Friendsgiving 2011

Recently I started getting a subscription to Bon Appetit magazine. I think we just received our 4th issue. Every month when it arrives, Joey and I pour over the pages and get inspiration from the photos and recipes. I can't say that we've ever followed a recipe exactly (oh wait, we did follow the homemade ricotta recipe) but we are always inspired enough to create our own recipes based on those in the magazine.
The November issue was labeled the 'Thanksgiving Special' and contained a lot of traditional Thanksgiving items with a gourmet twist. An idea was born. You see, in my family, we eat the same foods for Thanksgiving every year. They sometimes evolve depending on who eats what and how those people like the items (for example, we usually have baked sweet potatoes instead of canned and I now make a cranberry sauce from fresh berries). The items still lack adventure though because my dad is very picky and likely wouldn't eat if thing deviated too much from the norm. After looking through the magazine, I turned to Joey and said "We need to have a mock Thanksgiving meal with our friends where we make traditional food but with a twist and items that we know our (my) family would never let us get away with on real Thanksgiving. Thus, Friendsgiving was born.
We ended up setting aside all day this past Sunday to the event. We had planned the menu and shopped the day before so we were all set. Joey prepared and cooking a turkey breast (this was the most traditional item on our table but SO good with the spices Joey rubbed on). Joey also made a delicious stuffing that included spicy Italian sausage, over toasted bread cubes, carrots, celery, onion, mushroom and herbs. I had never made my own stuffing before.

I decided to make a sweet potato casserole of sorts, despite having never made one before. I boiled the (peeled) potatoes and mashed them with some butter and cinnamon. Then I spread them into a baking pan. Next I prepared the topping by browning a stick of butter. Then I added a some brown sugar, chopped pecans, vanilla, and a bit of bourbon. I poured this sticky concoction over the potatoes and baked them for a bit with the stuffing. Then we finished both off with the broiler. This was my most favorite dish of the entire dinner. The browned butter pecan topping was incredible!

We also had some (not so exciting) green beans (that I made but wasn't happy with), corn, gravy, biscuits (a friend brought these), wine, a meat and cheese plate with crackers, glazed carrots, and mashed potatoes with mascarpone cheese, butter, and cracked pepper.
We had quite the spread.

For dessert, my friends brought over an awesome cake. Remember when I took cake decorating classes? Well, Adrienne's boyfriend Brian was the mastermind behind that idea. He had worked at a grocery store for a while as a cake decorator and wanted to learn new skills. Anyway, Adrienne made the cake and Brian sculpted and iced it. Check it out.

So we had an fantastic Friendsgiving and we've been eating left overs ever since... and now I'm less excited about real Thanksgiving food... but that will be alright because I will have my nieces there to distract me!
Oh, I almost forgot... in the middle of our cooking, Joey and I took a quick break for some dancing. I'm certain Frank Sinatra was playing on the ipod.

I love cooking with Joey! So fun.
Oh, and Delilah was there too.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!