Thanksgiving comes but once a year..

...and apparently, so do my posts. (Slight exaggeration but not far off the mark.)

As I always say, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday - all the food and conviviality of Christmas, without the anxiety that I get with regards to gift-giving. Plus my birthday falls on Thanksgiving every so often, and that's pretty cool, too.

I'm developing the menu and want all the probable links in one place, so here goes:

• Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Apples, Hazelnuts & Brown Butter Dressing (the Kitchn)
• Gil's Turducken Roll (made of all breasts - turkey, duck, chicken - with cornbread, bacon, leek & pecan stuffing, and Andouille sausage stuffing adapted from Paul Prudhomme but with rice and red bell peppers instead of green) and maybe a couple of turkey thighs roasted on the side for dark meat lovers (like me!)
• Cranberry Orange Sauce (Cook's Illustrated, but kicked up with a 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne + a combination of ginger liqueur with the orange liqueur + a couple of springs of fresh rosemary added at the end)
• Green Beans with Sautéed Shallots and Vermouth (Cook's Illustrated)
• Acorn Squash with Brown Butter (MSL Nov 2013)
• Bruleed Pumpkin Pie with Pumpkin-Seed Piecrust (MSL Nov 2013) or maybe Chef Hubert's Tarte Tatin

2011 Wrap-Up

This year has been busy, although mostly just with the little day-to-day things that go on. Last night, driving home from our Christmas visit with the extended Los G familia, G-man, the Juj and I tried to remember what we'd done this past year:

• January - I had a meeting with my extended team of co-workers in Dallas. Folks came from Argentina, India, and Colorado, and the Juj got to come bowling with us and eat fancy cupcakes (who was foolish enough to put me in charge of catering?!). And we had the great Dallas Ice Storm of 2011, to the detriment of Super Bowl. Plus J started guitar lessons, on the electric guitar Santa brought.
• February - G-man started CASA training -- and immediately got assigned a case!
• March - A little minor surgery for me, which forced me to take a work break for a few days because I, um, couldn't sit down. But I was able to finish the month with a quick trip to Austin to visit with my brother, who came out from Washington to attend Play Immersion.
• April - Every year, J's school takes the Upper Elementary students on "the Great Field Trip" (as alluded to in my one post from March). This year, they got to go to the Capitol city of the Great State of Texas: Austin! And as soon as he got back, we hopped back in the car, and went back down to San Antonio for Easter with the extended G familia.
• May - Went back down to San Antonio for a long Mother's Day weekend, where we had family portraits made of all three generations together, and in various smaller groupings. Also found out J's wonderful Montessori school was closing, so we decided to spend the summer trying out summer camps at two alternative schools to decide which would work best for us all.
• June - Day time summer camps.
• July - July took a couple of weeks off from summer camps. We went down to San Antonio as a family, then he stayed to visit with aunties, cousins and grandparents for another week until we came to pick him up.
• August - We took J down to San Antone for another visit alone, before picking him up on our want down to South Padre Island with Mr. W and the little W's, just in time for the annual Los Fresnos Elvis festivities. Then, the Juj started at his new wonderful (but rather further away) Montessori.
• September - VERY EXCITING MONTH! (As always, September through December seem to whizz by faster each year.) G-man got accepted to the Master's program in Social Work at U.T. Arlington at the last possible moment (some mix-up with his application files). So he started immediately, and only missed the first week of classes. My best friend from college got married, in the wedding bash of the century (or at least of the decade) in Nashville. Fun to see old friends from the dance / theater days, marvel at the lovely bride, and finally meet her wonderful new husband.  (Like G-man and I, they'd been together a long time before tying the knot.) *And* Juj turned nine.
• October - Celebrated J's birthday with two other boys from his old school, with a sleepover at Great Wolf Lodge. Mom's and dad's ears are still ringing! (Really, why would anyone build an indoor water park?) Then J got lots of one-on-one time with each parent, as G-man attended a CASA conference in San Marcos, I had a few days of work meetings in Colorado, and then Gil co-facilitated a Beyond Categorical Thinking session in Arizona. While J's birthday celebration was a bit late, Diana's came early: Sprint finally got the iPhone, which meant while everyone else was fighting over Siri, a certain very long time Spring customer slipped in and out with a "plain old" 4. Woo-hoo! And THEN my parents arrived for a visit in time for Halloween!
• November - My parents' visit ended, and then we had a lovely quick weekend with some family friends in town on the way home to Oklahoma from a fencing match. For Thanksgiving, we had testosterone (it was just the three of us, plus 3 male friends) and a Thanksgiving Turkey Cake, which probably deserves its own "making of" post with the Flickr pictures.
• December - G-man finished up his first semester of grad school (and kicked butt, of course!) I made a (somewhat) last minute business trip to Buenos Aires, to meet some employees that are now reporting to me. Loved Buenos Aires (and my new team), although I'm not sure how to put my feelings into words. Then I was in an accident on my first day back, while taking J home from his last day of school. No one was hurt (except the vehicles), and it wasn't my fault so the other guy's insurance is paying, but did have to go through the associated hassles of reporting, rental cars, etc.

