The "Dish" on Thanksgiving Part II

Hello again!!

Hope everyone is doing well!! Welcome to the "Dish" on Thanksgiving Part II. I apologize for not getting this post out there sooner, I had a trip to NYC Saturday when I was supposed to post.

I'm sure many of you are wondering what the "Dish" is this week...Starters and Side Dishes!!!

Let's Start with a Starter! My ideal starter dish would be a cheese plate personally. I love cheeses and crackers, fruit...and of course that glass of wine! What kind of cheeses? What will my guests enjoy??

Some good ones include - Classic Sharp Cheddar, Blue Cheese, Goat Cheese, Gouda, Brie....etc. If I were to make a cheese plate for my guests, I would limit my plate to having 3 cheeses. Whichever cheese you enjoy (I like goat cheese, sharp cheddar, blue cheese the best) You don't want to overwhelm your guests with too much or too many choices. Along with the cheese I would put out a few different cracker choices, maybe some fruits such as grapes or pear slices. Perhaps even have some chutney to spread onto crackers and cheese. Yum!! We have a chutney called "old farmhouse chutney" and it has all kinds of fruits in it and whatnot. Apricot is the main one I believe. Very good :) If you're unsure of what kind of wine to serve alongside of the cheese plate, don't be afraid to do some research and maybe attend a wine tasting at a local winery!! You'll have a ton of fun and try new things and learn alot too!!

Shall we move onto a side dish?? Let's take a look at Green Bean Casserole. A classic. I am always in charge of this dish myself!! Everyone knows to use the classic recipe on the Cream of Mushroom Soup label, complete with the onion crunchies ontop. However, this year I am thinking of trying something different. Chex Green Bean Casserole!! (of course I'll put out the onion crunchies for those who can't have dinner without them!)...This recipe looks super easy and is very close to the classic casserole everyone loves. The only difference is instead of the onion crunchies, you top it with Rice Chex cereal!! Sounds fun to me! There's also some grated parmesan cheese too, which I have never used in Green Bean Casserole so that is different for me as well :) There's absolutely nothing wrong with trying something new, do not fret! It just might turn into that fun new tradition that your family loves!!

Another very popular side dish is....Stuffing!! Everyone's gotta have their stuffing!! So Instead of giving you only one way of making it, how about if I give you 50 ideas?!! The FoodNetwork Site has all kinds of ideas for Thanksgiving Dinner! They have a basic recipe for stuffing thats easy and what's more is that they've also given 50 different examples of what you can add to it to make it amazing! Any way you like it!! How fun is that? Make a couple variations if you want to!! They have ideas like Apple-Herb all the way to Oysters! I've never heard of putting Oysters in stuffing but hey! Why not?? While you're at it, why not browse the other Thanksgiving Side dishes that they offer, from Cranberry Sauce to Sweet Potatoes!!

As the holiday gets closer and closer I am getting more excited about it!! I love sitting around the table with loved ones eating great food and having a great time!! That's what it's all about!! I'm Thankful for that!

Until next week's "Dish"!!.....


*These are not my own recipes, I've included links to the correct site where I found them. Also, the photos are from google images*

The "Dish" on Thanksgiving!!

Hello everyone!!

Halloween has come and gone and now we are in the month of November already! This year sure has flown by! This month is all about the beginning of the holidays, Thanksgiving! Personally, I am very excited. I love Thanksgiving. All the different kinds of foods and the family time. Its just so "ahhh" relaxing. A nice break from life, don't you think? So, I've developed a bit of a plan...

Starting today, each Saturday leading up to Thanksgiving I will be making a special themed post. The dishes on Thanksgiving. The types of foods you see when you gather around that table with your loved ones. What a better way to kick off this adventure than with dessert first??

I don't know about you guys but one dessert my family always has on the table is Pumpkin Pie. Every holiday season, Pumpkin Pie. Take a look at this recipe from Paula Deen!! I think it looks soo delicious with the cream cheese and pumpkin!! Yum! It looks to be similar to a cheesecake almost. I'm sure the cream cheese and pumpkin make for an absolutely creamy devine dessert! Who wouldn't love that?! The reviews for this recipe states to maybe make sure the butter and cream cheese are at room temperature before using them, that way you wont have little white flecks in your filling. If cream cheese or butter is too cold, it will ball up into tiny balls and it won't mix together as well. Give it a try and maybe even have your kids help out too!

Moving on...Another popular dessert (surprise) is another pie! Pecan Pie of course!! I remember my grandmother always had one of these on the table at our family gatherings. As a kid, I didn't ever try it cause I just knew I wouldn't like it. However, these days I've been trying new things and with my "adult palate" I'm finding I like things better now that maybe I wouldn't touch when I was a kid. I think Mr. Tony Neely has the right idea to make me like this dessert...Chocolate Pecan Pie!! I love love chocolate! This recipe has great reviews and looks very simple to make! Fairly quick to put together, then stick it in the oven and let it do it's thing!! It also has an accompanying recipe for Homemade Whipped Cream! Yum Yum!! I might just try this one for myself! : )

Now, what kind of Thanksgiving would it be without an apple dessert? Most popular is Apple Pie. However, since we've already covered two pies, why don't we change it up a bit? Our next and last scrumptious dessert is indeed Apple Crisp!! I think that is equally as good, if not better than, Apple Pie!! Check out this recipe from Allrecipes dot com!! This is a very simple, basic version of Apple Crisp. If you want to, you could even throw in some secret ingredients of your own. Being a veristile dish, you can really make it how you want it to be. If there are certain spices you think would be great, try it...If you wanna add some more fruit with the apples, maybe try some raspberries, strawberries or peaches!! Mmm! Add a bit more cinnamon if you really love it!! I bet you could use that Homemade Whipped Cream the Neely's listed in their Chocolate Pecan Pie recipe to go ontop of your Apple Crisp. Of course, you can't have Apple Crisp without serving it with Vanilla Ice Cream!! Maybe try some Natural Vanilla Bean Ice cream! I also enjoy mine best when its either fresh out of the oven or reheated a bit first : )

I love it when Thanksgiving dinner has been served and eaten and afterwards we're sitting around the coffee table eating our desserts, sipping our coffee. The perfect ending to a fantastic feast!! One week down, a couple more to go!! Stay tuned in for next Saturday's Thanksgiving "Dish"!!


**The recipes I posted were not my own, I do not claim any rights to them. They are linked directly to the site where I found them! Same goes for their photos, they are from their sites as well**