What I Brought to Thanksgiving

This year I had to get a little creative in what I made to bring for our dinner. Because of our travel plans, I wasn't going to make anything too elaborate, and really, I didn't have to bring anything at all if I didn't want to.

However, I had made garlic mashed potatoes for Chad a few weeks ago. I've made them before for us (and the recipe is borrowed from my years working in the kitchen at Bennigan's) but he raved about them to his mom and asked me to make them for his family.


My recipe is pretty simple. I dice both red and white potatoes, skins intact, and boil them until fork tender. Once they are drained and returned to the cooking pot, I add roasted garlic, melted butter, salt, and pepper. The amounts vary depending on how many potatoes I cook and the tastes of whomever I am feeding. I love garlic, to the point of eating the roasted mash straight up, but Chad doesn't like it too strong. For his benefit, I don't add as much as I would for myself.  A good ratio for me is 5 lbs white potatoes, 3 lbs red, 3 bulbs garlic, 2 sticks of butter, and then lots of fresh ground pepper and a little salt. I mash by hand, leaving it just a little chunky, but not too much. My least favorite kind of mashed potatoes are made with lots of milk and mixed with a hand mixer. I guess those really are creamed potatoes, but that's a whole different tangent.

My photograph of them isn't the best. But let's face it, mashed potatoes are not the most photographic food out there.

I also decided to make a pie. I have made all sorts of pies for family gatherings in the past but wanted something different. I decided on a peanut butter mousse with Oreo crust. The crust is simple as it is crushed Oreos and melted butter pressed into a pie pan. The peanut butter mousse I got from this recipe. In lieu of the fudge layer, I melted some semi-sweet chocolate chips with the remaining whipping cream and attempted to drizzle on top. It wasn't thin enough for that so I ended up with thicker stripes. Good thing pies are meant to be eaten.


I'm linking up with Debbie's Tuesday at the Table and am going to do my best to brave the Black Friday crowds as I go out to do my weekly errands.