Happy Thanksgiving y’all!
This year we hosted a low-key brunch for my parents. I may have started a small fire in the toaster oven but overall it was a success! The food was almost as good as the company, so I thought I’d share my menu and some helpful tips here because, why not?!
I decided to try a spread composed of all new recipes, with one small exception, so I tasked my mom with bringing sticky buns in case nothing else turned out. I also cooked one dish in her oven so I didn’t have to keep anything warm for an extended period. Trying new recipes for special occasions or company can be risky, but if it doesn’t turn out, just blame the recipe!
A few days ago, I created the menu (thank you, Pinterest). Traditional Thanksgiving dishes don’t exactly fit a brunch gathering, but I found a few that seemed festive and worth a try. Here’s a helpful tip: I wrote all the recipes down on several pieces of notebook paper. This saved me a lot of time in the long run, only having one place I needed to reference. I hate reading recipes from my phone with the constant lock/unlock, and hoping reopening my Pinterest app brings me back to the same place! This also gave me one central place to create my shopping list.
The Menu
Cranberry Orange Holiday Punch
Cranberry Relish Log Roll
Spiced Hot Fruit Bake
Sausage Stuffing Muffins
Apple Cheese Danish
Pecan Pie French Toast
Maple Bacon Sweet Potato Hash
Day Ahead Prep
Since I was planning on serving brunch at 10am, I knew I was going to have to do some work the day before so I didn’t have to start cooking at dawn.
In case you’re planning to try out any recipes on a time crunch, here’s what I prepped yesterday:
Cranberry Relish Log Roll: make everything ahead to chill (separately) overnight
Sausage Stuffing Muffins: cook sausage, shred cheese (I used 1 block instead of buying pre-shredded cheese)
French Toast: soak bread in milk mixture overnight
Sweet Potato Hash: cut up sweet potatoes, cook bacon
They couldn’t wait to dig in!
Overall the menu turned out great! The muffins were definitely a crowd favorite, and most closely mimicked a traditional thanksgiving dish. The hash came in a close second. The apple and cheese danishes had a distinct unintentional smoky taste, but were still edible. And we didn’t even have to call the fire department, so I call that a success.
Every thanksgiving, I find myself reflecting and thankful for many great blessings in my life. Today I am especially thankful for my family, my friends, my faith, the sink full of dishes, and that I finally have free reign to burn my Christmas candle. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving spending time with those that matter most.
Recipe Links
Cranberry Orange Holiday Punch
Sausage Stuffing Muffins (Baked in a standard size muffin tin, increase bake time to 45 minutes):