HOLIDAY: Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It's all about family, friends, food, and of course football! Oh, and giving thanks for all that we have. There is nothing better than stuffing your face with a great turkey dinner, devouring a couple pieces of pie, downing a few too many glasses of wine, and then taking a nice, long tryptophan-induced nap before watching the Seattle Seahawks defeat the San Francisco 49ers! That is what I call the perfect Thanksgiving Day!

Are you the lucky one hosting a Thanksgiving dinner this year? Or are you invited to your friend's or family's house for dinner? Either way, I scoured the internet to find some great recipes to help make this year's Thanksgiving dinner a delicious feast!

Turkey
Perfect Roast Turkey - By Ina Garten from Food Network
Roast Turkey with Cornbread Dressing - By LouElla Hill from Saveur
Dry-Brined Turkey - By Russ Parsons from FOOD52

Stuffing
Chorizo and Collard Green Dressing - By Patrick and Gina Neely from Food Network
Essential Thanksgiving Herbed Stuffing - By Kelsey Nixon from the Cooking Channel
Wild Mushroom Whole Wheat Stuffing with Tarragon - By Barbara Lynch from Food and Wine

Potatoes
Sweet Potato Casserole - By Southern Living from MyRecipes.com
Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes - By Martha Stewart from MarthaStewart.com
Yukon Gold Potato and Wild Mushroom Gratin - By Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier from Bon Appetit

Cranberry Sauce
Simple Cranberry Sauce - By Betty Crocker from BettyCrocker.com
Cranberry Apple Chutney - By Martha Stewart from MarthaStewart.com
Cinnamon Apple Cranberry Sauce - By Aaron McCargo Jr. from Food Network

Pies
The Great Pumpkin Pie Recipe - By Sally from Sally'sBakingAddiction.com
Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie - By Andrea Albin from Epicurious.com
Dutch Apple Pie with Oatmeal Streusel - By Ginny from Allrecipes.com

I hope some of those recipes help! Have a great Thanksgiving! I hope it's filled with good company, delicious food, and a Seahawks win!!

REVIEW: Le Fournil

I finally made a visit to Le Fournil French Bakery. The bakery has been in the Eastlake neighborhood by the University Bridge since 1997. The owner, who is originally from France, wanted to bring the French bakery experience to Seattle.

I ordered a chocolate/orange tart with a vanilla latte. The tart was ridiculously good! It was very rich, and had just a hint of orange flavor. Half of the tart was dusted with cocoa powder. The latte was pretty good on its own. I love French bread, so I also purchased a loaf to take home. The bread was very tasty. Le Fournil offers a full menu of sandwiches, quiche, salads and soups. Not to mention, their dessert case is full of delicious looking pastries that changes seasonally. I highly recommend visiting Le Fournil for all that they have to offer!

RECIPE: Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

This year my company decided to have a Holiday Dessert contest. I had recently came across a recipe for some Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars, so I decided to give them a try. They turned out pretty good. This is a very simple recipe.

The ingredients

1 cup Butter (2 sticks) divided
2 cups Creamy Peanut Butter
1 1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
3 cups Powdered Sugar
2 12oz cups Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

Preparation

Melt 1/2 cup (1 stick) of the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter, powdered sugar, and graham cracker crumbs. This will make a stiff dough.

Spread dough in a lightly greased 9x13 inch pan. Press down evenly.

Melt the remaining 1/2 cup butter over low heat. Add chocolate chips and keep heat very low. When chocolate is soft, stir gently. Continue heating until lumps are all melted. Stir, and then spread this mixture over the peanut butter layer.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then cut into squares. Store in the refrigerator.

Makes 24 servings.