The Weather Outside is Frightful...

Monday night I attempted recreating my favorite pizza from Bertucci's- Silano Pizza. This is how they advertise it at the restuarant:

Silano
Sliced chicken and marinated broccoli in a lemon pepper cream sauce with mozzarella cheese

So here is what I did. I bought wheat pizza dough, brocollini and chicken from whole foods and tried to put this whole thing together. Mine was really good, but not nearly as good as Bertucci's. I think next time I will make a traditional Alfredo Sauce. But here is what I did:

Home-made Silano Pizza
Ingredients:
-Store Bought Pizza Dough
-1 bunch of Brocollini, Blanched
-1/2 pound of chicken, cut into strips and cooked through
-1/4 cup of cream
-2 tablespoons of garlic
-2 Tablespoons of lemon juice
-8 oz of shredded mozzerela cheese
-S&P

Instructions:
Roll out pizza dough. Mix cream, lemon juice, garlic and salt and pepper together. Spread over dough. Top with small pieces of brocollini, chicken and mozzerela cheese. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes.
For the sides, I made Annie's Mac and Cheese and threw in extra chicken and brocollini.
And a salad of argula, feta cheese, tomatoes, onions and red pepper. Oh, and with Annie's Goddess Dressing.

Tuesday night I made Japanese Chicken-Scallion Rice Bowl inspired by EatingWell.com
Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups instant brown rice (I used the kind you can microwave for :90 seconds, I know I cheated)
* 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
* 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar (I skipped the sugar)
* 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
* 1 tablespoon mirin (I didn't have mirin, so I used sherry)
* 2 large egg whites
* 1 large egg
* 8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
* 6 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced

Instructions:
Prepare instant brown rice according to package directions.Pour broth into a heavy medium saucepan, along with sugar, soy sauce and mirin. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low.
Stir egg whites and whole egg in a small bowl until just mixed. Add chicken to the simmering broth. Gently pour in the egg mixture, without stirring. Sprinkle scallions on top. When the egg starts to firm up, after about 3 minutes, stir it with chopsticks or a knife. (The chicken will be cooked by now.) Divide the rice among 2 soup bowls and top with the chicken mixture.
(The white stuff is the eggs)
That's all for now. It's a rainy snowy day here in Boston and I am trying to talk myelf into walking over to the gym. Have a happy Wednesday!

Sunday Funday (Again : )

Dave and I had an amazing relaxing and fun weekend. On Friday night, we used up the rest of our Thanksgiving leftovers to make a Grilled Turkey Sandwich with Mashed Potatoes and Cranberry Sauce. I served this along with the Butternut Squash, Kale, Cheddar Bread Pudding and Corn Pudding. Here's how I made the Sandwich:
Leftover Thanksgiving Sandwich
Ingredients:
-2 pieces of wheat bread
-4 slices of gruyere cheese (all we had)
-sliced turkey meat (leftover turkey
-a couple tablespoons of cranberry sauce
-a couple tablespoons of mashed potatoes
-2 tablespoons of butter
Instructions:
Melt butter in hot skillet on medium heat. Add on piece of bread and layer with some cheese, turkey, sauce and mashed potatoes. Add more cheese before putting other slice to cover. Cook 3-5 minutes until each side is lightly browned and cheese is melted.
Saturday, we were pretty lazy. Slept in because neither of wanted to work out. Dave slept pretty late so to get him out of bed I made him this breakfast.
I snuck in some marscopone cheese into the scrambled eggs. Yum!
We played a lot of Super Mario Bros and Trivial Pursuit for the Wii. I also did tons of laundry. Then I got started on lunch. I made Grilled Corn and Jalapeno Soup.
Grilled Corn and Jalapeno Soup
Ingredients:
For the soup:
6 medium ears sweet corn
Olive oil
Kosher salt
2 jalapeno peppers
1 large red onion, minced Freshly
ground pepper, to taste
Cumin, to taste
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups half-and-half
For the relish:
Reserved grilled corn
¼ cup red bell pepper, seeded and diced
small 1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
1 tbsp. honey
1-2 tbsp. white vinegar
Salt, to taste
Directions: Shuck the corn. Rub the cobs lightly with oil and season with salt. Place on a heated grill or grill pan and cook, turning occasionally, until some but not all kernels blacken and pop and the cobs are nicely browned. Remove from the heat and cut the kernels off the cobs with a sharp knife. Transfer half of the corn to a bowl and set aside for a later use. Add the other half of the corn to the bowl of a food processor along with the jalepeno, and red onion, spices and half of the chicken broth. Pulse until the mixture forms a coarse paste. You can leave the soup on the chunkier side if you prefer. Add more broth as needed. Transfer the mixture to a large saucepan or stockpot, and stir in the half-and-half. (I was following this recipe from Annie-Eats. Next time I will wait to add the cream until the very end. I think it messed with the consistency). Heat over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let simmer for at least 15-20 minutes. For fullest flavor, simmer and reduce the volume of soup by half. To make the relish, add all the remaining relish ingredients to the bowl with the reserved corn. Mix well, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve. Source: adapted from Use Real Butter and Annie Eats

