Busy Nights Real Food: Thanksgiving wrap up

Monday, November 28, 2005

Thanksgiving wrap up

Well finally I will update you on all these pics. I am a horrible food blogger. I am just adjusting to this new schedule and haven't figured out when to fit it in. So Turkey day was a good one. My mom came in town which was fun (until about Saturday, and then I was ready to have my house back to myself ;D). Anyways, it was just Funkbobito, my mom and I so we had a really relaxing day. Funkbobito made the mashed potatoes and mom made the turkey. Here is a little run down of my dishes.

Roasted Sweet (and Spicy) Potatoes

Well, these were simple enough. I chunked up a couple of sweet potatoes, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with a little brown sugar, cayenne, salt and pepper. Roasted at about 400 till they were fork tender. The sweet and spicy mix was perfect.

Fresh Corn

Ok, so I know this is sad, but this is the 1st time I have shaved the corn off the ear and made fresh corn before. I make corn on the cob all the time, but this was a first. After scraping 4 ears, I put in a small sauce pan with some milk, butter, salt and pepper. I cooked for about 5-10 minutes until tender and warmed through and then drained. The corn had a wonderful flavor and was so sweet. This is another dish I would make for a week night meal.

Spinach Salad with Clementines and Dried Cranberries with Walnut Gorgonzola Dressing

This salad was a little different. I found the recipe for the dressing on Epicurious.com. It was supposed to be served over roasted beets, but I already had the spinach to use up. I will be honest, this dressing was a bit more work than salad dressing should be. And it looked completely disgusting until it was tossed with the salad. However, the flavors melded together beautifully and it was really complimented by the sweeter items in the salad. If I was wanting to impress a dinner guest, I may make it again because it was really nice (I guess looks don't always tell the whole story).

Flaky Dinner Rolls and "Thanksgiving Pretzels"

What do you get when you forget the salt and butter, don't let the dough rest, and have disastrous Thanksgiving day Flaky dinner rolls? Thanksgiving pretzels. I was not paying nearly enough attention the 1st time I made this recipe and didn't realize till the end that I had total screwed it up. So I threw the lump of dough to the side and started over. We decide we should at least do something with it. So Funkbobito twisted them into little knots and we baked them up. We pulled them out and took a taste...bland and boring. I was ready to pitch this batch all together when Funkbobito came through again and recognized the taste of the dough as pretzel dough. So we sprayed on some butter (I am so ghetto, I know) and sprinkled on some salt and by God we had soft pretzels. Who would have thunk it. If anyone is interested in more detailed directions for these new holiday treats, just let me know ;D.

The rolls were really good, but a lot of work. If I made them again I would have to use more butter so it would have more flavor in the roll itself, but they weren't too bad as is.

Houston's Style Spin Dip

Well, the appetizers on the holidays are always my favorites so this was a definite hit with me. This is a copycat recipe from one of my favorite restaurants, Houston's. Every time I go I order their Chicago Style Spinach dip and I have tried every copycat recipe I can find for it. This one is getting closer to that true knock off recipe. It is super creamy and just tasty. I halved the recipe for us since we definitely didn't need all that dip.

¶ 8:44 PM

Comments:

Roasted Sweet Potatoes are so heavenly, I would take them over any old plain potato any day. I like to sprinkly mine with 5 spice powder and freshly ground black pepper (for just a little heat).

# posted by

Unknown : 9:47 PM

Houston's style? HA! Always imitated, never duplicated. :P

# posted by

Anonymous : 1:27 PM

Oh, those rolls and pretzels look so good, Punky! Did you make them yourself?

# posted by

Anonymous : 5:08 PM

Punky, what's Houston's Style Dip?

# posted by

Cate : 6:29 PM

ungourmetgal- I will have to try them with the 5 spice powder. I am always looking for ways to use up that jar of spice. I am a big fan of the sweet potato quite a bit my self.

lyd- that's why its only Houston's "style". I am hoping that on a deathbed or something I can convince anyone who's ever worked there to share the recipe. ;). Are you feeling any better?

lisasd- I got the recipe from Cooking Light and it was pretty tasty. Probably could have used some more butter, but they wouldn't be so light anymore then.

sweetnicks- My favorite appetizer at my favorite restaurant. I have been trying to figure out that pesky recipe for years. This one is getting closer, but isn't quite there yet. But it is a darn good one to snack on while I try to find that perfect copy.

# posted by

Little Mama : 8:37 AM

were those the rolls from CL? If so, I made them too. I like the honey wheat cloverleaf rolls better.

# posted by

Randi : 8:20 PM

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