I know that I said that I would not be posting until Monday however I just couldnt stay away from you!!! I wanted to re-cap my amazing Thanksgiving. It was one of the best Thanksgivings that I have ever had. I didnt spend it with family this year as (you can read in yesterdays post) they had to work and decided to order in. I decided, that wouldnt stop me! I was to make an amazing Thanksgiving that was SUPER healthy and spend it with one of my most favorite people! The two of us really had a blast. The re-cap begins!
I woke up at around 9:00 (late for me) and decided to have a regular breakfast. So often people on Thanksgiving starve themselves all day knowing that they are going to pig out. They THINK that they are saving themselves calories and allowing themselves to REALLY enjoy the food because they will be hungry. What really happens is, it is time to eat, your body is already in starvation mode, you eat a massive amount of food (twice as much as you would normally eat if you were to eat earlier in the day) and everything that you ate sits there like a brick. This is not my idea of a happy Thanksgiving. I however decided that I would go about things as I usually do.
After I had my coffee I had some greek yogurt, granola, pb2 and jam mixed together. I wanted to eat some protein but something light. I knew that I was going to go for a run to start the day. I was so glad to do so. The streets were dead and I was able to relieve some stress. I knew I still had a ton of cooking to do and didnt want to be a reck in the kitchen. 4.58 miles later I was home. I had plans to start entertaining at 1:00 and by the time I got home I saw that it was already noon. I started running around the house to take a shower and get in the mode of cooking and then stopped. I said to myself "This is Thanksgiving, just relax and enjoy it." So, I picked up the phone and asked Pete if he could come by at 2:00 instead. He was happy to oblige and in fact was running a little late as well so this allowed me to have more time and even get in 30 minutes of yoga! I was relieved.
After yoga and a hot shower I was ready. I knew I had about a hour and a half to do the simple appetizers that I wasnt to serve and get the marinade done for the hens so that they could go into the fridge for a few hours. The appetizers were made and here is a snapp shot of the bitesize
treats!On the yellow plate have rice crackers, sliced apple, goat cheese, ginger preserves and fig and preserves.
On the blue plate have endive stuffed brochette and chopped walnuts. Peaking in the background...A persimmon.
These were accompanied by New Age sparkling wine and these gems.
Chocolate pomegranate seeds with sesame. I gave you all my super easy recipe on my last post. Boy were these gooooood!After I served these and had a glass of wine, it was time to start cooking. I got the Cornish Hens stuffed and poured the marinade on top.
Cranberry, apple marinade stuffed with Quinoa and all the fixings! The first picture was "before" and the second is "after". So amazing.
While the hens were s-l-o-w-l-y cooking I got the kale prepared. Shelly brought me the most beautiful red and green kale straight from her garden! I was so excited to cook up a huge batch of this! I also got the sweet potatoes ready and put olive oil and sea salt on the white asparagus. I dont have pictures of this process. It wasnt all that exciting truthfully. HOWEVER, I have better! I have the final plated food. Are you ready??? I have some food porn for you.
Look at this!!! I ate this entire plate and still ate desert. To tell you the truth...I am still full. Here you have a breast of Cornish Hen baked with cranberry and apple with sides that included white asperagus, sweet potatoes, kale and quinoa dressing. This meal was out of this world. I ate it slowly and enjoyed every bite.
Of course, no Thanksgiving would be complete without desert! I made pumpkin bread pudding!!!! The pomegranate seeds and walnuts accented it perfectly.
I popped this in the oven just as we sat down to eat so that it would be really warm. I put some whipped cream and drizzled peanut butter on top. OH MY GAWD! It was to die for. The perfect ending to a perfect day....
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I must admit, it is going to be pretty tough to beat this one!
See you Monday!
-Heather
