I know we’re on our way out of Autumn and already into the winter holidays but I wasn’t able to share my table decor before Thanksgiving so I want to share it with you now so you can bookmark any ideas you like for next year.

Our home is pretty minimalist and I try to keep decorations festive, yet minimal so it ties into the look of the house. I always try to use seasonal flowers and vegetation for centerpieces. I like to play with lighting by dimming the overhead light and adding candles. Lastly, I like to buy some fabric that fits the occasion/season and I make my own runners – so much more cost effective and you can get exactly what you want.  The best part of holiday decor though, are the special people you share it with.

Hope you like what we did with the place and I promise to get images of my Christmas decorations up before Christmas!

Yesterday I gave you my menu for a Thanksgiving dinner I’m putting together and gave you the recipes for the appetizers and drinks here.  Today, I’m going over the recipes for the turkey, gravy and cranberry sauce.  Here’s a review of the menu:

MENU
Mulled Wine
Cranberry Cocktail
—
Stuffed Mushrooms
Spinach & Feta Puffs
—
Mushroom Soup
—
Herb Roasted Turkey Breast
Dressing (fancy way of saying stuffing not made in the turkey)
Mashed Potatoes
Candied Yams
Green Beans
Gravy
Cranberry Sauce
—
Roasted Chestnuts
Apples & Clementines
—
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Pie
Coffee, Tea, Mulled Cider

Herb Roasted Turkey Breast with Pan Gravy, Inspired by Rachel Ray; Brine recipe from Alton Brown

For the Brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger
1 gallon heavily iced water

For the Turkey:
1 small (golf-ball sized) onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 cloves of garlic
12 fresh sage leaves
2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves removed from stems
3-4 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed from stems
Large handful fresh flat-leaf parsley (about 1/2 cup, from 12 stems)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for oiling pan
1 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed
6 fresh bay leaves
4 tablespoons butter
2 boneless turkey breast halves, skin on (about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds each) (with my menu since there are many courses and sides I guestimated 5 people per breast).
Freshly ground black pepper

For the Pan Gravy:
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 to 3 cups chicken stock
Salt and pepper

The Brine (you can make the mixture ahead)
1. Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

2. Early on the day you’d like to eat, combine the brine, water and ice in a large stock pot. Place the turkey breasts in the brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate until you are ready to cook – at least 4-5 hours.

3.  Preheat the oven to 450º. Remove the bird from brine and rinse with cold water. Discard the brine.  Place the bird on a clean cutting board and pat dry with paper towels.

Preparing the turkey
1. Oil a roasting pan and set it aside.

2. Put the onion into the bowl of a mini food processor. Chop the onion until fine. Add the sage, parsley, rosemary, thyme, garlic, olive oil, and 1 teaspoon salt and pulse until it forms a coarse paste.

3. Put 2 of the bay leaves and the butter into a small pan and heat over medium-low heat until the butter is bubbling. Remove from the heat and set aside.

4. Put the turkey breasts on a work surface. Carefully run your fingers between the skin and the flesh from 1 end, being careful not to pull it completely off, creating a pocket. Season the turkey breasts generously with salt and pepper. Stuff half of the herb paste under the skin of each breast, and spread it evenly under the skin. Transfer the breasts to the roasting pan, and slide 2 bay leaves underneath each one. (The heat of the pan will release the bay leaf oils and flavor the breast.) Using a pastry brush, baste the breasts with half of the bay butter. Place the turkey in the oven and immediately decrease the temperature to 400 degrees F. After 20 minutes, baste the turkey breasts with the remaining butter, and roast for an additional until cooked through, and a thermometer placed in the thickest part of the breast registers 170 degrees F (about 1.5 hours total but go by your thermometer).

5. Remove from the oven, transfer to a platter, cover, and let rest for 10 minutes before carving while you make the gravy.

6. Put the roasting pan over the burner on medium heat. Sprinkle the flour over the pan juices, and cook, stirring, for a few minutes. Scrape the pan to lift the bits that are stuck to the bottom. Pour in the chicken stock, bring to a simmer, and stir until thickened. Season with salt and pepper.

7. Slice the turkey breast on the diagonal, and serve with warm gravy.

Cranberry Sauce, Ali’s mom’s recipe, you can make ahead
1 packet of fresh cranberries
1 cup orange juice
1 cinnamon stick
1 piece of ginger
1 cup sugar

1. Combine all the ingredients and let it cook until berries break up.

2. Let cool and refrigerate.

Candied Yams, Inspired by Keyshawn’s Mom’s Candied Yams on the Food Network
3 pounds sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and cut into 2-inch cubes
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick sweet butter, cubed
Dash of cinnamon
Dash of Nutmeg
Dash of vanilla extract

1. Place raw potatoes in large pot, cover with sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract and butter and cook over medium heat until potatoes are fork tender (about 20 minutes) but not mushy. That’s it!

I hope that helps with your Thanksgiving feast! Buon Appetito!

