That Girl Guide

Some people are of the mindset that appetizers ruin your guests appetite.  I personally believe that it is better to keep the guests happy in case your turkey takes longer to cook than expected.  The last thing you want are hungry guests that want appetizers when you are trying to pull together a holiday meal with so many side dishes.  I do feel that it is best to keep appetizers simple on Thanksgiving because the real feast is when dinner is served.  A variety of things to snack on is best. 

Nuts – Salted Almonds, Natural Pistachios, or Spicy Cashews are wonderful to snack on.  And guilt free since you will be eating so many carbs for dinner. 

Sweet Treats – Chocolate Truffles, Mints, cookies, maple syrup candies.

Dips – Olive tampanade with a whole wheat baguette. 

Cheese – A cheese tray with Brie, gorgonzola, and cheddar with a baguette and crackers is simple yet elegant.  Also put some grapes, pears, apples, and honey on your cheese platter to take it from ordinary to extraordinary. 

We are expecting about 20 people to come join us for dessert on Thanksgiving.  I am not stressed about it because I will be ready with a variety of choices so everyone will satisfy their sweet tooth.  I have a carafe marked decaf, a carafe for regular coffee, and the stainless carafe that goes with my coffee maker.  All the coffee will be pre-ground and pre-measured for one pot and placed in labeled plastic bags with decaf/regular.  We wil arrange the desserts, serving tools, coffee, and accompaniments on a buffet table and allow guests to help themselves to second helpings of dessert or coffee.  Please see our menu below…  Who wouldn’t love something from this list?

Pumpkin Pie

Apple Crumb Pie

Peanut Butter Pie

Italian Butter Cookies

Chocolate Truffles

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Biscotti

We are blessed with many wonderful friends and though I wish that I had the room to entertain everyone for Thanksgiving we simply don’t.  So my solution this year was to invite family for dinner and our friends for dessert.  We had invitations printed for 4:00 for dinner guests and 8:00 for dessert guests.  The long time lag is so I can make sure that everything has been cleaned up from dinner before the dessert guests join us.  It is a great compromise and now we are not forced to choose between spending holidays with our friends or our family – we can have the best of both worlds. 

I try to add something new each year to my Thanksgiving Menu.  There are some traditional parts of the meal that one should never leave out (turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes).  On Thanksgiving, it is really in the side dishes that make the meal.  This is not a day to open the jar or the freezer, you should take the time to make things from scratch. 

2009 Side Dishes

1) Sauteed Carrots – Heat your pan over medium heat, add olive oil and butter, add the carrots and a sprinkling or herbs de provence or fresh time, salt and pepper.  Cook until tender and slightly caramelized. 

2) Homemade applesauce -

3) Cranberry Sauce – not that nonsense they sell in a can! 

4) Roasted Squash 

You can cube squash, add olive oil, sage, salt and pepper and roast at 400 degrees like you would a potato.  You can also roast it whole and then add brown sugar, salt, pepper, and butter afterwards.  It just depends on whether you like it sweet or savory.  The important thing is that you don’t serve your guests that awful frozen baby food like squash. 

Here is my simple recipe for Pumpkin pancakes. 

Mix enough pancake batter for 4 servings (and dare I say that it is fine to use a mix)

Add a 15 oz. can of pumpkin, one teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg, one tablespoon of pure vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. 

Serve the pancakes with warm maple syrup and a touch of butter.  These pancakes pair nicely with a cappuccino, hot mulled cider, or your favorite autumnal blend of coffee.  Pancakes make a great breakfast dinner and your holiday guests or family will love these over the holidays. 

Everyone loves a nice cool drink on a warm summerday.  But we can get sick of the same old thing.  Lemonade is a great choice – but add a new flair with cherry flavored vodka or a dash of pomegranate juice.  Sometimes it is one little addition that makes all the difference.  When you make the simple syrup to sweeten the lemonade add mint leaves or lavender.  Another popular summer drink is Sangria, but make a white sangria instead, which I personally find more refreshing than a sangria made with a heavier red wine.  So find a sweet white wine like a Riesling and add lemonade with some thin lemon slices.  Or you can use pinot grigio and add white grape juice and sparkling water.  Make sure you have a nice assortment of beers and frosted mugs to serve them in.  No one wants a warm beer on a hot day! 

We had a quiet Valentines at home this year and were quite shocked to see the long lines at our local supermarket.  Evidently many of us stayed in this year.  We decided to splurge a bit on Black Truffles and just had a simple dish of angel hair pasta tossed with butter, truffle oil, salt, pepper, and the star of the dish being black truffles shaved over the top of the pasta.  We had a great bottle of wine and chocolate truffles for dessert which was heaven with the 1999 Brunello di Montalcino.  So next time Valentine’s Day rolls around consider a night in with better food and wine than you will get in a crowded restaurant with a limited menu. 

Here are some of my favorite tips for stress free holiday entertaining.  Life is too short to get all worried and worst of all to not have enough time to enjoy your own party.  That is tragic!

