Just in time for party season, I am sharing a recipe and a video (see below) for a popular and delicious hors d’oeuvre, mini spanakopitas. These are terrific whether in a casserole form (that recipe is here) or as a hand-held pie. You can make dozens today and freeze them for a future party. Once you get the idea of how to work with phyllo dough, you can change the recipe and do all sorts of fun and exciting things with it.
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you were able to spend quality time with family and friends. I was feeling extra grateful this year and cherished being with so many loved ones.  But I was a little spent afterwards, so I took the weekend “off.” I am enjoying some quality time with my daughters before they return to school on Sunday afternoon and I haven’t been in the kitchen much, except for tossing some leftovers into the waffle iron. You could have seen this on my Instagram Stories on Friday!
Not the norm for me, but I sort of overdid it on the holiday eating this weekend. Ooops! Monday I am making a fresh batch of Bieler’s broth to get me back on track. Tomorrow is always a new day.
How’s it going, friends? If you are deep in Thanksgiving prep, I am hoping you are pacing yourself and having fun, or at least not panicking! All my Thanksgiving recipes for this year have been posted so I am moving onto leftovers!
We had a great experience with our Korean exchange students (I don’t know if I mentioned we picked up another one last Sunday!), but today we said our goodbyes and they went back to their families. Even though we’ll miss them, the timing is rather perfect since my daughters are coming back from college on Tuesday evening for Thanksgiving break. They both said they can’t wait to come home, but I think they’re looking more forward to the food than seeing me. 😉 Speaking of food and Thanksgiving, I’m getting started on my applesauce and cranberry sauce tomorrow (Sunday.) My husband told me he is going to surprise me with a specialty cocktail on Thanksgiving. I don’t like surprises on Thanksgiving.
I could do without turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving and just eat veggies and pie. You didn’t think I was going to say just veggies, did you? C’mon. I’m more fun than that! But if you forced me to eat stuffing, if I had to pick one version to eat, here it is. This one right here is my favorite stuffing of all time, satisfying all my protein and carbohydrate needs on the big day so I can just focus on what I just mentioned, veggies and pie.
This post has been edited from the original which was published on November 17, 2011.
I am going to admit this right off the bat — I am behind on my Thanksgiving planning!  The irony! I think we’re going to be 31 people this year, including my two daughters who will be home from college. I am so excited to have all my kids in the kitchen this year prepping and cooking with me. I had a stroke of genius five years ago, which was to tack my Thanksgiving to-do list on the refrigerator and have everyone sign up for three tasks. Even my husband helps out!
My last class is today, and then our exchange students (yes, I picked up another one last weekend LOL) go back to South Korea on Saturday morning. So I’ll be getting busy on Sunday when I start making applesauce and cranberry sauce. I always plan Thanksgiving day down to the last detail because I don’t like forgetting things and a schedule makes me feel more relaxed, which equals more fun for me! But just because Thanksgiving is the star of the show this week doesn’t mean that I can forget about normal life on very other day. So I think about regular meals and activities, too. Here’s what my schedule will look like from Sunday until we eat on Thursday at 4:00 pm (-ish). This shouldn’t make you feel exhausted, but merely show you what you can do ahead for your own Thanksgiving! The Chalkboard Mag published a really great blogpost this week with tons of tips from lots of food experts (including me!) I highly recommend giving it a quick read.
How’s the Thanksgiving planning going?? I have another great recipe you can add to your menu.
I am not going to argue that this is a “healthful dessert.” But I can feel good about the fact that there is very little added sweetener in this galette and there’s only one crust, so can we agree that it’s less damaging than a pie? Regardless, this galette is downright delicious and so much easier than it looks. It’s the perfect dessert for Thanksgiving or any time you need something sophisticated, but homey. Watch my new YouTube video below for the step-by-step.
What a week! Â In this unpredictable world, food is always there for you, consistent and unifying. Â Let’s get cooking!
This is a big week for organizing for Thanksgiving and keeping the meals simple. Â November is my busiest work month and frankly, I am toast. Â So I am really keeping it easy! Â Here’s your dinner planner for the week:
