It was a nice long weekend. Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday. It is so close to Diwali in spirit as well as in timing. This year, on our 6th occasion of hosting Thanksgiving, we had about 20 people from all over the place including Virginia and New Jersey. Interestingly, noone from work was there. Took Wednesday off to do most of the cooking. We figured it would be hard to do much on Thursday with Ashwini around. Here is the menu…

Appetizers:

  • Brandied green apples with goat cheese
  • Chex mix chivda
  • Cheese and crackers

Entrees:

  • Green bean casserole
  • Mashed potatoes and vegan gravy
  • Cranberry delight
  • Lime Jello with Pomegranate
  • Pasta salad
  • Broccoli salad
  • Acorn squash stuffed with wild rice, cranberries and hazelnuts

Desserts:

  • Death by chocolate
  • White chocolate and raspberry cheesecake
  • Mango Pie

Beverages:

  • Hot spiced apple cider (with optional brandy)
  • Chilled sparkling apple cider
  • A selection of Souvignon Blanc, Boujolais and Merlot wines
  • Kahlua and Bailey’s Irish cream for coffee with desserts

The Broccoli salad was a new item this year and was a big hit. It had broccoli, colby and munster cheese, grapes, green onion with a dressing made of Mayonnaise and vinegar. All these disparate flavors come together so well, but, I wouldn’t have thought of mixing them before seeing the recipe. All in all, it was tiring, but, a very successful and enjoyable Thanksgiving with a bunch of family and friends. Hopefully, more people will join us next year.