Saturday, November 19, 2011

What to Serve For Thanksgiving Dinner



This is our last weekend before Thanksgiving to  pull together our dinner menus. If you all are like me, you already have family favorites that are always served.

Obviously roasted turkey, dressing and mashed potatoes and gravy will always be on the table.

However I do like to add a new dish from time to time. I will usually add a new side dish, salad or dessert to my menu.

I thought I would share some of the contenders that I am trying to decide on for this years dinner.

I like to have a green vegetable and what I call a yellow/orange vegetable.

This recipe looked and sounded really good to me………

Vegetables and Salads:
(you can click on any of the links below each image to go to the recipe)




Balsamic root vegetable cooked in a crock pot with a sweet glaze and a sprinkle of cranberries. Easy to make and won’t take up any oven space!!


 Roasted brussel sprouts with cranberry- pistachio pesto. I love brussel sprouts roasted in the oven. They get a wonderful crispness and the flavor is so much better when they are roasted. I love the idea of the pesto on top, Yum!!

Roasted balsamic green beans and mushrooms. I am starting to see a trend here……. balsamic vinegar must be on my mind or at least in my taste buds!!



Giada de Laurentiis’s roasted carrot and parsnips salad, with arugula and candied walnuts. This would kill two birds with one stone. Vegetable and salad all in one!!






Orange ginger glazed carrots. I love ginger and these sound so yummy to me!!!








We have all seen this stacked pair salad, so easy, but a beautiful presentation.

Now shall we move onto the fun stuff? Appetizers and desserts…..


Appetizers:
I always do a cheese platter, but I think these would make fun additions.


Bruchetta, goat cheese, roasted grapes with rosemary.



Brie Bites. I think these would go really fast in my house!


Baked maple brie with pecans and cranberries. Boy oh boy, my mouth is starting to water, just writing about this stuff!!


Pear, goat cheese, walnut crostini.

My Mom will be making pies,but I like to offer a variety of desserts so I think I might do something simple. These looked interesting to me……….

Desserts:


Poached honey pears wrapped in puffed pastry.

While Mom is baking pies I might have her make me some of these to keep on hand in the freezer……..


I remember when she would take the left over pie crust and sprinkle cinnamon on it and roll it up and bake it. What a treat that was for us when we were kids. Did your Mom’s do that too?



Pumpkin pudding made in the crockpot!! I can just imagine how wonderful this would make the house smell!!! YUM!!



Caramel stuffed apple cider cookies.

Oh my!! On that note I need to stop. I think I gained ten pounds just thinking about all of this food. I am stuffed!!

What will you be serving your family for Thanksgiving dinner?

“Enjoy the Process!” Of:


Planning a special Holiday menu for your family and friends.

Kathysue