Glass Turkey

This is Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. As always during holidays, I am caught in a dilemma. My husband and I love to entertain, and we have a large country property that lends itself well to summer gatherings. We've hosted weddings, anniversaries, and tons of barbecues and other parties. But once the weather gets cooler, we really don't have enough space inside for large gatherings. We both come from large families: either family represents at least 25 people, usually more as the neices and nephews are now old enough to want to bring dates. We can handle that many buffet style or for an informal party, but not for a sitdown dinner of turkey and trimmings.

So...this year we hosted a "Glass Turkey" party: cocktails and hors d'oeuvres at 5pm on Saturday night. It was a hit! At one point there were 19 of us, and a smaller group partied on until about midnight. There were plenty of beverages served, and I followed the cleaning plan I laid out in my last post.

The menu:

sweet & sour meatballs
pizza dip (recipe below)
baked brie with red pepper jelly
veggies and dip

One guest brought a cream cheese & veggie pizza, and another these great little phyllo bundles of turkey and veggies.

Everyone seemed to agree that this may be a new Thanksgiving tradition, as
non-traditional as it was. It was a good reminder that what really matters is being together, having a chance to catch up on each other's lives and enjoying good company.


Pizza Dip Recipe

Large package of cream cheese (softened)
2 teaspoons of dried italian seasoning
1/4 cup of sour cream
one small can of pizza sauce (approx 1 cup)
one cup of grated mozzarella
1/2 cup of grated parmesan
1/4 cup of chopped green pepper

Combine cream cheese, sour cream and seasoning until smooth. Spread on bottom
of pie plate. Top with half of the pizza sauce, then half of the cheeses. Do a second layer of pizza sauce and cheeses. Garnish with green pepper.
Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes, until hot and bubbly.
Serve with bagel crisps or other crispy crackers.