Thanksgiving was wonderful - what was your biggest hit this year?...I'll start with the new ...

E

elaine

Well-known member
things. Aside from the usuals, root vegetable soup and Ina Garten's corn pudding were huge hits. The cranberry/blueberry pie was also so delicious.

We had an Australian and an Irishman as well as American guests and they loved trying out the traditional things which were supurb- I must say before I go back into the kitchen to start the second round of clean up!!

 
I only made one new contribution and fortunately it was a hit--The Voltaggio Bros. Brussels Sprouts

with bacon, onions, apples and vinaigrette. I followed the recipe closely but as my bacon gave off a great deal of fat I skimmed most of it. I sauteed the onions with the bacon and set the pan aside to cool. I blanched the sprouts as directed, cooled in an ice bath and drained. Everything got packed up to my brother's house where I peeled the apples and continued with the recipe. I was told they were the best sprouts I've ever made.

http://eat.at/swap/forum/index.php?action=display&forumid=1&msgid=177470

 
My biggest hit was the turkey! Rubbed w/ herb butter, stuffed with apples and citrus, used

Steve's sling. It turned out PERFECTLY. I was agog, as were the guests, the majority of whom had never been to Thanksgiving. (It was the Central European quant crowd, mostly.) Really, I worried and worried about the turkey and it was--I say this with humility--better than my mom's. (But please don't tell her I said so.)

One Czech guest said, "Can you please explain stuffing to me? It's baked bread?" Funny how dishes that seem second nature suddenly look completely quirky (Bread cubes? And then you mix them with onion and celery and chicken broth?! And then you bake that?).

Guests brought sweet potatoes with a marshmallow topping that apparently vaporized on the way down from Harlem, homemade wild-berry liqueur the color of garnets, lots of homemade cookies, and a great goat cheese-spinach-cranberry salad.

And Richard's cranberry sauce is amazing.

I am so grateful to have benefited from the expertise of you all for dinner tonight! smileys/smile.gif Hope you had a good one.
Erin

 
Thanks, Traca! I made a salsa version of the Cabernet Cranberry Sauce.

I used my base salsa recipe and subbed the Cabernet Cranberry Sauce spices. It turned out really well and was a very good seller. Thanks again for the heads up, Traca!

 
The biggest hit was something I added sort of last-minute

I was all set for a pretty traditional dinner around 3pm but company got held up so I decided on 5pm for the big meal. Oops- that meant I needed to come up with something sort of light for lunch. Well, I had two lovely butternut squashes in the house so I pulled out a recipe (posted by Nan ages ago) and made roasted butternut squash soup with curry and coconut milk. Then I made that wonderful cranberry and pecan salad with balsamic/maple syrup dressing that I love- I think Pat first posted it. I also had the mix for hot artichoke dip already made so I popped it in the oven and instead of using it for a little app before the big dinner, used it for the early lunch.

The butternut soup was a huge hit. All three lunch items were.

Later dinner was roasted turkey, mashed/gravy, cranberry sauce, Julia's wonderful Corn Timbale, roasted brussel sprouts (with balsamic/maple syrup and cayenne drizzle) and some lovely red cabbage cooked by my friend Karin. Dessert was a simple pumpkin pie.

A big food day. Enjoyed by all but that soup stole the show.

 
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