Thursday, September 27, 2012
We all love getting together with our family and friends to
celebrate Thanksgiving. Lots of action,
food, laughter and fun. Most of the work
for this gathering falls onto the hosts.
There is plenty of cleaning, coordinating, making dinner, more cleaning
... all done in the midst of the commotion in the house. By the end of the day weariness is sure to settle
in. Here are some great ways to help the
hosts and show your appreciation for hosting Thanksgiving dinner
Offer to bring a dish or dessert
If you are not a cook but want to
bring a dish, select a nice prepared dish.
More and more grocery stores are adding a variety of dishes at the Deli
or Hot/Cold counters - from basic to gourmet.
Most are easy to put in your own dish - no one will ever need to
know! Although most family members will
guess it was store bought if you're known for not cooking. You can also find appetizer recipes that are
simple but look like you spent ages making them. One of my must bring appetizers are water chestnuts
wrapped in bacon (include recipe). Over
the years I've tried turkey bacon, played with the ingredient proportions but
always go back to the original recipe with the wonderful flavour of real bacon. Another option and get way to support your
local farmer's market is with a dessert made from the fresh fall harvest. For those crunched for time finding a local
market selling fresh baked pies or cakes is a perfectly yummy solution.
Offer to help with the pre-cleaning or post cleanup
Likely the post clean up is the
bigger task. Make sure your host is
reassured that you will help with the clean up and schedule your time
accordingly. We all have stories of over
or under cooked turkey, ovens breaking down or late arrivals. Plan for extra time since very rarely does the
timing of meals of this size go off as planned. This way you won't been seen as shirking your
commitment to catch your ride home.
Offer to bring a centrepiece
With the focus on coordinating the
meal and meal preparation, the table setting is usually left to the last
minute. A centrepiece is a great way to
showcase the meal and add a special touch to the decor for the host. There are many options here from DIY flowers,
candles or fall harvest produce. A great
way to use some of those fancy serving dishes not pulled out of the cupboard
very often. Think three tiered serving
dish, candy dishes or even candle sticks topped with gourds.
Offer to bring some wine
The host will be sure to appreciate
the offer to bring wine. Check with the
host on what type to bring to best match the meal or crowd. If the crowd is large, consider bringing more
than one bottle. If wine is not their
beverage of choice just substitute it with what they would prefer.
Bring a Gift Basket
There are a wide variety of gift
baskets available to thank your host or show your appreciation. Quite often these can be used as centerpieces
or double as snacks or dessert contributions too like Autumn-Leaves from
www.AGiftBoutique.com. This basket includes leaves that are made from poured
milk chocolate then hand painted. Sure to please the host as a centerpiece and
dessert.
Enjoy
your day with your family and friends for it is a special day where we unite in
giving thanks for all that we have and for those with whom we share our
lives.
Catherine
Water Chestnuts Wrapped in Bacon
1/2 t ginger
(fresh if available)
1/4c brown
sugar
1/4c soy
sauce
1/2t garlic
salt (or just fresh garlic if available)
1/4c vegetable
oil or other of your choice but not Olive Oil
1 can water
chestnuts packed in water (whole or sliced)
1 pkg bacon
(more if using slices)
toothpicks
The water chestnuts need to marinade between 8 and 24 hours so best to make
the marinate the day before.
Marinade
:
In a zip lock bag or container add
ginger, brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic and oil.
Stir until combined. Drain the
water chestnuts. Add to the bag or
container. Stir to coat all the water
chestnuts. Place in the fridge for 8 to
24 hours. Every so often give the bag or
container a shake to help coat all the chestnuts.
Assembly
:
If using sliced water chestnuts, cut the bacon strips into thirds, otherwise
in half. Using scissors is the easiest
method to cut the bacon. Place the
chestnut at one end of the bacon and roll it to wrap around the bacon, insert a
toothpick to secure the bacon. Place on
a baking tray (line with foil for easy cleanup - they are messy). Cook at 350⁰F until the bacon is cooked or in
the microwave on a bacon microwave tray until the bacon is cooked. If cooking in the microwave, loosely cover
with paper towel to prevent splatter. When serving, leave the toothpicks in for
easy handling. Set out a separate dish
to dispose of the toothpicks.
- These will be HOT when they come out of the oven or microwave - warn your guests who are trying to steal one before the cool down
- Remove the toothpicks for the little ones
- Watch out for those nephews who only eat the bacon and put the chestnut in the napkin
- You can substitute bacon with turkey bacon but it won't be as yummy
- Adjust your water chestnut and bacon quantity depending on the size of the crowd using the same proportions for the marinade.
- Don't tell the kids the center is a water chestnut just focus on the bacon!
- These will go fast and be a crowd pleaser.
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