Friendsgiving 2011!
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 07:57PM First I'd like to just give a big "thank you" for the tremendous response to my last post--the outpouring of support on this blog, on my facebook page, on tumblr, and wherever the hell else I am on the internet has been really overwhelming and downright touching. I have heard from people who I haven't even spoken to in years and years who have stopped to give me encouragement. It really, truly means a lot to me, and I'm glad that I could inspire some conversation about something that means a lot to me and is a big part of my life. So, THANK YOU to you guys!!
As part of my routine to get healthy and ready for my 10K in May, I've cut out a lot of eating out and drinking at bars and have been cooking at home nearly every day, which is also something that I have been wanting to improve. Two birds, one stone? I think so!! :D So, when I found out that I would have to be here for Thanksgiving this year and away from my family, I decided to cook a Thanksgiving meal for myself as well as my friends who would also be away from their families for the holiday. Friendsgiving!
Because it was my first Thanksgiving where I made something besides mimosas, I went a little crazy with the photos. But, here is a little look at my friendsgiving!!
I started cooking the night before. I was making six or seven dishes and I wanted to at least make sure I would be able to get the food out on the table and hot at relatively the same time. I pre-chopped most of my vegetables, I made the white cheddar mashed potatoes early, and I prepped the mini-meatloaves. My kitchen is not the biggest, but it's just the right size for someone like me. My oven doesn't work (the pilot light just...doesn't light D: ) and my stove has only two working burners. So, basically, my meal has to be made with the toaster oven, the two burners, and the microwave.
Here are the little mini-meatloaves that my good friend Cymon (old neighbor from Atlanta!!) advised I should cook in the crock pot. BEST IDEA EVER.
COOKING INJURY. I still am not even really sure how this happened, but I was draining out the water I used to boil the potatoes and I think the end of the spatula was warm from the stove, and it flipped up for some reason and hit me in the arm. It looks like just a dent in my arm, sort of like when you sleep with the blankets all bunched up and they press into your skin...only now it's a big boo-boo. Well, thank god this was the only accident of the experience. >.<
A lot of the recipes I used were meant for tables of 10-12 people, something that I accounted for when making them for my tiny Thanksgiving--just too late. Here I am making waaaaaaayyyyy too much sausage and cornbread stuffing. >.<
The star of my Friendsgiving meal--my little Black & Decker toaster oven!! Not only does it cook these delicious bacon cheesy puffs (a family appetizer tradition!), it also keeps the food I've already made warm when I place it on top of the oven. TWO BIRDS. ONE DELICIOUS STONE.
THE SPREAD. OMG. I CAN'T BELIEVE I MADE ALL OF THIS AND DIDN'T EXPLODE THE KITCHEN. So, here are all the individual dishes I made and the blogs/sites where I pulled the recipes!!
So, ah heh heh heh, I sorta burnt the shit out of the top of this Blue Cheese Green Bean Casserole...but we still ate it anyway! I totaly recommend Closet Cooking--all his recipes are simple and taste amazing, with nice straight-forward instruction and food photography.
Honey-Glazed Carrots from one of my idols Martha Stewart! Oh, Martha, how I love you and the fact that you went to jail and you're still being totally badass with your french bulldogs and telling me I have to wrap my Christmas presents using chiffon bows and lace doilies. <3 Anyway, these carrots were SUUUUPER easy to make, and gobbled up immediately.
Also from Martha--Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing. Holy moly. Like I mentioned before, I have a whole other batch of this to make. I CANNOT WAIT.
As it was my mission to basically put cheese and bacon into everything I made this year, here comes Martha's Creamed Spinach with Bacon to save the day!! Ah, I love Thanksgiving--taking perfectly healthy vegetables and making them as unhealthy as possible. 'TIS THE SEASON!!
Closet Cooking again gave me the recipe for these White Cheddar and Garlic Mashed Potatoes! Super cheesy and creamy, and I could make them the day before and they still tasted amazing!
My good friend May pointed me the way to this recipe for Low-Fat Mini-Meatloaves. Because Joon was a shelter dog, they are unsure about her birthday but they think it was somewhere in the realm of November 2000. So, I celebrate Joon's birthday on Thanksgiving, because I am so thankful to have her in my life! <3 Joon loves meatloaf, and instead of a turkey this year (because...that would be a stretch in my toaster oven!) I made these little guys, and cooked them in the crockpot. THEY WERE INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS. Joon agrees.
Prior to Thanksgiving, I won a contest from Kaitpops--and won a dozen delicious cake pops for my Thanksgiving centerpiece!! AREN'T THEY THE CUTEST. The insides were oreo truffle, and they were TO DIE.
...my Thanksgiving guests thought so too. XD
Anyway, that's it for now! Did you all have a great Thanksgiving!? I hope so!
Reader Comments (3)
OUT OF CONTROL GOOD OMG. ♥ THANK YOU!!
I want to eat everything in this post!! Do you have a link to the meatloaf recipe!?
Emily: Thanks SO SO much for coming over and sharing food and LIBATIONS (uh, and that wine opener, lawl).
San: Oops! I added a link to the recipe for the meatloaves--just put in the crockpot for about 4 hours instead of the oven. DELICIOUS.