We had a great Thanksgiving at our house. You may recall that
I was planning a HUGE dinner that day and I got to admit, next year I won't be so ambitious with the dishes. My problem might have been that I kept adding stuff (like Butternut Squash Risotto at the last minute). Only I am crazy enough to add a labor intensive dish like risotto to an already full menu at the very last minute but seriously folks, it was butternut squash risotto and it was delicious. While I absolutely LOVE cooking and Turkey Day is by and far MY DAY, I also didn't have much chance to chat with our guests as everything took a little longer, even though I started a half hour early (according to my schedule). Fun fact: when you wrap a turkey in bacon and stuff it with dressing, it takes a lot longer. Like almost 2 hours longer. But that's OK. So dinner was late. So what if the mashed potatoes were cold by the time everything was done. It was still delicious. Here are some highlights from our Turkey Day:
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| Bacon Turkey is the most beautiful thing in the world. |
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| Our good friend Julie cooking vegetables. Hurley supervising droppage! |
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| Sadie supervising the Turkey carving |
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| Sweet Potato Cheesecake was by far the highlight of the meal. This one is a permanent T-day fixture now! |
The dogs did really well with all of our guests. Hurley did not take off with the turkey and satisfied himself with only one quick lick of the turkey plate. Maggie did not climb on anyone's lap (that I noticed) and Sadie barely barked when our guests came to the door. Success! One of my favorite aspects of holidays is seeing my dogs continue to improve behavior-wise. Having a house full of people & food is challenging for even the most well-behaved dogs and my 3 did a great job being cute, wiggly and friendly to all who would let them lick their fingers!
I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! Next stop, Christmas (or Hanukkah or Kwanza or Festivus). The Mom-in-law is coming to visit from Cape Cod and word on the street is that she is bringing us lobster!!
Oh My Dog!! That looks fantastic! My mouth started watering just seeing all that yummy goodness. And lobster to come? I'm on my way :)
ReplyDeleteEverything looks delicious, I'll love it if I could have the Sweet Potato Cheesecake recipe! It's great to know that the three of them behaved and enjoy the celebration as much as you guys :) That's a happy family!!
ReplyDeleteLOL...ForPetsSake.
You WERE very ambitious! Sounds like you had a huge success, made easier by having such dedicated clean-up staff:)
ReplyDelete@Rustico Natural
ReplyDeleteThe Sweet Potato recipe is here:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sweet-potato-cheesecake/detail.aspx
The recipe does not specify a water bath - which is essential for a good cheesecake. Wrap the springform pan in a couple layers of foil to prevent water seepage and place in a larger pan with water coming up to about halfway on the springform pan. It will take about another 30 minutes to an hour to bake this way. It's done when the top is not jello-like wiggly anymore. Don't pay any attention to the instructions on a knife/toothpick coming out clean. It's cheesecake and it will always stick to the tester. You also don't need to let it sit in the oven with the door open (obviously the person who wrote this recipe did not have dogs!)
These tips courtesy of my little sis who is the master of all things cheesecake. :)
Thank you sooo.....much Sarah :)
ReplyDelete@Rustico Natural
ReplyDeleteI forgot one important addition: this recipe doesn't call for any spicing. I added 1/2 t cinnamon, 1/4 t cloves and 1/4 t allspice. I think I might have put in about 1/2 t vanilla as well. Pumpkin pie spice would also work well. Basically, you just want to take the spices you would put in your sweet potato casserole in the cheesecake to give it a little extra flavor.
The food looks absolutely delicious!! Glad all turned out well :)
ReplyDelete