Project 365: November 21st through November 27th

November 21st: My livingroom...I wanted to show off my new amaryllis which I could not resist getting due to the awesome vase with pretty black rocks it came with. It will make a beautiful coffee table centerpiece this holiday season.


November 22nd: Autumn in Portland...and there is the Steel Bridge.


November 23rd: The night before Thanksgiving. I made my Dutch Apple pie (shown here) and lemon meringue while Patrick made his twin pumpkin pies.


November 24th: And our epic cook fest began with Heidi and Rob bringing over their pumpkin soup and a lovely bottle of Sangiovese. Here you see our cooking lists and the basket full of root veggies all set to start peeling and cutting.


And the spread...from left to right we made Green Beans with Bacon and Stone Ground Mustard Vinaigrette; Homemade Jellied Cranberry Sauce; Roasted Turkey; Mashed Rutabaga; Mashed Potatoes; Roasted Onions with Balsamic Glaze; Homestyle Dinner Rolls (from Scratch); Pepper, Onion and Cranberry Stuffing (two bowls - one cooked in turkey and one out); Spiced Sweet Potatoes and Yams Roasted with Orange and Pecans; Mashed Hubbard Squash; Roasted Carrots and Parsnips with Cumin; and Deep Fried Turkey (which for the record is quite tasty).


November 25th: The opening of Beaverton Civic Theater's presentation of Happy Hollandaise! What a fun evening - the play-write and Beaverton's Mayor were both in attendance. I also discovered a former co worker was one of the stars! It was lovely to catch up with the Mayor and Aaron!


November 26th: Dinner at Urban Fondue with my beautiful friend Katy. While allowing our dinners to settle we opted for The Wild Elderberry Martinis. They were amazing...


November 27th: Me and my friend Jenna ran over to the Love Craft Bar for their craft bazaar. I saw quite a few friends which was lovely. I also bought some wonderful essential oils for my hair and got a hand massage from my friend M. I did not even realize how tense my hands were until that goddess worked her usual magic.

Thanksgiving

I thought I would share some food pictures from Thanksgiving. Unfortunately the beginning food was all that was captured. We made the entire meal from complete scratch down to the appetizers (though I did cheat on one appetizer and use puffed pastry dough that was premade) but besides that everything else was from scratch. I wish I had thought to take pictures of all the food because it was a gorgeous spread. The whole meal included Slow Roasted Sage Turkey, Slow Smoked Honey Brined Turkey, Herbed Homemade Sage and Thyme Stuffing (Both cooked in and out of the bird available), Homemade Cranberry Sauce (both whole fruit and Jellied), Orange Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Yams, Traditional Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Traditional Turkey Gravy, Baked Balsemic Onions, Steamed Hubbard Squash, Steamed Rudabegga, Spice Roasted Carrots and Parsnips, Green Beans with Bacon Vinaigrette, From scratch crescent rolls, from scratch homestyle rolls, whipped butter, herbed butter and honey butter. Also, not pictured were Patrick's usual perfect pumpkin pies which went VERY fast post dinner.

Putting together the pies, starting with the Dutch apple using pie filling I canned myself a few months prior using Cortland apples from the Portland Nursery, a small pile of Granny Smith apples from Jen and the harvest of Columnar Sentinal apples from our yard. The awesome spoon seen here was carved by Andy and given to me for Christmas a few years back which I swear I use for everything!


The Dutch Apple Pie post being baked - I created a sort of Apple crisp topping for it even using oatmeal I powdered with the food processor.


The Lemon Meringue Pie fresh out of the oven.


The start of the stuffing: celery, red onion, red bell pepper, fresh rosemary, fresh, thyme, fresh parsley and fresh sage before being sauteed.


Stuffing - the other half as the cut up different types of good quality crusty bread comes out of the oven from being toasted.


And after combining the two we add the secret ingredients.


Turkey #2 slow smoking outside for 7 hours.


And from the appetizers (that were never heard from again) Parmesan Pastry Pinwheels which I made with Shallots instead of scallions this time and were heavenly.


More appetizers: Goat cheese with cranberries and pistachios, roasted garlic bread and spinach and Gruyere stuffed mushrooms.


And still more appetizers: Smoked salmon pate and caramelized onion dip (which I think was the hit of the early day).


The table settings before the candles and everything was lit.


Robert's famous pumpkin soup with cilantro and sharp cheddar which we always have to start our meal as tradition.



It was a lovely day and a fantastic meal. We actually got leftovers this year! Everyone was full of joy and we could not have asked for a better group to spend this holiday with. The holiday itself means a lot to both me and my husband as far as giving thanks goes going back several years. It brings us fond memories of my parents and carrying on their traditions so we look beyond the politics of the holiday to light, hope and joy. I hope yours was spent with people you truly care about as well.