUH. Oh, and (at least for me) let them cool completely and use a spoon to remove shell so that the egg remains smooth & unbroken. Then I cut them on an angle & used a small spoon to help get the yolk out without damaging the egg.

            

Put top & bottoms aside and make your filling. I have my favorite recipe…make your filling anyway you want. Once I had my filling ready, I put it in a quart size bag, cut out a corner and filled my eggs just as you would if you were working with frosting. Easiest way to fill an egg anytime.

            

                               

Once you have all your eggs filled (and over fill them as shown), put the caps on, add a sliver of carrot for the beak and whatever you want for the eyes. I hate olives so I used pieces of pickles…and WHA LA!

 

Deviled Easter Chicks

 

It looks labor intensive, but not really any more than making regular deviled eggs. This was fun and a huge hit!

 

Hope you had a Blessed Easter!

Cooking with Love–Taco Bowls

The other day I read an interesting article on LifeHacker about making your own Taco Bowls by pulling out your muffin pans, turning them upside down, heating up the oven and forming bowls with some tortilla’s. Well, we gave them a whirl tonight and they were a BIG HIT!

 

 

Take your tortilla, brush it with a little olive oil, sprinkle some kosher salt on them OR whatever seasoning you want for your shells, heat oven to 375-400 and bake for about 15 min.

One tip…make sure that you create a good flat base in the pans so the bowls will stand up when done. Just down right tasty. Fill with whatever you’d like for taco night and you have a quick, easy, family favorite. Princess Cara was the biggest fan with 3 fills of her bowl (they are small so calm your nerves) AND ate the shell afterwards. GO CARA.

              

What you got good cookin’?

Twas The Day Before Christmas…

…and we were busy, busy, busy! My Baby Maia came into town (yeah, yeah…her parents too) so her parents could go the Redskins/Vikings game, our annual Christmas Eve Party and leave out of BWI to fly to Val’s brother’s house in TX for Christmas.

While Manny & Val went to the game. Princess Cara, Princess Maia and I got busy making a Ginger Bread House & Christmas Bark (made famous by CreoleInDC). Princess Maia brought Princess Cara an apron for Christmas and once opened and attired, we got to cooking.

                     

                     

These ladies were serious about that Ginger Bread House. Look at the intensity here as we decorate. What Fun!

After we got done with the Ginger Bread House, I had my helpers work on melting chocolate (under supervision) for the Christmas Bark. Let me tell you how hard it is to keep those little fingers out of the chocolate. They kept insisting on doing taste tests for the sake of the Kingdom. Wanted to make sure that the Bark was fit for consumption and distribution to friends & family. I let the Princess sprinkle the nuts and dried fruit on the chocolate to make their own versions. Interesting how they were very meticulous about nut placement.

What a lovely idea. I’m hoping they are ready in time for me to take to the parties I have to go to this evening.

 

I hope your Christmas Eve has been starry & bright. Have you been a busy bee today?

Not So Wordless Wednesday

I LOVE this season…and to while working on sharpening my mixology skills, I discovered the most awesome season liquor – Fulton’s Harvest Pumpkin Pie Cream Liqueur. OMG!!!!

 

For you Mixology envy pleasure, may I present the

 PUMPKIN MUDSLIDE --

Equal parts Fulton’s Harvest, Vanilla Vodka & Kahlua. Pour over ice. Heaven in a glass.

 

Fulton’s Harvest is a seasonal item. GET IT NOW. GET IT IF YOU SEE IT. Bring it to my house and let me mix for you…or just bring as a hostess gift to my next soiree.

Cooking W/Love: Mushroom Croque-Monsieur

….or How to Make a Ham & Cheese Like a Parisian

The Queen Mum and I went to Paris in 2005 and one sunny day we climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower. At the top there is a café and we ordered a Croque-Monsieur and thought we had died and gone to heaven. When we speak of that trip we talk about the Bastille Day Parade in the rain, my insistence to climb to the top of EVERYTHING via the stairs, and the ham & cheese sandwich we had sitting on a bench at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

 

MEMORIES.

       

We have often talked about making those sandwiches but always felt that we might ruin the memory if we fugged up trying to reproduce the sandwich ourselves. …and THEN…Bon Appetit came out with an issue that had a section entitled “Croque Star”

Of the world’s great melted-cheese sandwiches, the French Croque-Monsieur is king. In this easy bistro menu, our version is elevated with mushrooms, a perfect mornay sauce, and just the right ham.

And they weren’t lying! OFF THE CHAIN DELICIOUS! We were in heaven tonight!

 

Putting the sandwiches together.

 

   Spread the Mornay Sauce on Top ------------ Sprinkle on Mushroom/Shallot Mix

 

    Sprinkle top w/Gruyere & Parmesan ------------ Bake in Oven

 

 

Nom…Nom…Nom…