Suddenly Christmas was upon us! We did a long weekend in San Antonio, where my dear husband and I did NOT make Christmas dinner for the first time in I-don't-know-how-long, which was odd but delicious and restful (with grateful appreciation to the rest of the family!) We headed home to work a few days (and see some movies that were not Juj-appropriate), then turned around and went back to pick up J. 

Since it was a one night hotel stay, and the Riverwalk always has wonderful holiday lights, and I'm pretty good at milking internet bargains (although G-man still kicks my behind on that front!), I booked us at the Hotel Contessa. It was every bit as lovely as we'd hoped from our visits to the bar & restaurant in the past, but somewhat uneven. (Valet service not so good, gorgeous big suite overlooking the river, but a couple of items in disrepair in the bathroom, wait staff very nice but over-busy, food and cocktails yummy...) 

However, we had a lovely stay, had time to look at the lights a bit, and are now back home, drinking Mexican hot chocolate and eating home-made bunelos, fresh from San Antonio yesterday.

We are certainly living the fortune: 

May you live in interesting times! 

There have been marriages and divorces among our friends, better and worse health in our (aging) families, and babies and children growing up all around us. We celebrate the joys together, try to share the losses, and remember to count our blessings. May the New Year bring the peace and love everyone needs!

Christmas Dinner

The G-man and I have been cooking Christmas dinner for extended family (usually his, on rare occasions mine) for about, oh, the past twenty years or so. The first year it was self-defense, as I was a bit overwhelmed by la familia Guerrero, and I found refuge in the kitchen. It's certainly no longer about hiding, but it is a nice (albeit sometimes tiring) tradition.

This year's menu for 17 adults (including the priest who baptized Juj) and 4 kids:

• Gin-n-Tonic, Sazaeracs with Blue Cheese Fig Savouries
• Apple-Fennel Salad with Walnuts
• Blanched and Sautéed Green Beans with Shallots, Thyme & Lemon Zest
• Chipotle Sweet Potato Gratin
• Rib Roast & Yorkshire Pudding and Gravy (pan drippings, flour, beef broth)
• Pear & Sour Cherry Brown Betty with Brandy Hard Sauce

UPDATE:  This qualified as one of the both better AND easier holiday dinners we've done.

We rubbed the roast the night before with basic cajun rub - two parts salt, one part each onion, garlic & mustard powders and black, red (cayenne) & white peppers - and had one of the aunties take it back out of the fridge at 7 AM on Christmas Day. Then we seared it on three sides before slow roasting at 250 degrees for about 3-4 hours. (Actually, we cut the one HUGE roast we had in half, and started one about an hour before the other, so that there would be some rarer meat for those that like it that way...like me.)

We also peeled the potatoes and made the Blue Cheese Fig Savories the day before, and bought pre-washed arugula and frozen haricots verts, which reduced the prep time further.  Still cooked from about 9 AM to 2 PM straight through on Christmas Day, but it was certainly less tense than some years!

There and Back Again...

Whizz - that was the sound of November!

Did my normal month close reporting the first week, spent a week in Colorado on business, came home for a week with my folks visiting that also included my birthday and cooking Thanksgiving dinner for seven adults and four kids, then back to Colorado for another week of business meetings.

Now I'm home, happy to be with my little family and enjoying the iPad I won. Yes, free iPad - not doing 3G or anything, but certainly having fun playing games and crawling blogs in bed. And if it had actually been delivered before I left for that second trip to Denver, I would've probably downloaded and watched some shows or movies. (Could've caught up on Glee!)

