Wednesday, November 26, 2008 

Thanksgiving Menu

Well, we're off work for a bit as we celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday here in "way too cold for November" Vermont. I thought ya'll would be interested to see what's going to be on our plates tomorrow. We're hosting both sets of my parents this year, so it's a small party with only seven to cook for. As you can imagine, we're cooking for about fourteen! LOL.

Here's the menu:

Smoked Turkey - I've got a 13.5lb Turkey that was raised on our farm sitting in a batch of brine as we speak. It'll go onto the BWS at about 8:00am tomorrow and will be lovingly roasted over lump and cherry.

Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing - Although I've long since stopped stuffing my birds, I still make stuffing as a side dish. This is my own recipe, one that has developed over years of experimentation. In addition to being made with homemade cornbread, it has Italian sausage, onions, mushrooms, apples and peppers in it.

Mashed Potatoes with Bleu Cheese and Roasted Garlic - I'll be smoke-roasting a head of garlic in my pit in the morning, which will get mashed into my potatoes. In addition to the fresh milk (right off a farm up the hill from us), I'll throw in some bleu cheese to make them that much more heart-stoppingly tasty!

Garlic Fried Green Beans - We've got some green beans from Farmer Girl's mom that we set aside in the freezer. Green beans freeze surprisingly well if they've been vacuum sealed. Sauteed up in garlic and butter, these will be our only representation of the color green at our meal.

Homemade Rolls - Farmer girl will be whipping up a batch of her fresh rolls.

Simple squash - My mom is bringing a simple squash dish.

Cranberry Chutney - My stepmother makes an awesome cranberry relish or chutney or whatever it's called. I just know it tastes good.

And for dessert:

Cranberry Cake - My dad is making a cranberry cake with a cranberry sauce.

Sweet Potato Peanut Pie - This is a recipie I found in "The Thrill of the Grill". It's taken a bit of tweaking, but now it's a fantastic pie with a great mix of sweet and salty.

Mix all of this together with some good coffee, wine and a few Wolaver's Oatmeal Stouts and we should all be napping by about 4:00pm.

So, to all of you out there who take the time to read my blog from time to time - have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday! Celebrate your family, enjoy your food, watch some football and get in a good nap!

Best,

Chris

Tuesday, November 18, 2008 

Where's He Been?

In case anyone is wondering where the heck I've been and why I haven't been blogging, I offer a brief answer. For the past several months, my weekends have been dedicated to studying for the Planner's Certification Exam and doing a side job building a web site for a non-profit.

This Friday I completed the AICP exam and passed it, so that responsibility is now over. I should finish the web site in the next two weeks. Once that's all done, I can get back to cooking on weekends. More will follow.

I promise!

Cheers,

Chris