Thanksgiving fun

  We were invited to share a Thanksgiving dinner with two special families this year...

as South Africans, we have never celebrated Thanksgiving...

so this was a wonderful new experience for us...

We decided to make a Thanksgiving tree in the week, my knight came up with the idea of collecting dried branches and cutting out colourful leaves to hang on our tree...

We then wrote on each leaf what we are Thankful for...

a very special time of reflection, 

a time to count our blessings and be...

 THANKFUL...

My knight started with a white and silver star, that he wanted to put on the top...

we are Thankful to God and knowing Him, for His love for us...

then it was grannies, grandpas, cousins, aunties, uncles, friends, food, butterflies, our home, siblings, parents, fun, sport, beaches, sun, mountains, animals, lego, sweets...

the lists went on and on...

Here is a picture of our tree...

Then for our dinner, I was asked to bring some sides to go along with the roasted turkey...

so I had to do some research...

These are two dishes that caught our fancy and we tried...

Both very delicious I might add...

(Be warned though, they are sweet!!!)

Sweet Potato Au Gratin

5 large Sweet potatoes

5 red Apples

1/2 - 1 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

3/4 cup Bread crumbs

Butter

Olive oil

Brown sugar

salt

black pepper 

Peel and slice the potatoes. Place in a large bowl. Peel the apples and chop into pieces - place in bowl with the potatoes.

Melt about 3 - 4 Tbsp of butter, add 3 Tbsp brown sugar, salt and pepper...Pour over the apples and potatoes and toss well, so coated. Place in an oven dish and bake (180 degrees Celsius) until cooked and tender, turning a couple of times.

Combine breadcrumbs, nutmeg and Cinnamon and sprinkle over top...Sprinkle 2  - 3 tsp brown sugar over as well...drizzle with olive oil and bake again until crisp and browned.

Caramelized onions, green beans and flaked almonds

500gr fine green beans

2 large onions

50g (or more) flaked almonds

brown sugar

butter

salt and pepper to taste

Chop onions finely, place in pan with a blob of butter and brown sugar...fry until golden brown and starting to get sticky. Take out of pan but leave any juices behind, add another blob of butter, turn heat down and put half the beans in, let them simmer until they start to soften and turn bright green - don't overcook, it is nice when they are still crunchy.

Take out and cook the other half.

Once done place all ingredients into a large bowl and toss well...

Place on a platter or serving dish.

(Both these recipes I changed a little because of ingredients not readily available here...

we will definitely be making both of these again!)

Then one last thing...

I packaged some of those delicious chocolate biscuits as gifts for these two special families.

The turkey bottle top idea I got from here...

Thank you family G and family D for the friendship and the wonderful evening...

Roast veg and cous cous salad

This is something I make often, it can be eaten as a veg accompaniment to a meat dish or as a salad with a braai or as a meal all on its own...

You will need

1 small Butternut

2 medium Sweet Potato

1 -2 Onions

1 cup Cous Cous

1/2 cup Raisins

100gr Feta

handful Pumpkins seeds (optional)

Peel and cube the sweet potato and butternut into similar size pieces.

Halve the onion/s and slice.

Place all together in an oven dish and season with salt and black pepper, and any other seasoning you enjoy. Drizzle with olive oil...roast till cooked but still holding shape.

Prepare the cous cous - place in a bowl and add one cup boiling water. Cover and let it steam.

Once done (all water absorbed) give a stir with a fork.

To Serve...

You can either spread the cous cous on a large platter and place the cooked veg on top...sprinkle with raisins and crumbled feta
or
place all ingredients into a salad bowl and toss lightly..
Enjoy

Chickpea Burgers

These are so delicious, we had them with a huge green salad, homemade Tzatiki and some oven baked potato wedges...

Give them a try...

You will need:

1 tin chickpeas - drained

2 carrots - grated

3 baby marrows - grated

3 spring onions - chopped

2 - 3 Tblsp fresh parsley - chopped

1/2 tsp crushed garlic

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander 

salt 

black pepper

3 Tblsp flour (and extra flour for dusting)

Canola oil for frying

Drain the chickpeas well and pulse in a food processor to chop - I used a handheld blender and mashed them quite well.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix till well combined.

Gently form the mixture into patties and roll/pat3 in flour.

Fry for about 3 - 5 minutes, or until crispy and heated through.

Tzatiki

cucumber - grated (I used about a 1/3 of a cucumber)

greek yogurt

pinch or 2 of salt (to taste)

1/2 tsp crushed garlic

Enjoy with a salad or on a crispy roll.