But it's maybe better that it didn't arrive until the day I left, because I ended up reading two good books instead: Take This Bread by Sara Miles, and Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert. Really enjoyed them both; very affirming. (Although I guess I could have ended up downloading and reading them as well.)  Anyway, now two more weeks of working and then two weeks of vacation and holidays, which I am very much looking forward to.

I love what Juj's teacher has assigned for the kids for these last two weeks before winter break: nine 'gifts of kindness' and then a secret present exchange.  There are ten kids in his class, and for the next two weeks, each one has to do an anonymous gift of kindness (free or under $1) for one person in the class each day, until they have done a gift of kindness for everyone. (She told them that they could skip themselves, since they should always be kind to themselves!) On the last day, they are doing some kind of white elephant or secret Santa exchange (under $10).  I think it's a great idea; perhaps I should try it at work the next ten days myself.

Finally, although we haven't decided on the Christmas menu -- we've cooked for G-man's extended family, up to 20 of us, for most of the past ten or more years -- we did have a lovely repast on turkey day:

• Blue Cheese & Pear Tart with caramelized shallots (adapted from the Nov 2010 Sunset magazine that my mom brought with her)
• Turducken Roll (which G-man built out of all breasts - turkey, duck, chicken - with three stuffings: one cornbread and one Andouille sausage adapted from Paul Prudhomme, and one rice & mushroom improv) and a couple of turkey thighs roasted on the side for dark meat lovers
• Gravy
• Orange Cranberry Sauce (homemade, with a hint of chile added)
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes Mashed with salt, butter, and cinnamon with three toppings: one-third Plain, one-third Pecan Streusel, one-third with mini-Marshmallows (inspired by this but not so sweet and ground pecans instead of flour)
• Brussels Sprouts Hash with Caramelized Shallots (have had it for most or all of the past four years - nearly guaranteed to win over 'sprouts haters!)
• Apple, Fennel Salad with Walnuts (also from Sunset)
• Pumpkin Cheesecake (Splenda sweetened, pecan crust - something I came up with a few years out of two or three other recipes)
• Bourbon and Chocolate Pecan Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream (OK, it was Jack Daniels, which some would say is NOT bourbon)

Mr. W brought the wines, so we had him, the three adorable W kiddos, my parents, Ron, Bill, and the G's Three.  And there was much feasting, drinking, playing, and a walk down the block to see an early Christmas lights extravaganza (a lot of folks in our neighborhood really go all out!) Really lovely afternoon and evening - although a Cherpumple did not get made.

Christmas Dinner Update

Dinner was delicious, and we did a lot of the prep work the day before, which worked out well. There were 16 adults and 4 kids, and not TOO many leftovers.

We did the fresh ham (a 15-pounder!), not the Porchetta, although I'd still like to try that some time. The ham was really awesome.

Doubled the kale, and tripled the green beans, although probably double would have been fine. Did between 1.5x and 2x on the corn pudding; was a bit over there as well, and on the salad (full head of iceberg and two hearts of romaine with four carrots and a bunch of radishes).

Made TWO ice cream cakes (which was definitely one too many, as usual with our desserts):

• one with crumbled pecan sandies in vanilla ice cream with a cajeta drizzle and canela-brown sugar whipped cream, and 
• one with crushed peppermint candies in vanilla ice cream with a hot fudge drizzle and peppermint whipped cream. 

Shockingly, the cinnamon-caramel was the clear winner in the taste test, even for me.

Christmas Dinner

I'm posting this a bit early (still a toss-up on the entree, depending on what the butcher says is available), but I want all the recipe links at my fingertips no matter where I am:

• Cocktails & kiddie sparklers using the Lavender Lemon Drop and Mojito from modmix
• Texas Caviar (Black Eyed Peas) with tortilla chips (or as a salad with the meal)
• Fresh Ham with Citrus Rum Glaze OR Porchetta (Pork Shoulder) with Roasted Fingerlings
• Corn Pudding
• Quick Cooked Greens (probably the garlic & red pepper flakes variation)
• Green Beans with Bacon & Onions (might skip if we do the Porchetta)
• Crunchy Salad of Iceberg, Romaine, Carrots & Radishes with homemade French Dressing
• Peppermint Chocolate Ice Cream Cake

Looking forward to the final decision!

Casual Thanksgiving with Friends

This is always great - good food, good friends, and good wine to top it off. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday (all the food and family of Christmas without the presents' anxiety), and this year was a perfect example of why that is so.