Next up I realized that I still had two sweet potatoes left and about a cup of cubed squash. So I made Sweet Potato, Butternut and Spinach Gratin. I made this recipe up on the fly. This was sorta like this recipe and sorta like a recipe I saw on Smitten Kitchen.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
8 oz of frozen spinach defrosted
1/2 cups milk 1/2 cream
1 1/2 tbsp flour
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
1 cup of butternut squash
3/4 cup Gruyere
handful or two of panko bread crumbs
Instructions: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a medium saute pan, melt 1 tbsp of butter. Add the onions and saute until translucent. Remove from heat and set aside. In a small saucepan, heat the remaining butterUsing a whisk, add in the flour, constantly stirring until you have a light brown paste. Gradually add the milk and cream to the flour/butter paste about a 1/4 cup at a time, stirring constantly between additions. You want a thick, gravy-like sauce to develop. Once it's sufficiently thick, remove from heat and whisk/figure eight in the cheese. Butter or grease a 8 x 8 square glass dish. Layer some 1/3 of your sweet potatoes, squash and onions on the bottom, then 1/2 of the spinach on top. Spoon a few tablespoons of the bechamel sauce on top and sprinkle cheese. Repeat once more, topping with the last 1/3 of sweet potatoes. Top with any remaining bechamel sauce and cheese and add a couple handfuls of panko. Bake for 1 hour.
Dave and I hung out for the rest of the afternoon and put up our Christmas Tree which we got out of the attic. It looks pretty good if you ask me!
Then it started snowing and we had to decide what we were going to do. Our original dinner plans got canceled so we decided to head up to my brothers place in Brookline. With the snow accumulating, we decided that it was smartest if we stayed the night. So we packed up our Wii remotes and grabbed Trivial Pursuit and headed up there. Once we got there, we walked to a local Thai place to get dinner. (SNOWY!!!) Then we ate and played games for like 3-4 hours. It was fun! Trivial Pursuit for the Wii is awesome : )

Today we ended up staying at Mike and Natalia's ALL Day. When the Pats game started to go sour, Natalia and I took off to the mall. Gap Outlet is sooo good right now. Then we hit up Whole Foods on our way back. It was the first time in A LONG TIME I went to the grocery store without a plan. And I walked out of there spending only $102. I'm pretty proud of myself!

When we finally got home, I made two sirloin grassfed steaks with mushrooms, argula and a Chili Lime Sauce. My steak was only o-k. It had a lot of fat on it so I wasn't able to eat that much. But I also had leftover gratin.
Then I got cracking on lunches. On Saturday when the gratin was roasting, I also cooked a spaghetti squash. This will be part of our lunches for the week. Then I went upstairs and took a nice long relaxing bath and finished my book, Dear John by Nicolas Sparks. Amazing book. I read it in 5 days.

