It’s the final stretch before Thanksgiving! This year, I am slightly more prepared – last year I had completely forgotten until the weekend prior. The day before Thanksgiving, I took the day off and ran out to do all of my shopping. Luckily I was only cooking for Tom and myself so I didn’t have a ton of things to grab. Still, I was in a huge hurry.
The grocery store was packed with people. My strategy was to leave my cart nearby in a safe spot, and then run into an aisle, grab all of the items I needed, and then run back to my cart. Off to the next aisle and repeat the process.
This strategy was brilliant until I looked down and realized that at some point I had walked off with someone else’s cart. There were two realistic options for me:
- Sneakily, and without honor, skulk away from the cart and go off in search of the one I had abandoned.
- Suck up my pride and return the cart to the poor soul I had stolen it from.
In the end, I went with option #2, even though option #1 looked really, really good. I employed a much different strategy this year: Plan ahead. If you haven’t made any plans, don’t panic – there’s still time.
My brother, Neall, will be arriving tomorrow evening, so it gave me a reason to plan – and explore some new recipes. The Williams Family Tradition on Thanksgiving is the following: Appetizers and finger foods with endless games of cards (where we never cheat), more finger foods, and a matinee movie. And then surprisingly enough, more appetizers and finger foods. Later that evening, we are somehow able to eat a smaller, traditional Thanksgiving meal. Then maybe a dessert if we can fit it in, and then we either pass out from eating so much food, or sit down to a final game of cards and some more appetizers. Then we play until someone passes out from a food coma, or explodes. It’s an unhealthy food orgy that we only indulge in once a year.
Overall, our main event is the finger foods. I love ‘em.
If you plan on going anywhere this Thanksgiving and will not be cooking the main meal, don’t show up empty-handed. Everyone loves appetizers and finger foods – we crowd around them to chat and snack! They are the lifeblood of any good gathering. Well, that and being with people you don’t hate. Unfortunately I can’t help you with that, so I’ll have to stick to the food.
Every year around this time, Better Homes & Gardens releases a series of holiday magazines. Of course I usually pick up the cookie magazine, but this year something else caught my eye – the BH&G Holiday Appetizers Magazine.
Inside this nifty magazine you will find a variety of helpful and quick appetizers and holiday beverages – for a twist, they encourage beer. From now until the end of the year, I will be trying some of the various recipes in here. With most cooking publications you just don’t know what you’re going to get, but most of the recipes listed within sound delicious. If I find any worth sharing, I will let you know here, and enter it into the recipe index.
Another great boon to the magazine is that it also has a small section on soups, and all of them sound amazing. I will probably try all of the soups listed – that’s how wonderful they sound.
Still, if you have to go with just one amazing appetizer this year, I would suggest Grandma Nancy’s Stuffed Mushrooms
And before you ask, she isn’t my grandmother. I found this recipe on the Food TV website. It is quite popular, even though it was submitted by a viewer and never tested in a Food Network kitchen. To date it has been tested in my kitchen and in my mouth, not to mention seven or eight parties.
Although not everyone likes mushrooms, I would pick this one because it is (A) a hot appetizer, and anything hot gets great response and (B) unlike other traditional mushrooms that call for either pork or shrimp. Grandma Nancy’s, on the other hand, calls for poultry sausage. I find that more people are inclined to eat them because the main ingredient is poultry – in fact, whenever I bring these to a dinner party, they have never lasted more than 20 minutes. That’s the downside to the mushrooms, so when I make them for a party, I usually set aside a few for myself.
If you’re taking them to a family event of party, double the recipe – just trust me and double it.
For those of you who do not care for mushrooms as much, I would suggest a Williams Family Tradition: Meat Rolls. I have no idea where this recipe came from, it’s just something that was handed down to me from my mom. In fact, I still have my mother’s handwritten 3×5 card – but it’s developed a few food stains from use! Maybe my Grandma Wolf made them? That sounds familiar, but I can’t be sure. These little finger foods are a chilled appetizer, and nice for the pickiest of eaters as they are served with toothpicks.
1 8-oz package of cream cheese, softened 1 tsp. horseradish a dash of worcestershire onion salt (to taste) a little bit of mayo (to make it creamy) Assorted Sliced Sandwich Meat
Combine the first five ingredients. The recipe says to let them sit overnight so the flavors can meld, but I usually eat it right away. What can I say – I’m an instant results person! Spread the mixture onto a slice of deli meat and roll it up. Depending on the size of your deli meat, you may need to cut it in half. Stick a toothpick in that sucker and then pop it in your mouth!
I most likely will not be able to add anything here until after the holiday, so have a wonderful Thanksgiving!