The 'tribe joined us, along with Ron and Bill. Mr. W brought wine (mmm...), Ben, roses and the cutest toddler on earth, and then Mrs. W joined us with more food and Miss Sam, who had been feeling unwell but seemed to perk up a bit for most of the afternoon. The kids played outside, the grown-ups drank wine and finished the cooking, and then we all sat down for a feast consisting of:

• Nigella Lawson's Liptauer with Rye and Pumpernickel Toasts
• Carrots & Celery with Ranch
• Spicy Pecans (inspired by the linked recipe, but made with pecans, pepitas, and almonds; with 1 tblsp. each cumin, new mexico chile powder, cinnamon; and Splenda instead of sugar)
• Tur-Duc-Ken with Wild Rice & Pecan Stuffing from La Boucherie via Central Market (excellent, as always, but DH & I are already plotting about making our own next time, out of all breasts maybe, with multiple stuffings...)
• Jen's Challah-Cornbread-Cranberry-Pancetta Dressing (sweet AND spicy - yum!)
• Sweet Potatoes (Jen made 'em roasted and smashed with marshmallows on top)
• Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Caramelized Shallots (this is always and amazing hit; don't like Brussels Sprouts? you should give 'em a chance in this preparation)
• Green Peas with Butter (my personal "gotta have it" thing for T-day)
• Iceberg Wedges with Roquefort Dressing (a nod to Gilster's dear departed Grandpa Owen)
• Cranberry-Apple Gel Mold (Guerrero tradition a la Joy of Cooking, but Splenda-ized)
• Cottage Cheese Dill Bread (another G family tradition, lifted from Beard on Bread)
• Braided Wheat Loaf (Uncle Ron was inspired after loaning us his bread pans!)
• Low-carb Marble Pumpkin Cheesecake with Praline Crust (my mash-up creation from 2008)
• Chocolate Pecan Pie (*swoon* now I know I love Jen!)
• Plenty of whipped cream (an overzealous Costco buy)

And DH cleaned up afterwards (ooh -- and he just made me oatmeal for breakfast, which soothes my Scottish soul, and my stomach...), and we had the rugs shampooed earlier in the week, and rearranged the furniture, and now all we have to is relax (mostly) for the next three days!

Christmas Dinner

Well, it only 16 extended family members (including our little trio) for dinner at the Tias' house yesterday, but it was a lovely meal, if I do say so myself. Most of the recipes were from Martha Stewart holiday magazine, unless noted, and should be on her web site, if one was interested.

• Pre-dinner Nibbles with Cocktails (mostly Gin & Tonic or Jack & 7, depending on how much time the drinker had spent above the Mason-Dixon line): Spicy Pecans, Honey-Roasted Salted Figs, with fresh flame grapes and cheese & crackers
• Roasted Pear & Shallot Salad with Sherry-Dijon Vinaigrette
• Roast Beef Tenderloin with Caramelized Onion & Mushroom Stuffing (from CooksIllustrated.com, and used their tip of "buy tenderloin from Costco and trim it yourself")
• Leek & Gruyere Bread Pudding (but I would make it with a more toothsome bread next time; crustless brioche has NO texture!)
  
• Carrot "Souffle" (Gil said it was better than the one from Luby's that inspired my internet search for the recipe; certainly less sugar and finer texture)
• Tarragon Green Beans (with pre-stemmed haricots verts from Costco)
• Almond Cake (from Amanda Hesser's Cooking for Mr. Latte) with a black cherry sauce, a hot chocolate sauce, and freshly whipped cream
  

A: Improvisation

Q: What do jazz and Thanksgiving have in common?

I didn't grow up with jazz; bluegrass, folk, rock and/or roll, even classical, but not jazz. I came to it late in life, during grad school and beyond, mostly thanks to my lighting design mentor at CalArts, my then-not-so-soon-to-be husband (we met in 1987, moved beyond "just friends" shortly thereafter, and married in 1999: you do the math), and my work with the Jazz Tap Ensemble (right up to the time of starting my second career).

Now I know that there's plenty of improv in rock, bluegrass and the like, but somehow improvisational cooking reminds me most of jazz. Maybe because I learned more about forms and rules in relation to jazz improv, whereas I'm relatively less "schooled" in other types of music, and improv cooking works as long as you know the forms and rules.