Summary of Workouts 11/30-12/6:
Monday- PT and ran 2 miles
Tuesday- boot camp
Wed- ran 3 miles, lifted legs
Thurs- muscle conditioning
Friday- ran 4 miles
Sat/Sun- off

Goals for this week:
(Same as above with 1 more mile each day)
Dinners for the Week of 12/6:
Sunday: Mushroom and Argula Steak
Monday: Recreation of Bertuccis Silano Pizza
Tuesday: Japanese Chicken Scallion Rice Bowl
Wed: Chili Chicken with Rice and Black Beans
Thurs: Chinese Chicken and Brocolli
Fri: Veggie (whatevers left in the fridge) quesidillas and tomato soup

Gretchen comes back tomorrow! YAY!

This Week in Food...

Weekly eats so far... Sunday, we ate the remainder of the Butternut Squash and Chipotle Soup and a side salad. My aunt got me the recipe and it is not a Tyler Florence like previously mentioned. Its from this website. Here is my aunts adaptation of it:
Chipotle Butternut Squash Soup
Makes about 6 servings
2 tbsp. butter (or margarine or oil)
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
5 cups water, chicken broth, or a combination
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 medium butternut squash (about 2 lbs.), peeled, seeded, and diced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. dried thyme (fresh is better)
1-2 tbsp. pureed chipotle with adobo
1/2 to 1 cup half and half
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in onion, garlic, and ginger. Cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in carrots and celery, cook another 5 minutes. Add liquid, potatoes and squash, vinegar, brown sugar, and thyme. If you are using water, add a little salt. The liquid should cover the veggies. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer 30 to 45 minutes, or until vegetables are very soft. Remove from heat. Cool slightly. Working in batches, transfer mixture to blender or food processor and purée until smooth. Return puréed soup to pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper. At the last second and off the heat, add 1/2 to 1 cup of half and half.
I served my soup with some feta cheese. But on Thanksgiving, I added some candied pecans.

This soup is so perfect. Delicate and smooth with a hint of spicyness. I'm regretting giving my brother those leftovers....

Monday I made Chicken Parm Burgers. I found this recipe on Annie Eats. I pretty much did exactly what she did, although I used bulky rolls and melted provolone cheese on the rolls in the toaster and also added some mozzerela on the sauce. This was a fun dinner. Check out the recipe!
Chicken Parmesan Burgers

Ingredients:
For the burgers: 1 lb. ground chicken 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup bread crumbs 2 tsp. Italian seasoning 1 clove garlic, minced 1 shallot, finely diced Salt and pepper

For serving:
Pasta sauce
Mozzarella or provolone cheese (sliced or shredded)
Sautéed mushrooms (optional)
4 bulky rolls

Directions: In a medium bowl combine all of the ingredients for the burgers. Mix well until thoroughly combined. Form the mixture into 4 patties. Heat a large skillet on medium high. While meat marries together, saute a pound of sliced portobello mushrooms with EVOO for 10 minutes and remove to plate. Next, saute burgers on each side for 5-7 minutes until cooked through. At the same time, toast your rolls with Provolone cheese slives so the cheese melts. Also at the same time, microwave your store bought tomato sauce (I'm brand loyal to Classico). Then take your bulky roll, add your burger and mushrooms. On the other side of the roll, add the tomato sauce and sprinkle a little more mozzerela.

Last night we went out to dinner with my family before they headed back to the Midwest. It was a nice family gathering : )

Then tonight I made another recipe I saw on Annie's blog, Pineapple Chicken Salad.

Pineapple Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups cooked chicken breast

½ cup matchstick cut carrots

1/3 cup light mayonnaise

¼ cup finely chopped green onions

¼ cup finely chopped celery

¼ cup plain low-fat yogurt

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp. garlic powder

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

1 8-oz. can pineapple tidbits, drained

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Serve on rolls or in pita pockets with romaine lettuce.

I thought this was an interesting combination to begin with but I'm not sure I loved it. It was fine. (Which if you know me, if I used the word fine, you know I didn't really enjoy it!) I should preface this by saying I don't really like chicken salad to begin with. (As mentioned before, I'm a little scared of mayonnaise). I think I made this dish creamier than I had hoped. So all in all it was o-k. Not great, not horrible. The pineapple bits were definitely I nice sweet bite and texture. I like mixing fruit and meat (even though I don't really like fruit by itself). I know, weird. My aunt hates mixing fruit with meat but sometimes I think it works... so if you are thinking about trying this recipe, I would say go for it, but its not a huge favorite. (I'm pretending I have a huge blog following).

