Thanksgiving Brainstorming

If the picture above is any indication (turkey wrapped in bacon), then you know my family and I do Thanksgiving right. Every year the menu changes, there's no one cranberry sauce we do, or the same potatoes we all love. Each year is its own creation, with new recipes that we hunt for months leading up to the eating marathon. I still remember the cranberry sauce from a few years ago with walnuts and orange zest. And the brussels sprouts with bacon bits that were completely demolished last year. Bacon was clearly a theme....Determined to make sure this year is no less amazing than the ones before it, here are a few Petitt-style Thanksgiving recipes I found recently that should definitely make it on our dinner table. (I'm forwarding this blogpost to mom shortly. Hi mom.)



-- Well first thing's first - the cranberries. To me this is the most important part of the meal, it's the bit of sweet that goes perfectly with all the savory. My Thanksgiving menu this year includes red devil cranberries with minced chipotle chiles and a minced serrano chile pepper.



-- And how about side dishes? This is where creativity is most important because it's easy to create a generic Thanksgiving if the sides aren't up to par. First, I'm feeling some stuffed sweet potatoes with pecan and marshmallow streusel. The picture above pretty much speaks for itself. And of course, you've got to have some green. I'm thinking green beans with caramelized onions and almonds. And of course I've got to fill my cheese quota, for this I recommend a cheesy broccoli bake. Wow that sounds fantastic.



-- Then that leaves dessert. For this I like to stick to tradition -- you can't do better than a pumpkin pie. And since we've got some gluten-free eaters in my family, I've got my eye on this tipsy pumpkin butter pie, which is gluten and dairy free.

Well that's all I got for now, but I'm still continuing my search. And please let me know if you have any favorite recipes!