Anyway, this year's Thanksgiving meal was the kind of cooking I like to do best; guided by recipes, but on familiar enough ground that I can feel free to do my thing. And it was especially good that I was feeling adaptable on this one, because although I delivered what I had planned, there was a miscommunication between G-man and I on what time the meal was to start. We had talked about anything from 2 to 6 PM, and I left it up to him to finalize with Bill and Ron.

I'd heard DH say "afternoon" when I asked, and I assumed it was the 4 or 4:30 time we'd talked about. At 10:30 this morning, with the marble pumpkin cheesecake in the oven, I was feeling all relaxed when I checked in on that start time -- oops, 2:30 NOT 4:30. We hustled together and got the bird (parts) in the oven, and I think we served a bit after three o'clock. Not bad. Of course, when the compliments came in on the food -- "That's why we make you wait; so you'll like it no matter what 'cuz you'll be starving."

But back to the menu; most of the items were inspired by one or more "real" recipes, as noted...

• Gingered Carrot Soup (from the Williams-Sonoma Mayo Clinic Cookbook, except I added a pinch of curry powder, and we went for "half-n-half" instead of non-fat evaporated milk)
• Spinach & Granny Smith Salad, with green onions, toasted pecans & a little raw grated ginger
  
• Carrots & Celery Sticks with ranch AND blue cheese dressings, for my son with the incredibly narrow sense of what constitutes an edible vegetable these days
• Slow Roasted Herbed Turkey Breast & Thighs with Gravy (a "mash-up" of the Cook's Illustrated slow roast turkey in pieces and a Barefoot Contessa recipe)
  
• Roasted Delicata Squash with Hot Jelly Glaze (Martha Stewart Living) - and I threw in a few fingerling potatoes I had sitting around as well, which were surprisingly good
• Fennel, Italian Sausage & Cranberry Multi-Grain Dressing (improv: I've been making it for a few years, and this one featured brown & wild rice with wheat berries & rye - not bad!)
  
• Cranberry & Apple Gelatin Salad (from the good old Joy of Cooking, although I used to call my MIL every year for the recipe until she took pity & hipped me to its origin; made sugar free thanks to Splenda and the folks at Jello)
• Sugar Free Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake with Praline Crust and real sweetened whipped cream (this was a keeper, at least three recipes used as inspiration, with a low-carb crust of ground pecans, butter, a hint of cinnamon, and Splenda -- delicious, so I'm glad I did write down what I ended up doing as it might be repeatable!)
  

And a happy new year...

Well, for the third year in a row (at least; it seems longer!), we got the three musketeers together for a new year's eve party -- our son and two other kids we've known since they were babies, all born within a few weeks of each other. The package includes a few others as well (e.g. parents and baby brother) and this year Ron and Elsa joined us, as it was our turn to host.

It was a dinner party for twelve -- yes, the kids count, even if they don't eat much -- and I'm pretty sure a good time was had by all. (G-man and the Juj are still asleep, so I take that as a good sign.) The adults stayed 'at table' for the better part of four hours, while the kids played and watched Polar Express (the three big kids) and Thomas (guess who?!). We wrapped by counting down to midnight Eastern Time, which is as late as we've ever made it, and everyone went home before the real party-ers hit the roads.

• Cheese tray (nibbled before and after) -- Amadeus, year-old manchego, a nice blue - with caramelized walnuts, fig & almond "cake" and fig jam (thanks, Cynthia!)
• Smoked Salmon & Watercress Salad with Lemon-Caper Vinaigrette (and Pumpernickel Croutons) courtesy of FoodTV; Chuck nailed this one with a rose sparkler whose label escaped me
• Tomato & Fennel Soup (this and the entree were from Anthony Bourdin's Les Halles Cookbook -- delish; even the kids ate this -- with leftover pumpernickel croutons)
• Roti de Porc Au Lait (Pork Roast seared then braised in milk -- also scrumptious -- I did cook it off in the oven rather than stove top for more even heat); for the main course, C brought a delicious triumvirate: German white (Dr. F. Weins-Prum 2003 Estate Reisling), and two contrasting reds "Catherine Deneuve" and "Sophia Loren" -- I'm with Jen that "Sophia Loren" smelled of B.O. even if she was delicious with the manchego... (2005 Kermit Lynch Cotes du Rhone & 2006 Domain Chignard Fleurie "Les Moriers" -- not necessarily in that order)
  
• Green Beans with Shallots and Lemon Roasted Carrots (both courtesy of Whole Foods; made the evening pretty effortless, especially when paired with dessert delegation)
• Barley-Wild Rice Pilaf

Southern desserts, courtesy of the guests (woo-hoo!)

