The food is bought and prepped. The table is set. The wine is chilled. The turkey is roasting away in the oven. Don’t forget about the music!
Here’s our Thanksgiving 2018 playlist. If you follow it on your own Spotify, you can ask Alexa to play it by just saying, “Alexa, play my Thanksgiving 2018 playlist on Spotify!”
Happy Thanksgiving, friends!
Okay, this is really our Friendsgiving Menu, but hey, it totally works as your Thanksgiving Menu, too! Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday – I love the entertaining, the houses full of friends and family, that cozy, romantic vibe that starts to fill the air. Plus, there’s no pressure of gift giving – just getting together with your loved ones and making some excellent food in the kitchen.
All week, I’ll be sharing the recipes, tips and tricks and some table inspiration for your Thanksgiving meal!
This year, we’re serving up:
Get ready to get cooking!
So, I cannot stop with the grapefruit cocktails this year! (See my skinny grapefruit marg from a few weeks ago here.) Traditionally, a paloma features tequila, but here I’ve used gin. You should feel free to substitute gin for the traditional choice of tequila; vodka will also work!
This gin grapefruit cocktail will serve you well as the days get longer and the nights get hotter. You can bet this will be served at our get togethers this summer – I mean, hello, pitcher drink! I love finishing this cocktail with a sprig of mint. While it doesn’t really add to the mouth-flavor it adds to the scent-flavor! A ripe grapefruit is so heavenly, and when you add some fresh mint into the mix, it really is divine.
Fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, sweetened lime juice, a splash of club and an ounce and-a-half of gin, and a sprig of mint – it’s that simple!
Grapefruit Gin Paloma Cocktail Recipe
Yield: 1 Cocktail | Time: 2 minutes
Ingredients:
1.5 oz gin (you can also substitute tequila or vodka)
3 oz fresh squeezed grapefruit juice* (see note)
.5 oz sweetened lime juice*
Splash of club
Ice cubes
Sprig of mint
*If you decide to use store bought grapefruit juice, I would suggest foregoing the sweetened lime juice in favor of fresh squeezed limes. Up to you!
Warm, cheesy, tangy, flaky…downright dreamy. This asparagus tart recipe is perfect for your spring and Easter gatherings and is irresistible served warm and super tasty at room temperature.
I promise the only regret you’ll have with this recipe is wanting to eat it all! It’s so simple it’s almost a sin to even call this a recipe. You can change up any aspect of the recipe, change the cheeses, use a different veg – it’s all up to you!
The balsamic glaze I added at the end really helped to finish the dish, just add right before serving if you decide to serve this tart at room temperature!
Serve up this Asparagus Tart with an arugula salad, Lamb Lollipops and Lemon Loaf for dessert! Get your Easter table ready here!
Easy Asparagus Tart Recipe
Yield: 6-8 servings | Time: ~35 minutes
Ingredients:
Pastry dough, thawed.
1/4 c grated Gruyere cheese
1/4 c whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 tbsp lemon zest (optional!)
salt, pepper to taste (salt might depend on the cheese you choose)
optional: balsamic glaze to finish
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400°
Roll thawed pastry dough onto parchment lined baking sheet
Score pastry dough in a rectangle to make the area that will be the “crust,” about 1/2 inch from the edges. Poke the base with a fork generously to prevent the puff pastry from, well, puffing up too much. Bake dough for 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, trim and blanch your asparagus. Drain well.
While pastry and asparagus are cooling, combine cheeses, lemon zest if using, salt and pepper. Mix well. Gently spread cheese mixture evenly on tart, leaving crust without cheese.
Top with blanched asparagus. Bake for 12 minutes or until crust is golden-brown and cheese is melty delicious.
Let cool for a few minutes and cut into slices. You’ll need a very sharp knife or a very sharp serated knife to cut the pastry without the crust falling apart.
Note: Frozen pastry dough typically comes with two sheets of dough. This recipe can easily be doubled to utilize both sheets of puff pastry. make sure to separate them from each other if you are going to thaw both sheets of pastry dough.
When I planned our Easter table, I wanted to find a few special ways to elevate the spring tablescape to be a little more elegant. Flowers can go a long way, I mean, check out those peonies and ranunculus!
I think of hosting gatherings as an event for our guests – how can we make every detail a little more special to really make a meal be an event for guests? It almost always comes down to taking one little extra step for a pretty detail.
Pretty ice cubes have always been #goals for me, but for some reason they always feel like so difficult to pull off. I’m here to tell you that’s not the case! Grab a bunch of edible flowers (here’s a list, super important to check first and not poison your guests) and toss some petals in an ice tray, topped with water. So simple, but so special!
My other favorite way to elevate a meal is a drink in a pretty bottle. I found these adorable bottles of elderflower sparkling water at World Market. It’s my new favorite place to find specialties to make my table feel elegant and I can’t wait to have an excuse to go back and find more goodies! Use a unique vessel to house the bottles, such as a large punch bowl filled half way with ice.
Whenever we host a gathering, I like to think about how I can set the mood and music is always a part of that planning. Putting together a great playlist is a wonderful way to set the tone for your celebration and only takes a little bit of uninterrupted thinking. With just a week until Christmas Eve, I’ve started to put together the music we’ll play for our guests during our celebration.
When I put together a playlist there are a three things I like to consider:
Here is our Christmas playlist you can subscribe to on Spotify – I’ll be editing and adding music to it over the next week. I’m always rearranging my playlists as I listen to see if I like the way the songs transition. I know. A little crazy.
Happy listening!