Every Day is a Day of Thanksgiving

Table all set

While a very great part of the US is celebrating our Thanksgiving holiday today, there are myriad things every day to be thankful for. I am grateful to live in this country with the freedoms allowed. I am grateful for heat or air conditioning, potable water, plumbing, sanitation. I am grateful I have a kitchen full of all the things to make cooking a pleasure and a joy. I am grateful for family; my husband and his family, my sisters, my children and grandchildren. I am grateful for all my friends. This list could continue indefinitely, but what I am getting at is that sometimes we forget we should always be grateful for every little thing, no matter how seemingly small. 

Designs with "Wine Writer" Pens

While most of the US celebrates today, my husband and I, with his sister, will celebrate tomorrow. Tomorrow is my "turkey day". It turns out that three of my children will also be celebrating their Thanksgiving Day either tomorrow or Saturday, for one reason or another. 

I have everything pre-made that can be pre-made. I made my pies today, and they smell and look scrumptious. I am hoping my "dry brined" turkey (in essence, salted turkey) will come out tasty. Even if not, we will most certainly be bursting at the seams after the dinner is done. My table is set. I found Wine Writer Pens when in Williams Sonoma recently, and used them to decorate my wineglasses, partly in an effort to copy the kind of scroll work on the table runner. The pen writing comes off easily with warm, soapy water, making it fun to use them, not only to write the name of the person the glass belongs to, but also allowing one to let their creativity full reign. I carried this scroll work design into the menus also.

Table runner with scroll work pattern

I have my stuffing partially made: bread and cornbread cubes with parsley, sage, mace and pepper are in a large, sealed container. The milk and eggs are in another container, ready to add, once the bacon and onions are fried and the apple is shredded, tomorrow. The sweet potatoes are mashed and seasoned; the streusel topping is made and the ground nuts are ready. I only need to place the sweet potatoes into the casserole, top with the streusel and nuts and bake. The cranberries have been made for about a week. The brioche buns are frozen, only needing to be reheated. I mentioned the pies: a Pumpkin Pie and a Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie that smelled heavenly while baking.

Thanksgiving Menu

The only things I prefer to get done last moment are the mashed potatoes and gravy. While this does seem to make that last half hour a real crunch, it is all worth it in the end. 

Growing up, my Mom and Dad always set Thanksgiving dinner for about 3 or 4 PM. I have always carried this through my life also, so I am aiming for about 4 PM tomorrow to have our dinner on the table. I like this timing, because it allows a long evening to let the tummy settle, in case it was abused! Often, this also allows some time to pass before attempting to eat pie ;-)

At right is my menu for tomorrow. I am so very grateful for my creativity in the kitchen and at my computer. I love coming up with ideas. I wish the very best of holidays to everyone.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Prepared for New Year's Eve?

Well, just a few hours and we are at the last day of the year 2012. The day and night of parties, everywhere. One of my sisters is creating an Indian meal for friends. We have been consulting back and forth on the foods, how they are made, terminology and a host of other things. I created a menu for her, showing all the courses and sides. It is so lovely. She makes beautiful table settings, and I am certain it will be a masterpiece in silver and gold.

Bean & Cheese Dip

My husband and I are not party people in general, though we love guests and I especially love making foods to share and enjoy. I am sure our evening tomorrow will end at a sedate hour, and all the hoopla will pass as we sleep, and we will wake to the New Year and all the joys it will bring. We are having two people to visit and have lovely snacks again, as we did on Christmas Eve. Some of the snacks will be the same as last week, as they are particular favorites of my husband's, such as his favorite Bean & Cheese Dip and Little Smokies wrapped in Puff Pastry. 

Little Smokies in Puff Pastry

I received a dip mix from Pepper Creek Farms as a Christmas Gift, so I am trying that out in a dip. I also am making a goat cheese appetizer that another of my sisters introduced to the family a few years back. Another of the appetizers one of my sisters makes is puff pastry, baked in little squares and then setting in a little cube of Brie and then some Cherry preserves. These are so delicious, and I was accustomed to having them for any festivity, as they were one of her favorites. Now that we live so far away, I have not had these for years, and want to make them. In all these years, I have not yet tried them myself. Go figure. Well, tomorrow is the day. My sister-in-law was kind enough to give me a chunk of Brie, so I am set.

