Appetizers:
- Prosciutto and Gruyere Pinwheels
- Cheese and crackers
- Sweet and Spicy Nuts (recipe below)
Bread Basket:
- Golden Pumpkin Walnut Loaf (which no one touched during dinner, perhaps because I forgot to slice it)
- Cloverleaf Honey Wheat Rolls
Dinner:
- Arugula (really spinach) Salad with Goat Cheese, Bacon (which I left out for dieting guests), and Balsamic-Fig Dressing
- Brussels Sprout Hash with Caramelized Shallots
- New England Sausage Stuffing with Chestnuts
- Cranberry Sauce with Port and Dried Figs
- Mashed potatoes
The following day, having learned from painful experience that if I wait it doesn't happen, I hacked the carcass into pieces, piled them into my stock pot, added carrot, celery, onion, and a few peppercorns, and set it to do its quiet magic while the rest of us went about our day. Only a week later, nearly all of the leftovers have been used.
It was a good day. Until the mouse ran across my stove....
Sweet and Spicy Nuts
1 C sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 large egg white
6 C unsalted nuts - walnuts, pecans, natural almonds, cashews
Preheat to 325. Grease 2 jelly roll pans,
In small bowl, stir first 5 ingredients together. In large bowl, with wire whisk, beat egg white until foamy. Stir nuts into egg white. Add sugar mixture; toss until nuts are thoroughly coated.
Divide nuts between jelly roll pans, spreading evenly. Bake 25-27 minutes or until golden brown and dry, stirring twice. (Check on them, you may need to rotate pans, one of mine gets done quicker than the other). Transfer nuts to wax paper to cool.
Store tightly covered at room temperature up to one month.