TOP CHEF season Finale!!! Who do you want to win? Michael is hot, but I'm pulling for Brian. I like that he is a true professional. I think Kevin is super talented but just not at the same level as the Voltaggio brothers. Thoughts? Also, I think I knew who was going to be in the top 4 after the first episode. Same with Project Runway.

Oh yes, and workouts:

Sunday: off

Monday: Physical Therapy, Eliptical, stairmaster, lifted legs, ran 2 miles, stim, ice

Tuesday: Boot Camp

Wed: Ran 3 miles (almost painfree, hip felt some pain), lifted legs

Plan for rest of the week:

Thurs: Muscle Conditioning

Fri: Run in the AM with Nancy!! (it's been forever!)

Thanksgiving FEAST

Dining room table set up for 14!
With these adorable place cards:
Well Thursdays Thanksgiving came and went without too many problems or emotional breakdowns. It was really great to spend time with my family and to see generations cooking together in the kitchen.

I spent Wednesday in the kitchen, prepping and baking. Things seemed to go fairly well until about halfway through the baking process of my Cranberry Cake. I had been cooking on the stovetop and baking in the oven without realizing how steamy it was getting in the rest of the house. Then all of the sudden the fire alarm went off, and it would NOT go off. For 25 minutes, this blaring, annoying alarm kept going off and I pretty much lost it. Dave was at work and not available to tell me what to do so I called my mother, who lives a mile away. We finally got the alarm to shut off, and she told me to go relax and go for a run. Most of mine and my brothers life, when we got stressed or hyper or freaked out, our mom would say, "Go run..." and off we'd go. The run relaxed me a little but I felt like I had a lot to do so I only did a few miles. Again, I wasn't pain free, but it wasn't painful either.

When I got home, my mom had finished cooking the cake and cleaned out my stove so it wouldn't blow smoke. She left and I continued baking, making Pumpkin Cake Squares with Cream Cheese Frosting, Pumpkin Blondies, my Peanut Butter Mousse Chocolate Pie and a Pumpkin Butter Mousse Pie. Then I prepped my stuffed mushrooms, squash and kale, corn pudding... etc. Around 5, I took a break and had a couple drinks with Courtney, Dave, my brother and Natalia. And then we went out to some local bars.

Thursday morning, my brother, Natalia, Dave and myself went out for a leisurely run. We did just under 3 miles. It was nice to get some exercise. Then Natalia, my sous chef and I got cooking. We made the Corn Pudding, put together the pieces of the Butternut Squash, Kale, Cheddar Bread Pudding, started the Spinach Souffle, cut up the red potatoes for the Red Bliss Mashed Potatoes, and cooked the stuffed mushrooms and made the Smoked Salmon on Pumpernickel Toast. At the same time, Dave took the turkey out of the brine, added some butter under the skin and got the bird in the oven.

Here are some of the delicious recipes:

Smoked Salmon and Cucumber Squares
adapted from Gourmet | June 2001
1 English cucumber, sliced thinly
6 tablespoons sour cream
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons drained bottled horseradish
16 slices pumpernickel cocktail bread
1/4 lb thinly sliced smoked salmon, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
preparation
Stir together sour cream, horseradish, and salt and pepper to taste. Toast bread. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon sour cream onto center of each bread square, then top a few slices of cucumber and then add a folded piece of salmon.

Next up Stuffed Mushrooms inspired by Ina Garten

• 16 extra-large white mushrooms
• 5 tablespoons good olive oil, divided
• 2 1/2 tablespoons Marsala wine
  
• 3/4 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from the casings
• 6 scallions, white and green parts, minced
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 2/3 cup panko crumbs
• 5 ounces mascarpone cheese
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and chop them finely. Set aside. Place the mushroom caps in a shallow bowl and toss with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and Marsala. Set aside. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage, crumbling it with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook the sausage for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until it's completely browned. Add the chopped mushroom stems and cook for 3 more minutes. Stir in the scallions and garlic and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the panko crumbs, stirring to combine evenly with all the other ingredients. Finally, swirl in the mascarpone and continue cooking until the mascarpone has melted and made the sausage mixture creamy. Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan, parsley, and season with salt and pepper, to taste, Cool slightly. Fill each mushroom generously with the sausage mixture. Arrange the mushrooms in a baking dish large enough to hold all the mushrooms in a snug single layer. Bake until the stuffing for 50 minutes, until the stuffing is browned and crusty.