Last week I had a piece of Puff Pastry dough left over after making the smokies and I just improvised and made some little palmieres I called Pepper and Cheese Spirals. I brushed melted butter on the pastry since I had melted butter left from making the Spanakopita. Then I had a bit of an Italian blend of shredded cheese left and used that up strewn on the pastry. I ground a fair amount of coarse black pepper over all that, then sprinkled just a little Palm Island red sea salt over.  Then lastly, a handful of pine nuts. I rolled this and sliced, baked at 375 for about 20 minutes. 

Those little things were so incredibly good, though I did not write down how much of each thing I used. Tomorrow, I will rectify that lapse! When I get the amounts correct, I will post the recipe here. 

With so much to be thankful for, I wish all of my readers a most joyous and prosperous New Year 2013!

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

New Year Parties - Need a Little Organization?

Everyone is scrambling to plan parties for New Years. Everyone ends up with too much last minute work to do. With just a little planning, this should be mostly avoidable. It is far better to have almost all the foods finished or with very little prep work left to do. The party table(s) should be all set up days before. Lists should be made of the things left to do.

My Sister sets the most Elegant Table

Notice I say "should". We all do not manage to do these things, though they are very helpful in making the hosting of a party stress-free (or at the least, less stressful). These things I have mentioned are all ones I have learned over a lot of years and through a lot of stress, before the lessons were learned. I offer these tips to help you out.

Plan Your Recipes
Plan recipes so most of them can be made ahead. Selecting 6 different recipes that all have to be made last minute is simply poor planning, and will have you exhausted. Go through your party recipes and choose options that allow most to be made in advance, with just a little last minute prep. If all you have to do last minute is transfer an item to a party platter, that is the best way to go. Six things that all need to go into the oven at the same time, and at differing temperatures, is disastrous to a host or hostesses' peace of mind.

If you are doing a buffet style appetizer spread, do take a look at my Appetizers Index, as a greater majority of the appetizers I have created have been with these exact strictures in mind!

Make Lists
Be detailed. Plan out the sequence with the aid of the cookbooks or recipes being used. How far ahead can each part of a recipe be done? If there is a filling, can it be done 3 or more days in advance?  If there is a bread to make, can it be made days or even weeks before and frozen? Write out a list for three days in advance, two days, the day prior, and Party Day. List the items that can be done on each of these days. Cleaning can be done well ahead; don't leave that for last minute. Sauces, dips, spreads, can usually be made in advance. Plan out the days and make a line next to each item so a check mark can be placed there as the item is done.

Assemble Party Paraphernalia

Assemble Party Paraphernalia

Get out your fancy platters, bowls, glassware. Assemble all the decorations. If a party is a buffet style, set the table(s) up two or three days ahead. Set out decorations. Place all the plates, platters, stemware, flatware or anything else needed, all together so they are available. If you are having a sit down dinner, set the table completely. If you are concerned with dust, get one of the thinnest painter's plastic drop cloths and gently cover the table. If there is delicate stemware, lay them on their sides until the day of the party. Then remove the drop cloth and set the glasses upright.

Be Creative in the Display

A Creative Display for an Appetizer Party

Even if there is not a lot of room, be creative. In the photo here, various boxes were used to create different heights. One large tablecloth was draped over all the boxes, and allowed to drape down over the table. Pull and arrange the cloth so it will be flat on the flat surfaces, allowing plates and platters to set horizontally. Arrange another one or even two or more cloths of different colors to artfully accent the table, continuing to push the cloth into edges and corners, keeping the horizontal surfaces crease free. All this allows the view of all the foods to be presented to their best advantage, and makes reaching over a plate much easier for guests. A wonderful suggestion for colorful smaller cloths would be scarves, or even bathing suit sarongs, on this off-season.

I wish all of you a stress free, worry free relaxing New Year's party!

My passion is to teach people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and help pass along my love and joy of food, both simple and exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things weekly. Join me at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook and Pinterest.