¡Hola, chicos!
We have returned from Argentina! The steak was amazing; the wine was fantastic. It really was an awesome trip and we'll write a post about it very soon to share what we did (and especially what we ate).
As you can see in the photo above, our Thanksgiving dinner wasn't exactly traditional (although that orange dish in the center of the table IS pumpkin, which counts for something). But we were thrilled to get your photos of more classic Thanksgiving Day fare.
And we owe a huge thank-you to Zach's sister Cassidy for manning (womanning?) the blog while we were in South America. We knew we wanted to keep posting right up until Thanksgiving, and we couldn't have done it without her. Thanks, Cassidy!
Anyway, we're home now. And one of the best things about coming back home was reading through all the great comments and emails you guys sent! We loved hearing about your favorite Thanksgiving dishes, all the hits (and misses) from your holiday table.
And we really loved getting photos! Looking at them now, our stomachs are rumbling -- is it too soon to serve Thanksgiving dinner again?
So check out the pics -- along with some reader comments -- after the jump!
Josie S. sent us several shots of her fave Thanksgiving dishes from this year's dinner, which she also posted on her blog, Pink Parsley Catering.
All of Josie's photos look amazing (the links to her posts are below each pic), but we're dying to try the Turkey Cranchiladas -- what a fantastic idea! She says it's her "favorite use for leftovers."
Also, we're totally stealing her Sweet Potato Ice Cream for next year.
Mushroom and Lentil Pot Pies with Gouda Biscuit Topping
Potato Gratin with Mushrooms and Gruyere
Warm Pear Ginger Upside Down Cake
Katie H. made the Butterflied Turkey with Cranberry-Molasses Glaze we wrote about a few weeks ago. It was her first-ever attempt at roasting a whole turkey for Thanksgiving, and she did it for her entire extended family (making her much braver than we ever would have been!).
Her photos are mouth-watering:
And here's what she had to say about it:
I will say, I am glad I did the prep the night before (butterflying and seasoning). Martha makes butterflying a turkey look so effortless (I'm sure in between camera takes there's strapping young men doing the majority of the work, but I digress); it took me much longer than I had anticipated, and am thankful I didn't have to rush it all the morning of. Since the 'hard' parts were done the night before, it also made for a much more relaxed day on Thanksgiving itself.
The bird was moist all the way through, the skin was crackly and crisp (the photos make some areas appear burnt, but it was really a super super dark brown), and, while the glaze passed alongside was wonderful and a nice change from the standard gravy, the turkey was definitely just as fabulous on its own without.
I had to travel to my grandparent's, which is a little over an hour away, so the step of removing it from the oven in between worked out perfectly (thank you Cook's Illustrated for the idea of rolling aluminum foil strips to tie the rack to the pan, and using those to prevent it all from sliding around!).
Everyone went back for seconds of the turkey (some without grabbing anything else but), and I have never heard as many sighs of absolute pleasure being emitted at the table.
Niki F., who blogs at Life in Recipes, sent us this delectable photo of a Caramelized Pistachio, Cashew and Almond Tart she made (from a 2004 issue of Bon Appétit). You should read Niki's post about the tart.
How amazing does this look??
Karyn H. sent a couple funny snapshots -- before and after -- of the Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Five-Spice Marshmallows we featured a couple weeks ago. She and her boyfriend Luke made them twice, she told us, "once for Luke's workplace's Thanksgiving dinner, where it was one of only two dishes where people licked the bowl clean (see below!), and once for our own Thanksgiving dinner at home. We loved it!"
Carl O. made a yummy-looking Apple Pie with Oat Streussel from this year's Bon Appétit Thanksgiving issue.
Says Carl:
I've made a lot of apple pies in my day, and this may be my favorite. It takes everything that's good about apple crisp and everything that's good about apple pie and puts them together. And it's not all that hard to make, either.
Carl also tackled a dish of Sweet Potatoes with Greens and Honey-Mustard Glaze. While he didn't send a pic of it, his description has us more than a little intrigued:
It's sweet potatoes and swiss chard with honey and mustard, going all the way back to Bon Appetit of November 1994. Yeah, that sounds weird, but it actually came together very well. I cleaned out what was left from our garden last weekend, which meant I had a lot of swiss chard, so I was looking for a chard recipe when I chanced upon this one. I had sweet potatoes as well, and it reviewed well on Epicurious so I gave it a shot. Really, a lot of vegetables can be good together when slathered in honey and mustard.
Kate R. sent us a lovely photo of herself posing with the three pies she made this year.
We'll take a slice of each, please! Here's what Kate wrote about the pies:
Suzanne’s Old Fashioned Pumpkin Pie. Just fabulous, although next time I’ll precook the crust. Used America’s Test Kitchen’s recipe for pie crust made with vodka. Really easy, tasty and flaky.
Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie found via www.thepioneerwoman.com. One of the biggest hits of the evening!
Apple Crumble pie: from an recipe I clipped years ago from the Chicago Tribune. This was the only failure of the day. Cooked up beautifully and I kept it in an extra 10 minutes. But, the granny smith apples never really cooked all the way. I’m going to re-bake it, covering the top and see what happens.
Rachel R. passed along a couple of gorgeous side dishes that sound really tasty. Rachel writes a blog called J'Adore You More, and you can click on the names of these recipes to see more photos and read her full descriptions.
We particularly want to try those sugared cranberries -- what a fun idea!
Sugared Cranberries: These were a bit of a sticky mess to make but the end result was worth it -- they were fun to eat and absolutely addictive. Soaking the cranberries in a simple syrup overnight gives them a tart but sweet bite that almost reminded me of a grape and the superfine sugar coating brings back their fun crunch and add plenty of sparkle. Best of all, the syrup that the cranberries steep in overnight can be used to make delicious cocktails.
Sweet Potato Casserole: Easily one of my favorites of the holiday but ironically, I can't stomach it more than once a year. This version was creamy and sweet and I chose to top it with spicy pecans for an added kick.
Now that we're back, it's time to get cooking! While we were gone, our mailbox filled up with December issues of food magazines. So we better get to reading.....
Did you have a dish that wowed you this Thanksgiving? Let us know in the comments!
