Recently I used and reviewed the Taste of Home Christmas cookbook. We liked it so much we decided to make our Thanksgiving meal entirely from that cookbook, just for the Hell of it.
For desserts, we had a pumpkin mousse with gingersnaps. I always need a pumpkin dessert, and this was a nice change from the usual pie. We made a white chocolate strawberry tiramisu that was amazing! I got seduced by the name of the eggnog cream pie, but it uses enough pre-made ingredients that it tasted rather artificial. It’s still enjoyable, but the tiramisu kicks its ass. We’re experimenting by freezing one of the eggnog pies and half of the tiramisu since we shouldn’t eat all of that this week (I’ve gained two pounds already this weekend).
There were some lovely cheddar drop biscuits. You’re supposed to brush the tops with melted butter mixed with garlic powder, but we went for butter mixed with ground chipotle. They were awesome. The ham with orange glaze is awesome, and it definitely encourages us to do more hams in the future (believe it or not, this was our first). The sausage raisin dressing was very nice; I thought the water chestnuts in it might be weird, but they just add a nice little bit of crunch.
I forgot to include the parmesan cheese when making the pear and mushroom strudel, but it came out wonderfully. Just remember that the filling comes out really hot. Don’t be stupid like me and burn the heck out of your tongue! The cranberry chutney is divine, but then I’ve grown attached to cranberry sauce/chutney in recent years.
A crunchy sweet potato bake had a nice topping of crushed cornflakes, chopped pecans, etc. Since the pecans don’t go soft after storage it still has a nice crunch to it even after a night in the refrigerator. The “coffee punch” which you pour over softened ice cream was also delightful.
There were a few dishes we didn’t get around to, but that’s okay. We had plenty of food! The eggnog pies were the only disappointing recipe, which is an awfully good ratio for any cookbook!
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