1) Make something ahead of time so you just have to throw it in the oven.  I love to make a tray of lasagna a day or two ahead of time and bake it off when my guests arrive.  It actually tastes better after it sits for a bit and who doesn’t love lasagna?

2) Make a cheesecake for dessert because you can make it the day before and can serve it for a couple of days until it is gone.  I like to make a simple glaze by melting high quality seedless jams as a sauce.  People love it and it is so simple – just put some jam in a sauce pan and heat over low heat until warm. 

3) Keep life simple and just serve appetizers.  A simple platter with grapes, cheddar cheese, and crackers is always a crowd pleaser.  Include an olive dip or a spinach and artichoke dip as well.  I also like to have a stacked dessert tray with little treats like truffles, amaretti cookies, and biscotti.  You can never go wrong with some brie and a baguette as well.  The holidays are about enjoying friends and family not being the martyr that cooked all day. 

4) Have a dessert buffet with chocolate mousse, a cheesecake, and holiday cookies.  Make some strong coffee and spike it with Baileys – your guests will love it!

I have followed this menu for the past several years and it has never failed me, and my guests love it.  I have pulled the recipes from a variety of sources which I will list below. 

The Perfect Roast Turkey by Ina Garten aka The Barefoot Contessa

Herb and Apple Stuffing by Ina Garten aka The Barefoot Contessa 

Cranberry Orange Sauce by Martha Stewart

Mashed Potatoes (mash as you normally would, but add 6 -8 cloves of roasted garlic that has been mashed with a fork) You should use Yukon Gold Potatoes for best results.  People will wonder why your mashed potatoes are so fabulous. 

Roast Acorn Squash – Roast at 350 degress for 45-60 minutes (until a knife goes through them easily).  Before roasting add a teaspoon of butter and a fresh sage leaf.  After roasting remove the sage leaf and stir or pulse in a food processor.  Add some butter, brown sugar,  some freshly grated nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper.

Sometimes I roast brussels sprouts or green beans as well.  Sometimes I stop at the squash, it all depends on how many people are coming.  I have found that people don’t need 7 side dishes in order to be happy on Thanksgiving.  That realization has removed a great deal of stress from my Thanksgiving preparations. 

One Month Before:

• Finalize guest list and send invitations. 
• Finalize your menu and make shopping list (perishables and non-perishables separate so you can take care of some shopping ahead of time). 

Two weeks before: 

• Check serving bowls and decide which serving bowls and platters you will be using on Thanksgiving.  I have a huge platter that I put both the turkey and the stuffing on, a beautiful lined silver bowl for cranberry sauce, and serving bowls that match my china for the mashed potatoes and other vegetables. 
• Polish your silver get your candlesticks etc. table ready. 
• Arrange to borrow any tables, if necessary. 
• Order centerpieces or flowers needed to make them yourself. 

One Week Before or weekend before Thanksgiving:

• Buy non-perishable food items
• Make your final seating chart (and place cards)
• Iron linens and hang them so they are ready for the table.  If they are washable you can wait to do this, put them in the dryer (dry) before you set the table or spray them with a wrinkle releaser product.  Again, only if they are washable linens – do not try this with Grandma’s lace tablecloth. 
• Buy the wine. 
• Put sticky notes in the serving bowls so you know what dish you are using for each dish you are preparing. 
• Get your house ready for company or consider hiring a cleaning service to help you out with this. 

Monday before Thanksgiving:

Tuesday before Thanksgiving:

• Take care of last minute shopping (turkey, bread for stuffing, etc) 
• Pick up or make your centerpieces.  Keep flowers in the fridge until Thursday AM.  Make sure you have candles as well. 

Wednesday Before Thanksgiving:

• Roast the squash, flavor it and put it in oven ready dish (covered with plastic wrap).
• Make the mashed potatoes and put them in a metal or glass heat proof bowl.  Allow them to cool completely and then put them in the fridge with the plastic wrap touching them to keep them fresh until tomorrow.  
• Cut up the herbs, onions, celery, etc. for the stuffing.  I like to pulse them a few times in a food processor to save time.  I also measure out what is needed for each recipe and save it in a plastic bag labeled with the dish it is needed for. 
• Set up buffet table and put tablecloth on it. 

Thanksgiving Day:

• Cut up the bread for the stuffing and toast it.  Prepare the stuffing. 
• Prepare the turkey and stuff it – get it in the oven.   
• Set the tables and get out the centerpieces. 
• Set up the buffet table with serving dishes and serving spoons so when the food is ready everything will be neatly laid out.  It will also prevent you from forgetting anything because the empty dish will remind you to get the cranberry sauce. 
• An hour before the turkey will be ready – put the squash in the oven so it can re-heat. 
• When the turkey comes out, tent it underneath aluminum foil and let it rest for 20 minutes.  This will allow the juices to redistribute throughout the meat.  Begin re-heating the mashed potatoes over a double boiler.  Add some milk if they become dry. 
• As the turkey is being carved, prepare the gravy. 
• Put everything in serving bowls and platters, serve the wine, and dinner is served.