Gobble Gobble 2011

As usual, blogging has taken a backseat to family time while I was home for Thanksgiving.  Now that I'm back and attempting to reacclimate myself to normal life, it's time for a Thanksgiving post.  The usual suspects for the main meal were all there, but what changed were the appetizers.  For the fourth year in a row, I was placed in charge of the pre-feast snackies and while the rest of the Thanksgiving meal is steeped in tradition, I take the opportunity to mix it up every year. 

I usually prepare two apps, but this year I went with three.  No one who was at this meal attended my Halloween party so I reprised the crab dip, this time adding extra Old Bay, hot sauce, and crab (other ingredients: mayo, lemon juice, cream cheese, and onion).  The crowd devoured it.  I think this one will be making a regular appearance at parties from now on.  Appetizer number two was chorizo and manchego pinwheels.  Three ingredients: puff pastry, browned chorizo, and fresh grated manchego (four if you count the egg wash).  You couldn't ask for an easier recipe, and my brother declared it was the best thing I've ever cooked - a bold statement from Mark Konter.  If you get the legit Mexican brand chorizo, it will be quite spicy so if you'd like to tone it down a little, use hot Italian sausage.  The third appetizer was a refreshing and healthy veggie dip - a nice change of pace after the other apps.  I cooked onion, garlic, and spinach and then let it cool while I prepared the base of the dip.  I pureed avocado, Greek yogurt, salt, pepper, and lemon juice and then folded in the spinach mixture (that I had chopped when it came out of the fridge).  Since there was no mayo or sour cream, this dip was super healthy but had tons of flavor so I'll be making it again when I feel the menu is filled with heavy food.

This may have been the best Thanksgiving yet.  After four years, we've really gotten into the groove. 
In addition to perfecting the food, we have become quite adept at choosing the Thursday evening movie to rent on demand.  This year, The Change Up proved to be the perfect film to watch before slipping into my food coma.