Thanksgiving in my family, as I’m sure it is in most, is a meal steeped in tradition. That is a wonderful thing, for the most part. Woe be it, however, to anyone who dares break with tradition and serve a new food. At our house, there had better be dressing made the way Oma makes it with Wonder Bread, hamburger, onions, sage and chicken broth (it really is good!), the sweet potato casserole better have marshmallows melted on top, and the green beans better be swimming in mushroom soup and have those canned fried onion things on top. If anything new is to be tried, it had better not be at the expense of one of the standbys. Luckily for me, I do have an outlet for those never before tried, seemingly exotic, Thanksgiving treats---Dinner Club.
This year our dinner club November theme was, not surprisingly, Thanksgiving. Since I hosted last month, it was my turn to bring the wine and the cocktails. I chose to make a recipe that my friend Michele (My Italian Grandmother) made a few weeks ago, a Pom Royale: a pomegranate juice and champagne cocktail.
Tina brought an appetizer of cheese and crackers, pretzels and mustard.
She also brought a very tasty Raspberry Pretzel Salad. (I want some of this right now!)
Raspberry Pretzel Salad
2 (3oz) pkg. raspberry Jello
1-1/2 c. boiling water
2 (16oz) pkg. fresh or frozen raspberries
1 (8oz) pkg. cream cheese
1 c. granulated sugar
1 (8oz) cont. nondairy whipped topping
3 c. crushed pretzels
3/4 c. melted butter
4T. brown sugar
First layer: Mix Jello w/ boiling water. Add frozen raspberries with juice. Pour into 9x13-inch pan. Put in refrigerator until set.
Second layer: Mix cream cheese with sugar until creamy. Mix in whipped topping. Spread over Jello mixture.
Third layer: Crush pretzels into pieces. Mix with melted butter and brown sugar, making sure all pieces are coated. Spread into a bar pan and bake 400 for 6 minutes. Watch so they don't burn. remove from oven and cool. Break into pieces and put onto cream layer; refrigerate until ready to serve.
My good friend Amy hosted and made the turkey, simply rubbed with some succulent herbs and roasted to perfection.
(These roasting pans come in very handy...leaves the oven open for other things)
Let's not forget the rolls. Sometimes the frozen ones just hit the spot:
Patricia brought her now famous Mashed Yams in Orange Cups:
(the pecans weren't really purple...must have been the light)
Jane brought the green bean and stuffing casserole.
And, finally, Jen brought a yummy pumpkin trifle….pumpkin mousse layered with ginger snaps.
Another very nice dinner club meal!
