Saturday, November 28, 2009

Gobbles

Pheew, so glad it's Saturday and no work tomorrow! How was everyone's Thanksgiving? I hope they were filled with delicious food and lots of family and friend fun :)

This Thanksgiving I entertained the original running buddy, her roomie and two of their friends at my place. I was excited at the thought of cooking for everyone (um, cooking withdrawal?) but I was also a little nervous about a) cooking a turkey breast for the first time and b) taking the majority of the work on by myself. Yikes.

I got a little hyped up on sugar free Red Bull Wednesday night after work and tried to get most of my prep work done. Around 10pm I realized I had forgotten a bunch of critical items so I switched to cleaning/kitchen dance party mode. Good times ;p I finally fell asleep around 2am and jumped out of bed at 9am to get last minute items at the Giant - I can't even begin to explain how much I love living a block from the grocery store. While I was there, I decided I'd maintain the insanity and grabbed another sugar free Red Bull (mind you, I bought the 12 oz cans each time). Got home, slammed the Red Bull and got to work!

On the T-day menu:
Mini Crabcakes with Lemon-Dill Aioli
Turkey Bacon Wrapped Shrimp with Gorgonzola
Chicken Andouille Meatballs with Chimichurri
Manchego and Rosemary Stuffed Dates Wrapped with Bacon
Morrocan Spiced Roasted Chickpeas
Sing Buri Cashews
Roast Turkey Breast
Wild Rice Stuffing with Cranberries, Mushrooms and Chestnuts
Roasted Vegetables
Candied Yams
Also on the menu (but forgot to take pics) were spiral cut ham, Stovetop stuffing (yes, my Stovetop cherry was popped), fondue, garlic mashed potatoes (OMG. BEST potatoes), homemade apple pie, pumpkin pie and flourless chocolate cake. FOOD OVERLOAD!

The crabcakes were a last minute addition as I opted in for the latest Tastemaker option - to make one of the recipes listed on
Safeway's Holiday Recipe Site. After browsing the options, the crabcakes looked the most fun...though I was a little concerned about the whole canned crab thing.

After prepping the crabcakes Wednesday night, I unwrapped the bowl and it smelled like perfectly fresh crabcake mixture ready to form into cute little patties:
And, since I ran out of breadcrumbs mid-cooking session, I grabbed a canister of Old Bay seasoned breadcrumbs and dredged the crabcakes in it before pan frying. I thought it was a pretty smart fill in...who doesn't love Old Bay and crabs??I'll post the recipes for all these treats tomorrow once I remember exactly what I did ;) I did a lot of improvising and since no one else was really certain how to make gravy, I winged it and I think it was a success!
Can't wait to catch up on everyone's feasts tomorrow morning with a giant cup of coffee! I'm SO excited to have a productive Sunday :) G'nite!!

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