well dont i look stupid...

so the whole entire premise of this blog is how i have a craptastic little kitchen and cant do much in here but try anyway.

and then mark bittman comes along and lets you know that size doesnt matter.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/mark-bittmans-bad-kitchen/

thanks mark, for ruining my whole angle...

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Prepping for thanksgiving?

i'll be making pretty much the exact same stuff as last year and highly recommend that you copy my menu because it pretty much kicked ass. (hence the reason its being done again)

are we there yet? thanksgiving - the finale...

this part is quick. short and sweet. i had all these delusions of making cookies, individual cheesecakes (i'll post them one day) and pumpkin pie... susan's neighbor gave her a 100% homemade sweet potato pie... complete with cute leaf crust... she brought it with her.

once i realized that it was 3 am on wednesday night/thursday morning and i was still up preparing food, and then after drinking that awesome hot chocolate the next morning, and further realizing that there would only be two of us left by the time that dessert rolled around, cookies and cheesecake went by the wayside.

i still insisted on making the pumpkin pie because its my favorite. and susan said sweet potato was very similar, but i'd never had sweet potato and what if i didnt like it???? thanksgiving would have been ruined! thats what.

i'm nothing if not dramatic afterall...

ok, so see that pie on the right? i made that one. kinda. but i didnt make my own crust... i'd hang my head in shame and all that but whatever...

because there is NOTHING better in the world than that pie on the left. NOTHING.

susan's neighbor wont give up the recipe, but i fully intend to spend the rest of my life making that pie... anyone have any kick ass sweet potato pie recipes????? i'm thinking there was coconut milk or something in it, but i could be wrong... it was just so freaking good - i fully intend to gain 3 sizes worth of weight if thats what it takes to figure it out...

thanksgiving part 2

i think thanksgiving was too much for all of us.. i've notice that i'm not alone in my lack of posting - a number of the blogs i read have been light on posts since thanksgiving... are we all cooked-out???

anyway, main course...

cornbread - rolls - day ahead mashed potatoes (recipe follows) - sweet potatoes - carrots (recipe follows) - green bean casserole - traditional bread stuffing - quinoa and wild rice stuffed squash - cranberry sauce and quorn with veggie gravy...

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Day Ahead Mashed Potatoes
courtesy of Grandma Jeffrey
(i dont know where she got it from, but i did find a number of similar recipes on the web. but i got it from grandma, so there...)

3lbs cooked potatoes, peeled

1 small package cream cheese (3 or 4 oz is fine), cut in small pieces
1/4 c butter, cut in small pieces
1/2 c sour cream

1/2 c milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c chopped onions (i used sweet onion)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

mash potatoes until smooth (any method - potato masher, ricer, beaters, whatever)
add cream cheese, butter and sour cream and beat until mixed

in a seperate bowl, mix together milk, eggs, onion, salt & pepper.

add milk mixture to potatoes and beat until fluffy.

place in buttered casserole dish and refridgerate overnight.

bake uncovered at 350° for 45 minutes. it will puff up and edges will brown slightly.

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Carrots
courtesy of my mom
(i'm sure she also got it from somewhere, but i got it from her, so...)

2 lbs carrots, peeled and cut into small pieces

1/4 c canola oil
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
1 green pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 can tomato soup

boil carrots in water 10-15 mins and drain.

combine remaining ingredients and add to carrots.

heat on stove over med heat - stirring often - until warm.
(could also refridgerate overnight and heat the next day)

thanksgiving... round 1

since the whole food-blogging world has chosen to boycott thanksgiving food posts*, i thought i'd buck the trend and share my thanksgiving feast with you... in 3 parts.

thanksgiving is pretty much the definition of gluttony and excess and you've all been glutton-yed and excessed to death, so i'm going to keep it simple. pictures and links... only two of the recipes i made were at all original (and i'm guessing you could find them elsewhere on the web, its just that i, personally, got them from family members and not foodnetwork.com or cooks.com or some other site...) so i'll spare you the reprinting of the instructions and instead, just provide the links...


our day started off with what was really my favorite part of the day - spiked lattes...

ingredients:
one mocha latte



and a nice bottle of Peppermint Schnapps



tastes just like a peppermint mocha, and makes the crowds at the thanksgiving day parade significantly less annoying...

anyhoo... after our schnappsing was over and the parade was no more, it was time to head home... for wine and cheese, cheese, cheese...

close ups from the above appetizer table...

Baked Brie (mine made with apricot jam instead of raspberry)
served with apples and pears

Cheese & Crackers

whole foods entertaining cracker assortment, smoked vermont cheddar, NY state cheddar and montery jack. served on my only 'festive' platter...

Heine Hurtin' Hot Sauce over Cream Cheese

to be eaten with crackers from cheese plate

next up - dinner.

*if you didnt note the heavy sarcasm in that first line, you really might as well not read my blog at all, cause it will be lost on you entirely too often...