Omg, these are amazing and I will definitely make these again. They were also a big hit!

Dave also makes Stuffed Marinated Cherry Peppers every year. It's a two week process, but the results are delicious. Here is the recipe he follows:

* 1 lb prosciutto
* 1/2 lb provolone cheese
* 2 lbs cherry peppers
* 1/2 gallon white vinegar
* 1 quart extra virgin olive oil
* 1 quart canola oil
* 1 small onion, thinly sliced
* rosemary
* bay leaf
* dill weed
* basil
* chopped garlic
* parmesan cheese
Wash cherry peppers and place whole, stems intact, in 1 gallon jar. Fill jar with white vinegar. Let stand at least one week. You may need to add more vinegar to keep the jar full as the peppers soak it in. The peppers will float, make sure to keep them covered. After soaking for at least a week, pour out vinegar and rinse peppers in cool water. Cut provolone to the appropriate size to fill the peppers.Cut the Prosciutto slices in half. Wrap the provolone with a 1/2 slice of Prosciutto (or 2 for larger peppers) and stuff into pepper. Add some Olive Oil to the jar. Add Onion, Rosemary, 2 or 3 Bay Leaves, Dill Weed, Basil and chopped Garlic to oil. Place the peppers in the jar and fill the jar with 50% Olive Oil and 50% Canola Oil. Top off the jar with a sprinkle coating of Parmesan cheese. Let soak a minimum of one week and serve!

Our other appetizer was fresh veggies with store-bought ranch dressing. My mom brought this.

Now on to the side dishes:

Real Creamed Corn Pudding adapted from Bon Appétit | November 2009
ingredients
10 to 12 large ears of corn, shucked
1/2 cup of frozen sweet kernels defrosted
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, divided
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
2 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt,
divided 4 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup sour cream
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Using large holes on box grater, grate enough corn into large measuring cup to yield 4 generous cups of thick milky pulp. (It looks like scrambled eggs at this point) Preheat oven to 425°F. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions and celery; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt. Sauté until tender but not brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Scrape mixture into bowl. Whisk egg yolks in large bowl 2 minutes. Stir in corn mixture, onion mixture, sour cream, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and remaining 2 teaspoons coarse salt. Whisk egg whites in medium bowl until stiff but not dry; fold into corn batter in 2 additions. Place remaining 2 tablespoons butter in 10- to 12-cup cast-iron skillet or baking dish. Transfer to oven and heat until butter begins to brown, about 4 minutes. Brush butter over inside of skillet. Add pudding. Bake pudding 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake pudding until set and golden, about 30 minutes longer. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Next up Mashed Red Potatoes (Family Recipe)
Ingredients
* 5 pounds red bliss potatoes
* 1 stick of butter
* 1 and 1/2 cups of half and half
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* Special equipment: potato masher
Directions In a large pot, cover potatoes with water by 1-inch. Bring to a boil, add salt and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain potatoes well. Put back in the pot and begin the mash process. Meanwhile, melt the stick of butter (its Thanksgiving, get over it!) with the cup of cream and combine with potatoes in stages and mash until desired consistency reached. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Butternut Squash and Cheddar Bread Pudding adapted from Molly Wizenberg
Ingredients
* 2 pounds peeled seeded butternut squash, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 6 cups)
* 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
* 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt plus additional for sprinkling
* 7 large eggs
* 2 1/4 cups half and half
* 6 tablespoons dry white wine
* 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
* 1 day-old baguette (do not remove crust), torn into 1-inch pieces (about 10 cups)
* 1 cup chopped shallots (about 4 large)
* 2 bunches Tuscan kale (about 1 pound), ribs removed, kale coarsely chopped
* 8 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss squash with 1 tablespoon oil on rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt; bake until squash is tender, turning with spatula occasionally, 20 to 25 minutes. (Did this part Wednesday)Whisk eggs in large bowl. Add half and half, wine, mustard, and 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt; whisk to blend. Add baguette pieces; fold gently into egg mixture. Let soak 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add shallots and sauté until soft, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Add kale; cover and cook 2 minutes. Uncover and stir until kale is wilted but still bright green, about 5 minutes (kale will be a bit crunchy- did this the day before as well). Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Generously butter 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Using slotted spoon, transfer half of bread from egg mixture to prepared baking dish, arranging to cover most of dish. Spoon half of kale over bread. Spoon half of squash over bread and kale; sprinkle with half of cheese. Repeat with remaining bread, kale, squash, and cheese. Pour remaining egg mixture over bread pudding. Cover bread pudding with foil. Bake 20 minutes. Remove foil; bake uncovered until custard is set and bread feels springy to touch, about 20 minutes longer.