When it comes to family holidays, we always spend them with either my parents of Ali’s parents so I’ve never had the chance to make Thanksgiving dinner.  But, I love entertaining and every holiday there’s a little part of me that wishes everyone would just come over to our house.  This year, I decided to host a Thanksgiving dinner a week early – for my friends!  It’s been a while since I had a dinner party and I thought it would be fun to get everyone together for a Happy Friendsgiving Dinner!

Since I’ve never made Thanksgiving Dinner I had to test out a few recipes – the last thing you want to do is make something for the first time on a holiday!  I don’t have photos of everything I’m making because some of the stuff I’ve made before but everything is YUMMY.  I promise.

MENU
Mulled Wine
Cranberry Cocktail
—
Stuffed Mushrooms
Spinach & Feta Puffs
—
Mushroom Soup
—
Herb Roasted Turkey Breast
Dressing (fancy way of saying stuffing not made in the turkey)
Mashed Potatoes
Candied Yams
Green Beans
Gravy
Cranberry Sauce
—
Roasted Chestnuts
Apples & Clementines
—
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Pie
Coffee, Tea, Mulled Cider

It may seem like a lot but some things you can make ahead and some things I cheat on. Everything is made from scratch except the dressing and the pies. I’ve made dressing from scratch and I didn’t think the taste difference was worth the extra work. Same with the pies – I’ve made pies but I’m not a baker, I’m more of a savory cook and the extra work did not add up to extra taste. Other than, that it’s all me.

Cranberry Cocktail
Frozen cranberry juice cocktail
7UP

Combine one bottle of soda per one cannister of juice concentrate. That’s it!

Mulled Wine, Inspired by Orange-Scented Mulled Wine from Fine Cooking
Two bottles of red wine (Merlot, Shiraz or Zinfandel work well)
Mulling Spices (I buy this premade but you can make it) tied into a cheesecloth
1 clementine, washed and cut in half crosswise (seeded if necessary)
1/3 cup granulated sugar; more to taste
1/4 cup brandy
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Combine everything in a pot except the brandy and vanilla extract. Warm over low heat for about an hour – don’t let the mixture boil. Take out the clementine with a pair of tongs and squeeze the juice out. Mix in the sugar and vanilla extract. Add more sugar to taste. Serve hot.

Stuffed Mushrooms, Inspired by Betty Crocker’s Italian Stuffed Mushrooms
36 medium mushrooms (about 1 pound)
2 tbsp butter
3 green onions
1 serano chile
1 1/2 cups of soft bread crumbs (bread you use for morning toast works well – cut in small pieces)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

1. Heat oven to 350°.

2.  Twist mushroom stems to remove from mushroom caps. Finely chop enough stems to measure 1/3 cup. Reserve mushroom caps.

3.  Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chopped mushroom stems, onions and serano chile pepper in butter about 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are softened; remove from heat. Stir in bread crumbs, oregano, salt and pepper. Fill mushroom caps with bread crumb mixture.

4.  Spray baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Place mushrooms, filled sides up, in pan.  Bake 15 minutes.

5.  Set oven control to Broil. Broil mushrooms with tops 3 to 4 inches from heat about 2 minutes or until tops are light brown. Serve hot.

Spinach & Feta Puffs, Inspired by Spanakopeta Recipe from Popular Greek Recipes
Puff Pastry (I use store bought, make sure you follow defrosting instructions)
1 lb chopped spinach (I use frozen – defrost and squeeze out extra water)
1/2 tbsp salt
1/2 lb Feta cheese
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Combine all ingredients except the puff pastry.

3. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry. Cut down the existing fold lines to make 3 columns. Cut crosswise to make 4 rows (cut in the middle first so you can make them even).

4. Spoon a bit of the spinach mixture in the middle of each puff pastry square. Fold up the corners and the sides and seal by pressing the dough together.

5. Bake on a baking tray lined with parchment paper until the pastry puffs and is light golden brown about 20-30 minutes.

Mushroom Soup, Inspired by Wild Mushroom Soup with Sherry & Thyme in Fine Cooking (pictured above)
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion, cut into medium dice (to yield about 1-1/2 cups)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 large Portobello mushroom caps and crimini mushrooms (to yield about 3/4 lb)
2 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups homemade or low-salt chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 cup half-and-half
3 Tbs. dry sherry
1 Tbs. soy sauce

1. Melt the butter and olive oil in a 5-qt. or larger stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until it’s beginning to brown (resist the urge to stir too often), about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms, 2 Tbs. of the thyme, and 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper; cook until the mushrooms become limp, 2 to 4 minutes.

2. Add the broth, scraping up any browned bits in the pot with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, and cook until the mushrooms are tender, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Transfer about half of the soup to a stand blender and process until smooth. Return the mixture to the pot and stir in the half-and-half, sherry, and soy sauce. Add more salt and pepper to taste, if needed, and reheat. Garnish each serving with a small pinch of the remaining 1 tsp. thyme.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the rest of the Thanksgiving menu and recipes!