The Kitchen Window

The Kitchen Window
Antique Milk Bottles with Herbs and Flowers

Welcome!

Welcome to the Frog Hollow Farm blog! I've been blogging since January 2010 and have switched from Blogger to Word Press, but I'm back to Blogger because, for me, it's easier to use. My husband and I live on a little farm in Northwest New Jersey. We have some chickens and a very large vegetable garden with asparagus and raspberries, and rows and rows of sunflowers, snapdragons and zinnias. Traveling, entertaining, gardening, spending time with family, studying Italian, blogging and reading keep us busy and happy. With all of this going on, moving towards a simpler life seems almost impossible but it's definitely a daily goal.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Decisions! Decisions!

Last night I had dinner with two wonderful friends, both teachers from Tewksbury and both very special in their own rights.  Carol and Becky, that was a delicious bottle of wine, wasn't it?  :)  Here's to many more!

I've been looking through all of my cookbooks and my back issues of the Thanksgiving themed Bon AppetitMartha Stewart Living and Gourmet magazines to find appetizers for our holiday parties.  My most favorite issue is a 1979 copy of Bon Appetit - the subscription was a gift from my mom and the recipes were used for the very first Thanksgiving dinner that FHFB and I hosted in our first home in Rockway Township, lovingly called "Little House on the Highway".  We still make the cornbread stuffing and Italian Roasted Turkey recipes from this issue!

You can see that it's definitely been used!  The cover is detached and the edges are frayed.

More magazines saved from prior Thanksgivings...


My collection of Thanksgiving recipes and decorating ideas also includes several little pamphlets from Whole Foods and Williams-Sonoma. 

So far I've come up with my first draft of appetizer recipes for Thanksgiving.  I know, why am I serving so many appetizers in addition to the traditional turkey dinner?  Well, my family has a tradition, at every gathering, to sit and chat for a 2-3 hours before the meal while eating delicious appetizers and drinking whatever special cocktail we have prepared for the day.  For Thanksgiving we're thinking of serving a light but delicious white sangria, with slices of apples and pears.

Can I call this list of appetizers a transformation of sorts, from an empty piece of paper to a list of 9 appetizers, most of them making it to the final cut?
Here's what we have so far:
Alton's Salty Sweet Pecans
Cheese Straws
Parmesan and Thyme Crackers
Cheese Tray with Many Varieties of Olives
Veggie Tray

Crostini with Sun Dried Tomato Jam
Olive-Garlic Soft Cheese Spread served with Whole Grain Baguette
Prosciutto Cups With White Beans
Stilton Toast and Cranberry Chutney

I haven't linked to each of the recipes because many of them are from a fantastic link I found on Epicurious.com called Cocktail Party Menus - it's just full of delicious cocktail party menus with all of the recipes linked in as well - a very easy site to work your way through.
I'm linked in to Transformation Thursday with Gina at Shabby Chic Cottage- stop by to see all of the ideas and links!

(from Google Images)


Ciao, bella!



8 comments:

  1. It all sounds perfectly delicious. My mouth is watering!

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  2. Oh, it sounds like you will have a great Thanksgiving-enjoy:@)

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  3. It all sounds so good, especially the Crostini with sun-dried tomato jam! I have a pile of cooking magazines too. Mine are less Gourmet and more down-home type of cooking though (grin)...like Taste of Home. Looking forward to seeing what your final menu looks like and I'm inspired to try some new things this year.

    Have a great weekend,
    Jackie

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  4. Sounds yummy! I finally sat down one afternoon with MY stack of cooking magazines that were dog eared and taking up LOTS of room. I tore out the recipes I had marked, organized them into Main dish, dessert, etc. and then put each one in a page protector (gluing the smaller ones to paper first) and put them in a 3 ring binder. I LOVE that now I can find them so easily instead of wondering WHAT magazine that favorite recipe came from! You could have a whole Thanksgiving section!

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  5. YOUR THANKSGIVING DAY IS GOING TO BE SO NICE, WITH ALL THOSE APPITIZERS, IT STARTS OFF RIGHT. JACKIE MAKES A WONDERFUL DINNER EVERY YEAR, JEANNE IS COMING WITH PAIGE, AND SHE WILL BRING DELICIOUS APPITIZERS. I LOVE THANKSGIVING, ESPECIALLY HAVING MY FAMILY AROUND ME.
    TAKE CARE FARM GIRL, LOVE, AUNT RIZ

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  6. i knew i'd get HAPPY if i stopped by here today. and i did!!!! looks exactly like my house...all the same magazines and cookbooks...been going through them too...love your list :-)

    isn't it fun ....i just love it !!!!!

    i wished we lived closer..we have so much in common...at least we found each other in blogland, my friend

    so happy to visit today.
    p.s. i just took cranberry and walnut cookies out of the oven...made them out of this years Martha Holiday Sweets
    :-)
    kary and teddy
    xxx

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  7. i just posted my thanksgiving menu...and thought of YOU!!!!!

    :-)

    kary
    xxx

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  8. Hi Ann Marie,
    I bet you are having so much fun going through your pile of recipes, magazines and cookbooks! What a wonderful time of the year it it!! :) YOur menu ideas sound great,the olive garden soft cheese spread sounds fantastic. Are you posting that recipe, I would love to make it!
    I hope to have my 'Entertaining for the Holidays" post up in an ebook format soon. I wanted to add it all into the 'Ask Bunny, but it is so long, I think around 70 pages and it would take a long time to transfer to that section. Hopefully it will be ready next Friday or sooner I hope! We are almost finished. Of course if there is anything else just let me know!!! Most importantly have fun!
    xx

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