Next up: Cranberry Sauce adapted from Cousin Marilyns family recipe

Ingredients
* 1.5 cup sugar
* 1 cup water
* 2 12-oz package) fresh cranberries
* 1/2 cup of peeled and sliced Macintosh apples
* orange zest
Microwave cranberries and 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup of water for three minutes. Take out container and then microwave apples and remaining half cup of sugar and water for three minutes. Combine apple mixture with cranberry mixture and add in the orange zest with the rest of the sugar.

Next up, Spinach Souffle
(Cousin Michele, proud of our work)
Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons bread crumbs
• 10 ounces spinach, well washed, tough stems removed (I used 15 ounces of frozen)
  
• 4 teaspoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1/2 cup half and half
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 whole large eggs, separated
• 1 cup freshly grated Gruyere cheese
  
• 2 large egg whites
• Cooking spray
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Position rack in the center of the oven. Coat a 2-quart souffle dish or 6 individual (8-ounce) dishes with cooking spray. Coat with bread crumbs. Defrost spinach and then drain well to remove all excess water. Place the spinach in the bowl of a food processor; pulse until finely chopped; set aside. You should have about 1 cup. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour, and cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk, and bring just to a simmer. Cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in salt and pepper. Remove from heat, and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk 2 egg yolks until blended. Whisk in a little white sauce to temper the eggs, then add the remaining sauce, whisking until combined. Add the cooked spinach and grated cheese.
• Place the 4 egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on low until soft peaks begin to form. Increase speed to high; beat until stiff peaks form and egg whites are smooth.
• Using a rubber spatula, transfer one- third of egg whites to spinach mixture; gently fold in until blended. Add spinach mixture to remaining egg whites; gently fold in until just combined. Pour into prepared dish or dishes.
• Place souffle in oven, and reduce heat to 375 degrees. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 30 minutes. Serve.

Here's some prep shots:
(myself and my aunt, a total foodie...)
Okay moving on to dishes I didn't make. THE TURKEY! (Dave made this by brining the turkey for 24 hours and then adding some butter under the skin and cooking for 4 hours)
Potato Challah Bread Stuffing:
Mashed Squash:
Roasted Squash and Potatoes:
Green Bean Casserole and Carrots and Peas:
Sweet Potatoes:
Here is an overview shot of the family at the table with the first course, Butternut Squash and Chipotles in Adobo Soup!
This was a Tyler Florence recipe and it was amazing!

I decided that the easiest way for everyone to eat was to serve buffet style. So we put all the food out and people got to pick and choose what they wanted. We had a lot of choices!
Okay, now lets check out my plate! A little of everything as you can see:
My aunt wanted her food to make the blog. Here is her plate : )

After dinner we hung out a little before diving into dessert. Here was the star of the show!
This is baby Zoe. She's made the blog before...she is my first cousin Michele's baby! Here is the Olsen Family (My cousin Michele, her husband Michael and baby Zoe)
Dave and I:
Desserts:
Cranberry Cake:
Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Pie:
Pumpkin and Apple Pies made by my mother in law:
And the Pumokin Blondies...
There was also cookies, ice cream and way too healthy tasting pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting...
Wow what a meal... we have soooo many leftovers. Its insane. I'm still in my food coma but trying to get motivated to either run or go to the gym. Happy weekend everyone!