Category — Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, thanks to D.’s sister and our BIL’s hospitality.  Always a lovely time over there.  And my MIL made this luscious pumpkin chiffon pie thingy . . . maybe if we give her some love here, she’ll give up the recipe for next year?  I have to admit, although I love putting on the holiday at our place, it’s incredibly relaxing to have someone else host. 

The only downside to guesting and not hosting is no leftovers (or very few, we drove home packing a large drumstick and some sides!).  That might be an upside in terms of getting back on track with healthy eating . . . but then there’s no turkey sandwich w/stuffing and cranberry sauce, pie for breakfast (my niece is probably happily gobbling up the apple pie I made as you read this), etc. etc.

But maybe you want to mix it up with your leftovers?  Here’s a fantastic article from Food & Wine – David Chang (of Momofuku fame) takes leftover turkey, green beans and mashed potatoes, among others, and whips them into inspired recipes like mashed potato spring rolls, turkey breast with ginger-scallion sauce, and OMG!  Brown Butter Custard Pie with Cranberry Glaze and Cinnamon Toast Crumb Crust.  Be still, my heart.

Or, if that’s a little too fancy-pants for you, here’re some more down-to-earth ideas from Chowhound . . . .

and a whole list of inspired recipes from an old Chow article.

And last, here’s a slide show of 16 different recipes, from the ever-reliable Better Homes & Gardens.  The Tex-Mex things look best to me, but I always have good luck with BH&G recipes . . . even if I have to zing ‘em up a bit.

Let me know what you whip up – and if you’re making any of those Chang things, let me know what time I need to be over . . . .

© 2009, Semi-Sweet. All rights reserved.

Happy Friday, everyone!  This is my last Thanksgiving-related post, unless I get requests for other dishes . . . what I’ve listed so far is my hit-parade of annual menu items.  The cooked veg changes from year-to-year (sometimes, my MIL makes a delicious creamy broccoli casserole thingy that’s worth the splurge).

Today I’m sharing a nice fall salad recipe that I make on Turkey day.  I have to admit, the salad doesn’t get as much play as the other side dishes.  But I happen to love a green salad amongst all the richness.  Don’t get me wrong, I love richness too, but a little somethin’ to cut the grease is always good.

Cranberry Pear Salad With Candied Walnuts

Make the dressing:  in a bowl, whisk together the first six ingredients and set aside. 

Candy the walnuts:  In a heavy skillet, melt the sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Add the walnuts and stir to coat.  Remove from the heat.

Assemble the salad:  In a large salad bowl, combine the green, pears and cranberries.  Drizzle with the dressing.  Add nuts and blue cheese and toss.

Serve immediately.  Yields 12 servings.

Note:  I usually try to pick up some different types of pears for this, some with more brown flesh, some with red . . . makes the salad more colorful!  Also, if you have the wherewithall to plan ahead, get your pears a few days in advance so they’ll have time to ripen.  Sweet, juicy pears are best here.

© 2009, Semi-Sweet. All rights reserved.