Thanksgiving Ideas

Lets talk about Thanksgiving, Darlings.  It is 24 days away, which means you have 3 weeks, 3 days to get ready.

This year, Eric and I are frying a turkey with John & Danny and whoever else we can drum(stick) up to join us.  Let me know if you need an invite!

As much as I love Thanksgiving food, I love setting the table even more. This year I'm thinking of sugaring fruits as the centerpiece (I always try to have a centerpiece that is low to the table -since I am short and can't see over anything!) What do you think of these?

Photo by Taste of Home.com

Find the very simple how-to here.

Now that we've figured out the centerpiece, what am I going to use to serve my guests?  I am thinking gold chargers with white plates this year.  Check out this site for crazy cheap serving pieces (24 charges for $48.80!)  I love a deal and restaurant supply sites and stores are the greatest for these types of items.  These come from instawares.com The gold and white will look pretty together.

I've got some beautiful big white platters for the turkey and my French White Corningware with which to serve the side dishes.  I'll use my cut glass dishes for the relish tray (you cannot have Thanksgiving without a relish tray!) and for dessert....hmmm....I don't have that figured out yet. Any ideas?

Sides are the place where you can shake it up a bit each year. Everyone has their favorites (mine is my mother's stuffing with sausage and raisins - I have to have it!),  but usually no one minds if you conjure up a new dish here and there.  Here is a recipe that I am going to try again (for some reason, it just did not turn out the first time I attempted it) - Inside-Out Sweet Potatoes.  I think they sound divine and I know all my boys will love them, too.

Lets talk more about this during the week.  I will bring you more ideas and hopefully you will share yours with me.

I'm thankful for you all!

xoxo, Patti

So Proud and Holeman & Finch

Happy Halloween, Darlings!! It's finally here! First, let me tell you what my angel of a friend, John Pearce did.  He donated 25 pumpkin buckets to the kids in my neighborhood so they would have a great way to carry all their candy booty tonight. He's my hero today!!! Love you, John!

Also, John and Danny invited Eric and me to join them at the kick off party for Pride Weekend 09 last night at the Georgia Aquarium.  We had a blast!  John Walker, the adorable PR fella for the Aquarium, and close friend of John and Danny's, had expected maybe 500 party goers. There were 3000! It was crazy!  We had never been to the aquarium and it was breathtaking.  You know I have to share the most fun pictures with you.

One of the four whale sharks

 

Mr. Stingray taking a nap

 

  

John, Danny, Me, Eric

Dorie and Hermione

 

Me with my new friend, Pinhead - what a sweetie!

 

Adorable John Walker of the Georgia Aquarium

and equally adorable new friend Ken

 

More New Friends!

 

Beloved Danny and Me - Close Up!

 

More Party Folks!

Oh my goodness, we had fun.  But all good things come to an end and by 10 pm, the party was over.  On to the next place!  Eric and I weren't ready to go home and we hadn't had dinner yet.  My thought - Lumen! Of course!  We rode over to the Ritz Carlton and went in......but Lumen was closed. Bummer.  So we moved it upstairs to the Atlanta Grill and had a beverage and decided what our next move would be.  We were lucky enough to catch Chef Bennett Hollberg before he left for the night and had a chance to say hello.  But we were looking for more than a bar menu tonight. Where to go for a great late night nosh?  Where do the chefs go when they get off work?  Holeman and Finch, of course.

Now Holeman and Finch is in Buckhead and we consider that a drive. But we were up for it and cruised on over.  It was hopping!  And decorated deliciously for Halloween.  Here's the sign in the entrance to the kitchen.

 

You know I love spooky!

There was nothing spooky about dinner, though. Eric ordered both the cheese board and the charcuterie board. Both winners.  The cheeses were sumptious, the sheep's milk being my favorite. The charcuterie board had luscious cuts of cured meats - pepperoni, bresaola, smoked lardo, corned beef tongue (it was really light - honestly!).  My meal consisted of a plate of Connecticut oysters and an arugula, beet, candied pecans and shaved goat cheese salad.  It was all so good.  You need to see some photos, don't you?

Cheese Platter

 

Beet Salad

Fresh, Briny Oysters

Charcuterie Board With the Famous H&F Bread

By now it was approaching 1 a.m. and it was time to go home.  Sated, with happy tummies, we arrived home, proud of my gay friends celebrating their diversity and proud to be an Atlantan again.

Be safe tonight, my darling revelers!

xoxo, Patti

A French Feast For Four

There is nothing like the comfort of friends who have known you for years.  I am so fortunate to have quite a few, but there are a couple that go back to my awkward days of middle school.  My longest besties are Vickie and my darling John, who also lives in Atlanta (lucky me!)  He and I know each others every triumph and foible and still love each other.  John is also an incredible cook and invited Eric and I over to his boyfriend Danny's place for a five star dinner that most high end restaurants could not turn out.  Menu (drumroll, please):

Cheese Board, including Brie and a German Bleu

Butternut Squash Soup

Individual Beef Wellingtons, topped with a Red Wine Mushroom Sauce

Grilled Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce

Steamed New Potatoes with Butter and Parsley

Fromage Blanc with Fresh Raspberry Sauce

Assorted Red Wines

I am more than pleased to report that this was definitely one of John's greatest triumphs. Wow.  It is so wonderful to watch as your friends develop from little kids into the most amazing adults. When did we grow up and start giving such sophisticated dinner parties?

As much as I adore cheese, I tried to limit myself so I would have plenty of room for dinner. I'm so glad I did.  The butternut squash soup was so delicious and creamy - thanks to John's new immersion blender (what else can we blend!?)  You can always tell by the silence at the table that the food is too good to do anything other than keep eating.  We saved a lot of conversation until after dinner, it was that good.  The beef wellington was just perfect. A savory brown puff pastry cradling the perfectly cooked beef inside, topped with a slice of foie gras and a mushroom duxelles. We all just melted over this dish.  And keeping the wellington company on the plate were more gorgeous creations - pristinely cooked asparagus with hollandaise sauce (who takes the time to make hollandaise anymore? John, that's who) and the tastiest little new potatoes bathed in butter and parsley.  Ready for some pictures, Darlings?

The butternut squash soup before John whipped it into shape

Darling John getting ready to bake the Wellingtons

Asparagus Grilling (thanks to my Sweet Eric for the photo!)

John and me in the kitchen

 The beautiful table setting

One perfect plate of goodness

Our adorable Danny

Even the Simpsons know a swanky dessert when they see one!

So sophisticated! John and Danny even made playing with Simpsons toys swanky!  Ok, so maybe we're not as grown up as we pretend, but we are still having the most fun ever.

John and Danny, we love you both and we're so incredibly honored to have been the recipients of your gracious hospitality. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

xoxo, Patti