Harvest Dinner Week Finale

The Watson Harvest Dinner just ended. My kitchen is cleaned, my husband is picking the turkey clean for leftover turkey sandwiches tomorrow, my sisters are folding my kids clothes for me, and I am happily taking a much needed rest. I love family dinners as much for the aftermath as the actual event. I now have a clean house for the rest of the week (or at least however long it lasts, maybe until Tuesday.) We made it through the day with only 2 mishaps:

1) I decided to bake the extra apples soaked in bourbon with the turkey, but I put them in a parchment paper lined pan. Well, the paper caught fire, and literally blew up from the alcohol. It blew our oven door open and shot a fireball out of the oven, but thankfully no one was hurt. Braden just about had to change his pants, but it all ended ok. And the turkey was just fine!
2) Penelope, after eating 3 pumpkin rolls and some pumpkin pie, threw up bright orange puke then slipped in it. I scooped her up and stuck her in the tub, and by the time I came back in the kitchen my dad, Ashly, & Ashlyn had cleaned it all up for me! Gotta love family.

Harvest Dinner Week Part 5

Here is the easiest recipe I know to make the crown jewel of Thanksgiving Desserts: Pumpkin Pie. Make an extra so you can have it for breakfast the next morning.

Harvest Dinner Week Part 4

Today is the shrimp and mushroom risotto. If you like shrimp, mushrooms, and rice-this dish is for you. If you are like my husband, and don't like mushrooms, stay away from this dish. There will always be a couple of crazy people who don't like them at your dinner, but don't be offended if they don't eat any of this. It is VERY mushroom-y. Just the way I like it.

Harvest Dinner Week Part 3

Today I'm going to include 2 recipes, since they are the quick and easy ones from our menu. The greens beans & pancetta I got from our good friend Kathie & the orange cranberry sauce I got from Jaimee Rose's blog. A lot of you are used to the old school green bean casserole & the canned cranberry sauce, and if that's your tradition and you love it, more power to you. Personally, both those items make me want to barf just thinking about them, so I found new & more gourmet ways to incorporate them into the Thanksgiving meal. Please don't be offended that I hate the old school dishes. I'm pregnant, so I'm both more sensitive to food & I have less appreciation for other people's feelings. Don't worry I'll be back to normal in April. But I'll still never eat the other stuff again. And honestly, you probably won't either if you try these 2 recipes out!

Harvest Dinner Week Part 2

Next thing on the menu is The Pioneer Woman's Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes. I made these last week, and thought it would be a good idea to inform Ree when I met her, that I had been eating the leftovers for breakfast for almost a week straight. I'm pretty sure she was dazzled by my stimulating conversation, but I was totally nervous meeting her so that was all I could think of to blurt out. Dumb.

Anyway, these mashed potatoes are freaking amazing, and it is the one recipe I have come across that actually taste just as good reheated as they do fresh. I think it must be the cream cheese in them that keep them moist and flavorful. Just remember to add lots and lots of salt, because bland mashed potatoes are just inexcuseable.

Harvest Dinner Week

One lesson everyone must learn is when you get married, the holidays become a much more hectic time. All my brothers & sisters have to split the holidays between 2 families (we split between 3), and half of them have moved away so we try to make things work the best we can. This year we are having a Harvest Dinner at our house this Sunday with Braden's parents, my family, and Kathie's family to make sure we share the holiday with everyone on a day where we can all be together without running around all day. I love any excuse to make a big fancy meal, so I'm sharing our menu ideas with all of you!



The main course of our Harvest Dinner is of course going to be turkey, and I'm making the same one I tried out last year. The Apple Sage Bacon Bourbon Turkey I found via Jaimee Rose. This was amazing, even though I smelled like an alcoholic for the rest of day when I made it. If you are up for trying something new and fabulous for Thanksgiving, you MUST make this. Save yourself the trouble, and go to AJ's wine specialist and he will find bourbon for you. I searched 3 different stores last before I wised up and went to AJ's. Those of you who are anti-alcohol, keep in mind the alcohol gets cooked off in the roasting process, so all you get is the delicious flavor.

Jaimee got the recipe from her friend, who is a chef; and I have put his recipe in a handy 4 x 6 card that you can print out and stick on your fridge when you decide to grow a pair and make this Holiday Masterpiece.