Feasting and Giving Thanks

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday, I sure did. It was SO great to see friends and family. A big change is happening in my life (which I will tell you all about tomorrow) and being able to just relax with loved ones made this weekend less stressful and just plain wonderful.

I was lucky to have two big meals this weekend. My mother hosted two successful Thanksgiving dinners at her house. Over the course of a few days there was: turkey, regular stuffing and sausage stuffing, green bean casserole, roasted broccoli with Parmesan cheese, roasted brussels sprouts with bacon and walnuts, traditional squash and chipolte squash, gravy, cranberry sauce, warm rolls, mashed potatoes…oh my! There were delicious appetizers and comforting desserts – it was an all out feast!

The first day I brought an appetizer: Goat Cheese, Butternut Squash, Swiss Chard and Caramelized Onions in Fillo Dough.

• First, I cut the squash in half, took out the seeds, drizzled some olive oil, sprinkled some cinnamon, and put the squash face down in a 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes.
• Second, I chopped up the onions, drizzled some olive oil in a pan and caramelized the onion on low heat for about an hour.
• Third, I chopped up the swiss chard and steamed it.
• Once the squash was finished I took the skin off and placed the squash in the fridge to cool along with the onions and swiss chard.
• Once the vegetables were cooled, I followed the instructions on Smitten Kitchen to roll up the fillo dough with the squash, goat cheese, onions and swiss chard mixture. I did not cook them right away, but layered the triangles on a cookie sheet with parchment paper and put them in the freezer.

• On Thanksgiving I brought them over frozen and put them into a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes until golden, crispy and flaky. I think they were a hit!

On the second day of feasting, I brought the Brussels Sprouts, Bacon and Toasted Walnut Recipe from Pinch My Salt. I changed it up just a little:

• Toasted the walnuts for about 8 minutes in a 350 degree oven (then I ate about half of them because they are SO delicious toasted!).
• While the walnuts were toasting, I started cooking the turkey bacon in a skillet.
• I chopped up all the brussels sprouts while everything was cooking and tossed them with some olive oil, brown sugar and pepper.
• I brought everything over to my mom’s house separately and cooked the brussels sprouts in a 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes, then with about 10 minutes left, the bacon and walnuts were added.
• The result: tasty spin on brussels sprouts that I will definitely make again.

I am trying to get both my sisters and my father to guest post on the delicious treats they made.

• Emmy, my youngest sister made some yummy appetizers with fillo cups and a cranberry cream cheese mixture.

• Katie, my middle sister made pumpkin spice cookie balls – a really simply and tasty recipe.

• My dad, the executive chef over at the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem, MA made chipolte squash – an amazing spin on a traditional holiday side.

What were your favorite foods this Thanksgiving? What did you cook, bake or prepare for your big feast?