Have you ever felt like you are attached to your oven with a ball and chain during a party? With that in mind, menu planning can be more important than you think. Below is an actual schedule that my friend Cindy had on her counter during her last dinner party. I asked her if I could keep it. I have very few friends who could pull this evening off, Cindy being one of them. She did it beautifully. This is easily doable if your menu is carefully planned from the start.
Cindy’s timing cheat sheet from her dinner party. Can you imagine keeping up with this and talking to your guests?
When hosting a dinner party, use all your cooking resources. Spread out the cooking—to the grill, stovetop, and oven or ovens. Make something ahead such as a salad. Have it ready to go in the serving bowl you plan to use in the refrigerator. You will be thanking yourself when the entire party is standing in the kitchen in your “cooking triangle”—which is now referred to as The Devil’s Triangle.
On one of those nights where the menu is complicated, I try to do a simple appetizer. One of my favorite Emergency Appetizers is as easy as putting out a bowl of pistachios. Not only will they hold your guests over until dinnertime, they are now entertaining themselves. How about that? I put out two attractive matching bowls and that’s it. Jon usually gives them a test run, like leaving a used toothpick in a bowl to show guests what to do.
Appetizer, check!Be on the lookout for a pair of matching bowls.Garden shops are a great source for serving pieces. These bowls are from Oak Street Garden Shop at oakstreetgardenshop.com.
The Star of the Show
This is the first time I can remember in a long time not being with my sister, Beth, on Thanksgiving. I’m going to miss her and our dressing bake-off.
First of all I have to say this is not an exact science—well, for me that is. It is kind of feel and taste as you go. But it has never seemed to disappoint anyone at the Thanksgiving table.
Mama Lil’s Thanksgiving Dressing
Makes 3 quarts
1 cup butter
1 ½ cups celery, finely chopped
¾ cup onion, finely chopped
2 (9-inch) pans of cornbread, crumbled (Leslie’s Tried-and-True Cornbread), see page 179, Leslie’s Party Diaries
3 to 4 biscuits, crumbled
1 to 2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon ground sage
1 teaspoon pepper
Poultry seasoning to taste
A pinch of thyme and marjoram (optional)
2 eggs, beaten
3 to 4 cups warm chicken broth
Melt butter in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Sauté celery and onion until translucent, for about 5 to 7 minutes.
Making dressing is therapeutic to me. I love the aroma of celery and onions cooking in butter.
Add cornbread and biscuit crumbs and next 5 ingredients. (This is the point where I like to taste the mixture for flavor, before the eggs and broth are added.)
Stir in eggs. Gradually add chicken broth, 1 cup at a time. You may not need it all, so go slowly. And, on the other hand, you may need more. So be prepared. (When the mixture is in the baking dish it should easily jiggle, but not slosh.) Pour into a buttered 3-quart baking dish.
Bake at 375 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes until golden brown and thoroughly heated.
2 (9-inch) pans of cornbread, crumbled (Leslie’s Tried-and-True Cornbread), see page 179, Leslie’s Party Diaries
3 to 4 biscuits, crumbled
1 to 2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon ground sage
1 teaspoon pepper
Poultry seasoning to taste
A pinch of thyme and marjoram (optional)
2 eggs, beaten
3 to 4 cups warm chicken broth
Instructions
Melt butter in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Sauté celery and onion until translucent, for about 5 to 7 minutes.
Add cornbread and biscuit crumbs and next 5 ingredients. (This is the point where I like to taste the mixture for flavor, before the eggs and broth are added.)
Stir in eggs. Gradually add chicken broth, 1 cup at a time. You may not need it all, so go slowly. And, on the other hand, you may need more. So be prepared. (When the mixture is in the baking dish it should easily jiggle, but not slosh.) Pour into a buttered 3-quart baking dish.
Bake at 375 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes until golden brown and thoroughly heated.
Leave it to my mother to have a china pattern called “Mayflower”. We eat on it every year.
Coming up in the next few posts, easy-to-eat holiday appetizers, food gifts with packaging, and some very interesting cocktails. You don’t want to miss. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and most of all, safe travels.
I would love to hear from you. Don’t be shy about making comments or asking questions. I love getting mail! Leslie
My friend Elizabeth introduced me to a green bean bundle over 25 years ago. I’m not sure where she got the recipe, but it is still one I love to serve my guests to this day. It is often even requested—and yes, I’m talking about you, David Fullington.
It takes only a few minutes to wrap these cute bundles.
When purchasing the green beans, I usually buy an extra can or two. You’ll see what I mean when you get in to this one. (And, no, these are not in the “organic” section of your grocery store—try looking on the vegetable can goods aisle.) Over the past few years the whole green beans seem to be getting shorter and shorter. So you will need to pick through and find the longest ones in order to make presentable bundles.
Green Bean Bundles
Serves 4 to 6
2 (14.5-ounce) cans whole green beans, drained
4 slices thinly sliced bacon, cut in half
Toothpicks
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon tarragon vinegar
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons grated onion
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Drain green beans in a colander. Sort through the beans, and gather 8 to 10 beans; wrap the bundle with ½ slice of bacon, and secure with a toothpick. Place into a lightly greased 2-quart baking dish. Repeat with the remainder of the beans and bacon.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Keep warm.
