Prepping for Turkey Day!

One of the things I've learned the most from cooking for Thanksgiving is prepping big time the day before. That way I'm not overwhelmed making all the sides and stand in the kitchen for 5 hrs. I don't usually cook for a lot of people, but we do make a lot of food — the hubby loves the leftovers — so the more I prep the better. Here is what I'm doing today to get ready for tomorrow... just wanted to share some tips!


Sides::

- Make the cornbread (from a mix of course!) for my cornbread, bacon & sage stuffing. I might also cook all the veggies for this, then just assemble & bake tomorrow. 

- Roast the chestnuts for my brussels sprouts w/ caramelized mushrooms and shallots side. 

- Roast 1 garlic head for my garlic mashed potatoes.

- Make the cranberry sauce. It'll be even better and thicker tomorrow.
Desserts::

- Make pie doughs. I'm making 1 apple and 1 pumpkin pie, so Ill just make the dough, separate them into disks, wrap them in plastic and pop them in the fridge.
- Mix pumpkin filling. The recipe says it's better to make it the day before so that sounds good to me!
Turkey::

- Make turkey brine. I'll be brining it over night, so I want to make sure the brine cools so it's ready tonight.

It might sound like a lot to do, but it'll be worth it! Tomorrow I'll get a chance focus on our 12lb turkey, relax with my hubby and auntie and drink good wine :) You might not want to do it all, but I hope this helps you and gives you some ideas on what to start today. 

Have a great Turkey day!!

Ven a comer a PDX!

Last week, Lynne from how2heroes.com came to shoot a bunch of videos here in Portland. I was lucky enough to help pick a mix of food carts, chefs and home cooks to shoot. We had a blast, ate amazing food and even got a chance to take a quick day trip to a few wineries and try some great wines. Here are some pics of our adventures!

Monday was food cart day: Jalapeño popper grill cheese from The Grill Cheese Grill, Potato Leek soup from Savor Soup House and Gingersnap cookies from The Sugar Cube. I also "made" Lynne try a ham, cheese & honey butter waffle sandwich from Flavour Spot.

For home cooks we shot 2 great friends: Jason (that's him getting ready for the shoot) made a delicious side dish of Brussels sprouts, caramelized mushrooms & shallots. Brian made a family favorite, shrimp scampi (that's us eating his leftovers).

We where also lucky to have 2 amazing restaurants participate: Screen Door made Grits & Grillades (the pic here is of a waffle & pears we had for brunch and some grits they made for a video). Toro bravo made 2 amazing dishes: piperade with baked duck egg and bacon wrapped dates... all delish!

On thursday we took a super fun trip to Dundee/Dayton area. It was my first time there so it was great to see how close Portland is from some great wineries. I also loved that they are literally across the street from each other, so it takes minutes to go from one to the next. My only advice: if you're planning on trying a few, bring your own snacks — only one offered few crackers. Here are the ones we went to:

_ Domaine Serene: Really nice with amazing views. It also had a fireplace that really made the experience great. Our favorite wines where from here.

_ Domaine Drouhin: Great views here too, they have a deck that'll be great to enjoy on summertime.

_ De Ponte Cellars: Small but nice, the girl was super friendly and she was a De Ponte.

_ Archery Summit: This was the only place that offered us crackers and water. It was a bit small too but really cozy.

So pretty much I had the greatest job for 4 days. I'll keep you posted to when the videos are up. Thanks to all the heroes to helped us make this an amazing week. In the meantime you should definitely subscribe to the how2heroes newsletter to be the first one to know when the videos are up, and to find any last minute thanksgiving ideas!