• Green Mold (something sweet and fluffy involving lime jello, pineapple, and ?? -- quite yummy, although not to be paired with the after dinner Quinta de Roriz 1999 Port)
• Buttermilk Pie (awesome, Sarah! and surprisingly good with the port)
  

With the old year escorted out in style, we now wish all our family and friends a fabulous 2008!

And who knows -- we may yet get out a holiday card; the current issue of Martha Stewart Living says the French exchange new year's greetings cards through the end of January, so now Los Guerreros can pretend to be French and have a whole extra month to catch up!

Christmas Dinner Menu

After our flying trip to San Francisco to see the Nutcracker with four generations from my side in tow (my mom and grandmother have been going for 45 years!), it's on to San Antonio for our annual labor of love for our fabulous Guerrero family there -- Christmas Dinner for 20-25 people.

This year's menu switches up a bit; not Italian nor "traditional" but featuring New Tastes from Texas...

• Sweet & Spicy Pecans, p. 45*
• Cocktails / Beer (tbd -- margaritas?)
• Southwestern Caesar Salad with Toasted Corn & Pepitas instead of croûtons, p. 77*
• Pozole de Cameron, p. 218
• Jerked Brisket Salpicon Tacos, p. 216*
• Sauteed Summer Squash OR Stewed Green Beans & Poblanos, depending on what looks good at the store, p. 256** Nov 2007
• Spiced Chocolate Bread Pudding, p. 38** Jan 2008

*Stephen Pyles New Tastes from Texas
**Martha Stewart Living magazine

Thankful...

As I've said, Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday of the year -- good food, good friends or family, proximity to my birthday, four-day weekend, start of the holiday season, and fall being my favorite season -- this holiday has it all. And Thanksgiving 2007 was no exception: the cold (well, at least cooler) weather had blown in Wednesday afternoon, when I left work early after IM'ing my boss who replied "YES, please go home!" I cooked for most of 24 hours, because poor Gil has been fighting some ugly cough (although it didn't stop him from doing a bang-up job cleaning the house, spot shampooing the carpet, AND ironing the tablecloth before setting the table with his great grandmother's 100+ year old china -- which he washed afterwards!)

And the event itself was very relaxed, with great friends gathered together, including all the local 'uncles.' And the W's joined us for seconds and dessert and libations and conversation -- and the construction of a very large GeoTrax train complex, which Ben really loved. The big kids got bored and went off to play Hullabaloo in J's room. Juj reports that Sam actually likes his Star Wars figures now, too!

The menu? Mostly from the November 2007 Bon Appetit (BA), with a couple of family favorites thrown in for good measure:

• Cheese tray courtesy of uncle Jack - with Roquefort (a family must-have for T-day), Brie, Cranberry Cheddar, and a lovely Fig-Nut compote
• Pancetta & Sage (and Rosemary) Turkey with Pancetta Sage Gravy (BA but used the Roast Salted Turkey technique from Cook's Illustrated -- and air dried the skin in the fridge the the last 24 hours)
• Three Mushroom Dressing (BA -- deemed just OK by all -- too far from tradition, and probably needed to be assembled further in advance for better cohesion)
• Roasted Root Vegies (Adapted from the BA dressing that also included cornbread, which we did without)
• Brussels Sprouts Hash with Caramelized Shallots (BA - delicious "and not bitter!" per Gil)
• Winter Squash Medley Puree (adapted from Martha Stewart, with warm spices -- curry, cayenne, cinnamon & ginger -- toasted in butter and roasted squash seeds for garnish)
• Cottage Cheese Dill Bread (from Beard on Bread)
  
• Molded Cranberry & Apple Salad (Joy of Cooking, retooled to no sugar added - thank goodness for Splenda and sugar free Jello!)
• Pumpkin Marscapone Pie with Marscapone Whipped Cream (BA)
• Cranberry Apple Pie & Vanilla Ice Cream courtesy of Whole Foods by way of Uncle Jack

And for the rest of the weekend (besides eating a lot of leftovers -- if you're near Carrollton and hungry, stop on by), I'm hoping to hit a trio of kids flicks -- Enchanted, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and Fred Claus.