Hosting Thanksgiving? NBD.

Nick and I are hosting Thanksgiving again this year and feel like we have things pretty well under control. Last year was our first year hosting, and we ended up doing a lot of research and planning to make sure things went smoothly. We kept things pretty simple and found this timeline from William-Sonoma super helpful in tackling not only Thanksgiving day, but also the days before. Luckily, most things that I set out to do in this blog post worked out, so we were happy to host again this year. That, and our guests actually agreed to come back!

Our Turkey!

We grocery shopped for everything on Sunday morning. The bread for our stuffing is currently sitting on our counter getting nice and stale. Our heritage turkey will be ready for pick-up on Wednesday. The rest of of the afternoon we will prep more of the food, set the table completely, and get the serving dishes out and label them (naturally!).

Skillet Mac and Cheese

With the weather turning cold again and it officially feeling like winter, I think about comfort food. Generally, the more unhealthy it is, the more I crave it. When I stumbled across this Skillet Brussels Sprout and Bacon Mac & Cheese, the recipe seemed to have everything I need and want in a winter dish AND a bit of green to make me feel a bit better about myself (Kidding. Sort of.)

Bacon Brussels Sprout Mac & Cheese!

Homemade Scallion Pancakes

I'm not sure when it happened, but we recently became obsessed with scallion pancakes. What's not to like about crispy, flaky fried dough, mild onion flavor, and a savory dipping sauce? Every time we see them on a menu, whether served traditionally or in sandwich form, we have to order them. Nick and I finally decided to research how to make them at home, and one of Boston's favorites, Joanne Chang, has a recipe online that is not too difficult to follow - perfect!

Scallion Pancakes

Hasselback Potatoes

If you are anything like me, you read a LOT of food blogs and notice that certain foods start trending, e.g. bacon bourbon brownies. Lately, one of the more popular items I have been seeing is hasselback potatoes. I was totally intrigued by these, not only because they looked delicious with their crispy tops, but also because the presentation is dynamite!

After doing a little internet searching on how to make those cuts and realizing it was actually doable, I sorted through some recipes and went for it! Surprisingly, these are pretty straightforward and taste terrific.

Hasselback Potatoes

Mango Avocado Salsa - What Tomatoes Are Meant For

It is still freezing cold out, so I need to think summery thoughts! I love winter and snow, but I have had enough this year!

One thing I have started to make a lot is homemade salsa. I'm not a big fan of tomatoes in general, so I was looking for something to do with all the tomatoes we were getting in our CSA. After looking at Megan's mango guacamole last summer I got inspired and made many variations of this recipe, finding it to be the perfect party and deck-time food!

The Ingredients

A Little Holiday Review

I hope everyone had an amazing holiday season - it's hard to believe the 2013 holiday season is over! From getting ready for Thanksgiving, to hosting Christmas and celebrating New Year's Eve (which is actually Nick and my anniversary), it's been a bit of a whirlwind! With only four weeks between the major holidays, we only had a day of relaxing before it was time to get the house ready for Christmas. In no time we had the stage set for the next holiday.

Christmas Tree Decorated

It's always fun decorating the tree because we have collected so many ornaments from our travels that we get to re-live those trips as we decorate. I have to say, Arthur had some trouble with the tree and seemed to enjoy the taste of our sentimental ornaments a bit too much and gobbled them up! While some of them cannot be replaced, the one from our honeymoon is being replaced by the resort after we sent a desperate email!  Phew!

Pumpkin Seed Brittle - the Perfect Hostess Gift

In preparation of hosting our first Thanksgiving, Nick and I flipped through a bunch of magazines and blogs for inspiration. While we have our schedule and menu ready to go, a recipe for Pumpkin Seed Brittle from Bon Appetit caught my eye.

Brittle

Dutch Apple Pie

In the beginning of October (can you believe how long ago that was?!) Nick, his sister and I headed to Smolak Farms to do some apple picking. While it was super crowded overall, we headed to the back of the orchard and hit the jackpot of cortland and macintosh apples. And, since I am a sucker for any type of souvenir, big or small, I upgraded from the apple bag to the big basket (not the easiest to carry through the orchard, but totally worth it). With a massive basket full of apples, pie was definitely in our future, along with a bunch of other delicious apple-based recipes.

Basket FULL of Apples

Dutch Apple Pie - it is basically as if apple crisp and an apple pie had a baby! This pie really allows for the apples to be the star and not to get lost between the pie crusts. We are a big apple crisp family, so needless to say this is the preferred pie for Nick and I.

Thanksgiving Day Planning and Menu

This year is a bit different for Nick and I - rather than showing up with an appetizer or dessert at a family member's or friend's house for Thanksgiving, we are hosting for the first time! This won't be anything too crazy - only 9 of us total - but I think on Thanksgiving the standards are a bit higher. Not only is the gathering bigger than what we have done before, there are a lot more courses to tie together!

Source - hopefully mine comes out that well!

Fresh Picked Blueberry Pie

When you go to Maine between the months of July and October (i.e., the first frost), blueberry picking is a must-do. When we were up in Maine recently, the weather was topping out at 75 degrees - not exactly swimming weather. When we set out blueberry picking at Crabtree Blueberry Picking, we each grabbed a large pail and set off into their blueberry patch that had about 10 different types of blueberries!  

Blueberry Farm

Deep-Fried Bluefish

After fishing in Boston Harbor for Nick's birthday, we first took a stab at cooking up the striped bass but still had some bluefish to play with.  Bluefish is a more oily fish, is definitely more "fishy" tasting and traditionally harder to work with.  Captain Scott told us we cold easily fry these up, so I figured I would give it a go and searched around the internet for some recipes.

