A Thanksgiving Dinner Built For Two.

Thanksgiving was this past weekend. Which of course means food, food, more food, cooking, baking, food and...oh yeah food! I ended up with 3 separate dinners. One being the standard family get together, another one with my brother's girlfriends family and the last (even though it was the first to be eaten) one being a dinner for two with The Boy.



Cory's and my family dinners were allotted to happen on the same day so neither of us were going to get to attend the others. However we both wanted to have Thanksgiving dinner (our first one in fact) together. So I decided the only course of action was for me to make a meal on the Friday for just the two of us.

I didn't want to make a whole turkey, but I did want the look of turkey, so I went with a couple of cornish hens. I really like cornish hens because you can serve one per person and they hold the perfect amount of stuffing for one serving. Though those little wings have a tendency to burn really badly if you don't tie them back. So, unfortunately for me, trussing is a must.



Fact: my trussing is not exactly picture perfect. I tend to be a little awkward at it and drop the bird and the string multiple times before I manage to get it all tied up. Cornish hens only make it harder for me since they are even smaller. As the saying goes the smaller they are...the harder they are to truss. Okay so there is no actual saying but you get my point. Keep on trussing. (okay I'll stop now)



I accompanied my birds with a Cranberry Wild Rice Stuffing and Oven Roasted Root Vegetables. Let me state now that I will never make traditional stuffing if I can help it. I have a strong dislike for bread stuffing. No matter how many times I try it I just don't like it. So I was really happy when I found a recipe years ago in a pocket sized Canadian Living magazine (long since lost) for the wild rice stuffing. It is just to die for. At least in my opinion.



Now how about a desert? Low and behold I still had a little bit of pumpkin puree leftover along with some frozen tart shells. So I made mini pumpkin tarts to finish off the meal (and thankfully that huge can of pumpkin!).



And of course I'm never the one to forget a generous dollop of whipped cream! Sometimes too generous..at least when I'm "dolloping" it into my mouth instead of onto the desert. Cory did manage, at the risk of life and limb, to wrestle the bowl of whipped cream away from me and into the freezer. Though I'm sure he snuck a few spoonfuls first!



A wonderful meal for us to share, even if it did end up being eaten at 10:00pm. And Cory even cleaned up all the dishes afterwords.

And, for those of you who don't like traditional stuffing or just want to try something different here is the aforementioned stuffing recipe.

Cranberry Wild Rice Stuffing
Adapted from a Canadian Living recipe

• 3 TBSP each Butter & Oil
• 1 Large Onion; Chopped
• 1 Cup Chopped Carrots
• 1 Cup Craisons
• 3 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 TBSP each Thyme & Sage
• 1 1/4 Cup Uncooked Wild & Long Grain Rice Blend
• 1 Cup Chicken Broth
• 1/2 Cup White Cranberry Cocktail
  

In a pot, heat butter & oil until butter had completely melted. Add in the chopped onions, carrots and craisons. Cook until they are tender.

Stir in the balsamic vinegar, thyme, sage and rice. Add the chicken broth and the juice.

Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer covered until all liquid is absorbed and rice is fully cooked. (If the liquid is almost gone but rice is not cooked add a little bit more broth or juice and continue to cook)

Stuff into the cavity of a turkey or chicken. It can also be served right out of the pot as a side dish.