Thanksgiving Spread!
Everything was homemade - except for the salad.
Roast pheasant! Brined since Tuesday, onions, garlic, orange, carrots and thyme in the cavity. Rubbed with pepper and butter, with butter under the skin of the breast, and some chopped sage. Bacon draped over the breast, and roasted at 350. The breast came out a touch dry, but the leg meat was spot on.
Stuffing! Sourdough bread, with chicken sausage, cranberries, and apples. It also had the offal meat from the pheasant - and a duck! Fresh sage, rosemary, and thyme also featured. YUM.
Sweet potato casserole with brown sugar/pecan crumble and BAILEYS marshmallows! The recipe called for the pecan crumble - which sounded interesting. I've never had that on top of a sweet potato casserole before! So I wanted to try it. It was good! But Becky had also found a link to a recipe for BAILEYS marshmallows - and that sounded amazing as a sweet potato casserole topping. So I did 50/50. The Baileys marshmallows taste incredible - unfortunately, though, they came out rather flat and not terribly fluffy. Despite finding the recipe on the blog of a foodie who'd tried 'em, this wasn't a surprise to me. Marshmallows won't trap air and be all fluffy if there's fat in there - it screws with the gelatin. And Baileys? Cream. I learn many useful things from Good Eats. Regardless - Baileys 'gummy candy' is one of the most awesome things I've ever made. SO GOOD.
PS: both toppings were totally yum.
Cherry pie! Made with five cups of cherries. The bottom crust is brushed with melted chocolate to seal it against moisture. And look! I made a lattice crust! :D