A C I K TIM

Thanksgiving dinner to me, is the most important meal of the year! I look forward to this coveted meal starting from about Halloween on. I lovingly start planning my menus, watching cooking shows, and looking online for recipe inspirations. This year I decided to make my Thanksgiving dinner very special I will make everything from scratch, even the stuffing!

I plan to make just a few dishes and tasty sides, along with a small organic turkey, but I also plan to put a gourmet spin on each of them. To start with I’m going to make a gourmet appetizer tray with just a couple offerings. First will be Bacon, Bourbon Tarts with a Bourbon Whipped Cream. I found this Brian Boitano recipe online and it is heaven! How can someone be so good at two things? Cooking and ice skating! Next will be the appetizer of Mini Beef Wellington. This is a Five Ingredient Fix recipe I have made on numerous occasions. Every time I make them the crowd goes wild and with only five ingredients or less they are a must for my Thanksgiving dinner!

Now on to the turkey – gobble, gobble! This year I plan to take a trip to Whole Foods and buy a small organic turkey. As there will only be four or five people at my Thanksgiving dinner I will not need a very big one. To keep the bird nice and juicy I plan to wrap it in buttered cheesecloth. I will not be stuffing the bird, but serving the stuffing on the side.

The delicious stuffing – my husband’s favorite part of the meal! My stuffing is pretty simple but quite delicious. This is one dish where I will stick to simple and forget about making any changes. My mother and father made this and the key to their stuffing was using spicy breakfast sausage, such as Jimmy Dean, celery & onions. That is it in addition to the typical stuffing herbs and bread.

I was watching a cooking show the other day on Food Network and the chef put just a bit of sharp, white cheddar in with the mashed potatoes. I thought this was such a clever idea! They left the skin on the red, new potatoes and mashed them with warmed butter and cream. The key is to warm the butter and cream before adding to the potatoes.

And let us not forget dessert! My only twist on dessert is to make a pumpkin cheesecake instead of plain, old pumpkin pie. Regardless of the dishes, Thanksgiving dinner is truly about spending time with loved ones and being thankful for so much!