"Thanksgoodness" the menu's done

All right, I think I got the menu planned for Thanksgiving. I'm going to do a couple of new recipes from Better Homes and Gardens, a couple of family favorites, and a couple more from Cooking Light magazine. I am wondering though if I need to cook a second vegetable. My mom is going to do the turkey and stuffing, and will bring another vegetable. Let me know what you think.

Fresh clementine and cranberry salad with spinach (an adaptation of 2 new BHG recipes)

Bacon laced creamy Brussels sprouts (BHG)

Velvet mashed potatoes with cremini, portabella, and shallot sauce (BHG)(It's cool I found this sauce, because I think we're going to use it on Sirloin steaks for an upcoming catering event. It even has some sun-dried tomatoes in it for color, and it's more of a saute than a sauce --really chunky)

Streuseled sweet potato casserole with cayenne pepper (family favorite, but I'm kicking it up a notch with the pepper this year)

Spiced cranberry-apple relish with orange zest (OK, new recipe I found in my catering scrapbook that was a Cooking Light recipe originally. I would be nervous about it, because my family really likes fresh, and this is a cooked sauce, but it got almost 20 rave reviews when I looked it up online, so I'm hopeful)

Buttered sweet potato knot rolls (Cooking Light)(these look so pretty with the bright orange color, I had to try them this year. There's only about 3/4 cup of mashed sweet potato though, so I doubt the flavor will be very pronounced. Hopefully though you can taste it a little)

Mulled cranberry-orange cider (My scrapbook again. This is a hot drink, but I think I'm going to make it ahead of time and chill it. I'll serve it with the star anise and orange slice garnish though - I'm excited about the garnish)

Then of course a turkey, and my mom's cornbread stuffing and natural gravy, plus whatever vegetable she's bringing. I hope she wasn't planning on Brussels sprouts.

Can I tell you about my plans for the centerpiece? I've got all these butternut squashes, and I plan on piling them up in the middle on a bed of loose colored leaves from my flowering pear trees that will run down the center of the table. Remember those trees? The torch trees? I'm also hoping I've got enough copper chargers for everyone. I think I do. Won't those be cool with the autumn stuff?

Now I've got to figure out a movie everyone likes to watch afterwards. Oh my gosh! I forgot the pies! Here's what we're doing for pie:

Ginger pumpkin meringue pie (nice gingersnap crust, and the meringue is a brown sugar meringue -really pretty --BHG)

Pumpkin Chocolate cheesecake pie (BHG too, a two layer pie, with a thin layer of chocolate in between the layers, and chopped chocolate on top)

Peanut butter chocolate pie (I made this one up. It's two layers of mousse with real whipped cream spread over the top)

Fresh strawberry pie with a lemon mousse base, and possibly a puff pastry bottom. We'll see.

(photo courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens)

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