Thanksgiving Day Preperations!

I am starting to feel a little guilty about not having helped you out a whole lot with your entertaining plans this year! I have been going full tilt the last week or so which is normal for most of us getting ready for Thanksgiving.

This is just a guide line of what I do to prepare:

1) Set my guest list: This year we have 13 people coming. Of that number I have 5 children.

2) Make a list of all the menu items I am going to be making:

Turkey
Dressing (stuffing)
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Cranberries
Cake

I have asked my guests to bring a dish of their choice. That wasy everyone gets to share in the meal!

3) Make a list of all the ingredients that I will need.

4) Go through my pantry and freezer to cross of the list what I already have.

5) The last list is of all the items I need to purchase. This list is broken down by store (Costco, Publix etc.)

Hope this helps in getting you organized this year!

For some really good recipes this year my friend Jerry over at Cooking...by the seat of my Pants! has done a post featuring some of his best Turkey Day recipes!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Pumpkin Sage Dinner Rolls

I have a lot of roasted pumpkin puree. Just stands to reason that I am going to be making a lot of pumpkin recipes. Somehow T. missed that memo...

I decided the other day to test some pumpkin rolls that I had seen in this months Family Fun magazine. They turned out incredibly well and would have even been better had I followed ALL of the directions. I usually have so many things that I am working on at one time that I mess up. I am going to make these for Thanksgiving as even with the mess up they were that good.

Be sure to follow ALL of the direction and make that last split in the dough. Mine only made it halfway through the division. I realized after about the third muffin cup that I had messed up but I couldn't fix it all. I ended up with 8 HUGE rolls when I should have had 12!!! Oh well. At least it's been tested...

See the error of my ways??? HUGE ROLLS!

Pumpkin Cloverleaf Rolls (Family Fun Magazine)

Ingredients:

3-3/4 cups flour, plus more for sprinkling
1 pkg or 2-1/4 tsp instant or bread machine yeast
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup canned or frozen and thawed pureed pumpkin or squash
1 lg egg
1/2 cup water
8 fresh sage leaves, slivered (or 1-1/3 teaspoon dried leaves)
1/2 cup butter

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, yeast, and salt, and set it aside.

2. Pour the milk into a microwave-safe bowl or 4-cup glass measuring cup and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Whisk in the honey, squash, egg, and water. (The liquid mixture should be less than 110°; anything hotter might kill the yeast.)

3. With a fork, blend the squash mixture into the flour mixture until you have a soft dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

4. Two hours before baking, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead 6 sage leaves into the dough. Melt the butter and set it aside in a small bowl. Divide the dough in half, then divide each half into 6 portions. Divide each portion into 3 pieces. With floured hands, roll each piece into a ball and dip it into the melted butter. Place 3 balls in a muffin cup. Continue until 12 muffin cups are filled. (very important step unless you want really HUGE rolls!)

5. Drizzle or brush each roll with 1/2 teaspoon of the leftover melted butter and then sprinkle them with the rest of the sage. Let the rolls rise in a warm spot (at least 70°) until they're double in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The 3 balls of dough will rise together to form a cloverleaf shape.

6. Heat the oven to 350°. Bake the rolls until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Makes 1 dozen.

These were really a delicious change from just the regular yeasty rolls that are normally on my table! I can't wait to serve these!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Sign up for my newsletter!!!

I am working on a great newsletter for the month of October. I am going to have a special feature on Halloween (no big surprise there) but I am also going to do a special section on hostessing shopping parties.

Now I know we have all gone to the old Tupperware parties and we all know how me we hate them but the parties now are a bit different. Now they have home goods parties, lingerie parties, cooking parties...you name it it's out there now! Every year I am hostess to a PartyLite party and that is coming up in the month of October. I am such a fan of PartyLite products so for me this is a no brainer. I have 2 dogs and I always feel like my house stinks so I have candles going all of the time! But it is also a fun time for all of us Moms to get together without the children running around! Think about hostessing a small party for a group of your friends...it's a great excuse to get together. I will also take all of the brain work out of hostessing. No fear entertaining.

Sign up now for my FREE monthly newsletter! You won't want to miss an issue!

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
http://www.nofearentertaining.com/