Bake green bean bundles for 40 to 45 minutes until bacon is nicely browned. Pour warm dressing over bundles, and serve immediately.
Learn from Leslie: The bean bundles can be assembled ahead of time and refrigerated.
Leslie Likes: Del Monte Blue Lake Whole Green Beans
The dressing will sizzle when poured over bundles hot out of the oven. Serve immediately. Pottery by Earthborn Pottery at earthbornpottery.netI love the combination of the bacon and the vinegar dressing. It melts in your mouth.
When I first saw this stalk of Brussels at Trader Joe’s, I couldn’t wait to wrap some bacon around it. I loved the fact that it did not have brown-tipped stems and ugly outer leaves that needed to be removed. It was as fresh as you can get.
It was tagged like a cow’s ear with a recipe suggestion. The first step read to place the stalk in the microwave. Yeah, right!? Believe it or not, it DID fit in my microwave but the turntable jammed and it would not spin. Needless to say, I skipped that step, their entire recipe, and did my own thing. So here it goes.
Bacon-Wrapped Brussels Sprouts
Serves EVERYONE (I promise)
1 whole Brussels stalk
5 to 6 pieces of applewood smoked bacon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Rinse stalk and pat dry with a paper towel. Lightly grease a large baking sheet or roasting pan. Wrap bacon slices around the stalk, weaving it around the Brussels until it is secure. Place on baking sheet.
Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Weave the bacon slices around the stalk, tucking it securely into the nooks and crannies around the sprouts.
Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, basting with drippings from the pan after 30 minutes. Cooking time may vary slightly depending on the size of the stalk.
Remove from the oven, and check the sprouts for tenderness with the tines of a fork.
Serve on a cutting board with a knife and fork. Let everyone carve their own.
Any leftovers can be removed from the stalk and stored in the refrigerator; they reheat nicely. Cut the bacon slices into smaller pieces to serve along with the Brussels sprouts.
Learn from Leslie: If you think you want to cook only half of the stalk, think again. My sharpest chef knife did not faze this stalk (until it was cooked)—so it’s all or nothing!
“Useful” Thanksgiving Hostess Gifts
In the back of my book, Leslie’s Party Diaries, there is an Extras chapter. It has a section called Useful Hostess Gifts. These are items that someone really needs and hopefully wants to receive as a hostess gift. Here are a few more ideas for Thanksgiving weekend to take to your friends or family.
Leslie’s Party Diaries—a cookbook is always welcome to those who enjoy cooking. $39 plus tax and shipping while supplies last. Available at lesliespartydiaries.com and dearpartydiary.com.
Filled with many family favorites, Leslie’s Party Diaries is the perfect hostess gift for the holidays. Well, I am a little biased.It’s the thought that counts. Say thanks with a custom gift tag from Say Grace Papergoods; contact Gina Winn at 205.329.4097, Instagram @mamawinn4.
Planet-Friendly Paper Plates—these will come in super handy for the turkey sandwiches and all the fixings the next day. They are sturdy, attractive, and can be tossed. Do you really want to unload the dishwasher again?
Unloading the dishwasher is one of my least favorite chores in the kitchen. Any hostess will welcome these sturdy, biodegradable, attractive paper plates. (10-inch plates, 25-pack, $19.99) Available at Amazon.com. (Prime)
Williams-Sonoma Turkey Gravy Base—Be the GRAVY SUPER HERO this Thanksgiving. This gift is not meant to insult the host but to be “backup” if the main batch gets gobbled up on Thanksgiving Day. However, I’ve seen the most experienced cooks second-guess the gravy procedure. This base takes the guesswork out of what can be a tricky, last-minute necessity.
Equal parts of this turkey base and milk make a delicious, effortless gravy. It can also be “doctored” with pan drippings and homemade broth if desired. It’s nice to have extra for the leftovers too. Available at Williams-Sonoma for $12.95, williams-sonoma.com
Williams-Sonoma Mulling Spices—I call it THANKSGIVING IN A JAR. Go ahead and pick up one or two of these for yourself too while you are there. Your entire house will smell like Thanksgiving when you have this simmering on the stove. It moves into the holiday season well too.
Mulling Spices available at Williams-Sonoma for $12.95, williams-sonoma.comA tablespoon or two is all you will need in a small saucepan of water. Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Refill water as needed.
Party Tip: Stock Up For the Holidays
My husband, Jon, is the “Costco King”—he can do the run in under an hour, door to door, and it’s not even close to our house. In fact, he could give lessons on how to shop in bulk efficiently and effectively. He has it down to a science—down to filling up the car on the way out of the parking lot. Follow his lead and you’ll never dread going again.
If you have a Fitbit or other tracking device, put it on before you enter the store. You are multitasking here. Count your steps.
Have a list—DO NOT WAVER FROM THE LIST. (Costco does not take Amex anymore, so you won’t even get points for all those extra items.) So won’t be tempted.
Know your storage and consumption limitations—don’t let your eyes get bigger than your stomach. Check expiration dates and do the math. (For example: Is it possible to eat 72 Nature Valley bars in 14 days?)
Don’t let your husband go alone, unless he is like Jon.
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