Fish-Fry At Home

Swordfish Dinner

Recently Nick and I have been buying the frozen filets or "steak" cuts of fish at the market that we can easily keep in the freezer until the spirit moves us.  Fish is always such a great protein option, especially when we get stuck in our chicken rut that so easily can happen.  I will be the first to say I have not gotten very adventurous with fish yet.  Maybe that will be one of my goals this summer, since fish to me is warmer weather food!

Swordfish Dinner

My mom always used to make a delicious, quick swordfish dinner.  The first time I went to buy some fish at Deluca's (so, obviously, this is going WAY back), when I mentioned using mayo the deli guy did not understand.  After a two minute phone call with my mom to make sure I was not making things up, she explained her swordfish making method.  Beware, it may look or sound weird, but its good!

Baked Apples - Easy Classic Dessert

With the expectation of snow coming this week even though spring is nearly here (technically) I still am seeking those winter comfort foods.  I still cannot make the switch with the weather this cold!  During the blizzard (Nemo) Nick and I cozied up for an easy dinner at home.  For some reason, I wanted baked apples, something my mom made many times growing up, but not something I have had in ages!

Baked Apple

Peninsula Grill's SUPER Coconut Cake - Valentine Day Special

This Valentine's Day we decided to stay at home and have a delicious dinner in.  In the past we have gone out to some great restaurants (Grill 23 and Mamma Maria) but I always worry whether we will see the restaurant's best food on these high-traffic evenings.  Nick was taking care of dinner (lucky me!) so I decided I would make something special for dessert.

Extreme Coconut Cake (excuse the mess)

Dinner was a surprise until he started cooking - remembering how delicious I thought Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms looked, he whipped it for a perfect dinner.

Sweet Potato and Kale Pizza

Sometimes I find a bunch of random things in my kitchen, and the best thing to make them come together is pizza!  Tonight was one of those nights: we had kale, onions, brussel sprouts, and sweet potatoes on hand.  Through in some dough and cheese and you have a pretty hearty and flavorful dish.

Pizza!

Preparation was pretty easy for this pizza.  I first sliced the sweet potatoes and onions and tossed them with salt, pepper and a bit of olive oil to prep them for roasting.

Attempting Club Med's White Chocolate Bread

After spending a week at Club Med, I once again fell in love with their infamous White Chocolate Bread.  At the time I just assumed this would be too difficult to replicate at home.  However, after a bit of interent searching, I realized making this bread at home was not as far fetched as I originally thought.  Love and Olive Oil had attempted the White Chocolate Bread and seemed to have some good luck, so this was my attempt at bringing vacation home to Boston.

White Chocolate Bread

Easy Go-To Brownies - a Family Recipe

I know most people have a go-to recipe they can whip up at a moment's notice.  Often, it seems to be some sort of cookie (and really, who doesn't love a good cookie?!), but my preferred cookies are too time consuming.  I do, however, love chocolately, fudgey brownies - they are my favorite!  Growing up, my mom had a recipe box filled with index cards of family recipes.  One of those was my aunt's brownie recipe that I would reach for time and time again.  Simple ingredients, one bowl, and delicious results - not much more is needed!

Yum!

Christmas Eve with Julia Child's Lamb

Let me first start by apologizing for the unintentional blogging break!  With the holidays, the move, and life in general, blogging took a bit of a back seat.  However, in an effort to share some great recipes and restaurants, I am back on the blogging wagon.

Even though Nick and I had been in our new place for less than a month, we decided it would be fun to host Christmas!  On the menu for Christmas Day for our group of 8 (!) was beef tenderloin from Butcher Boy (one of the best places ever!).  Wanting to mix it up a bit on Christmas Eve, and since it would only be 4 of us, I decided to use the last boneless leg of lamb from the Tri-Lamb Group - yes, it made the move too.

Boneless Leg of Lamb

Having cooked with the meat previously, I knew it was flavorful on its own and could just be roasted with a simple marinade.  Originally I was going to do some mustard, garlic and rosemary and go from there.  However, after speaking to a co-worker who shares my love of lamb, she mentioned that our very own Julia Child had a delicious and simple lamb recipe in her Mastering the Art of French Cooking that included soy sauce of all things!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving.  I will be heading to the North Shore to a family friend's house for the holiday, which will also pass as a mini reunion of some of my closest friends - I cannot wait!  We are in charge of bringing an appetizer, which I am sure will be recapped here soon :)

If you are look for some last minute dish ideas, here are some good ones:

Vanilla Apple Sauce

Pumpkin Muffins

Honey Yeast Rolls

Hazelnut Pecan and Cranberry Bread

Homemade Oreo's!

Also, if you are in need of a pie and don't want to make one from scratch, definitely be sure to check out Pie in the Sky.  Since November of 1993, Boston's finest bakers have rallied together to make and donate thousands of pies that over 500 volunteers sell to family and friends.  Each pie is only $25 and totally delicious.  The $25 provides enough money for a week's worth of home-delivered meals to a Community Servings client.  This is definitely a great cause around the holidays.

Keep safe and enjoy the Holiday!

What are you doing for Thanksgiving?

Kitchen Dinner - What Do You Have On Hand?

While I am away enjoying some fun in the sun, I'd thought I post some good home recipes.  This is one that I threw together with a random assortment of ingredients I had on hand.  When I first started cooking, I always followed a recipe pretty closely, rarely deviating from what someone else suggested I do.  Recently, however, I have become more comfortable cooking in the kitchen and have been able to look at a recipe and use it for inspiration.   

When it came time for dinner on a weekday night, I knew we had tons of things in our kitchen.  Not wanting to just add more to the fridge, I decided to grab some fresh ingredients from our CSA and others from the freezer and pantry and told Nick we were having "garbage dinner!"  He was not necessarily excited by this statement.

Whats on this plate?!