So I hosted Friendsgiving last weekend (read: Thanksgiving celebrated with friends instead of family ... although I ended up only inviting my sisters and my cousin rather than any friends, but that's okay!). The point is that I hosted a 12 person potluck dinner and, geeze louise, I ate so much delicious food!
It was seriously such a wonderful day. I started my day off with a ten mile run as part of my Ted Corbitt 15k training. These are photographic proof of how much I was loving life in the flippin' gorgeous autumn scenery of Prospect Park. The run was slow and steady - I averaged 7:41 pace...and I was happy with how my legs felt.
I then came home to the shit-show that was cooking a turkey. First of all, I have to say that I have used the NYT Turkey Recipe two years in a row now and it is FULL PROOF. If you put in the three days of prep, it produces a truly scrumptious, tender bird. I cannot believe how much I LOVE white meat turkey... this recipe is super life changing...but it requires a lot of timing things perfectly and planning.
But... here's the thang. All that prepping turkey & running earlier in the day left me super hungry by the time the party started. And such, I was hittin' the cheese plate appetizer WAY too hard. I was so filled up on cheese that it was hard to enjoy the delicious spread of turkey, green bean casserole, mac n' cheese, stuffing, stuffed mushrooms, biscuits, cheesy cauliflower and mashed taters!!! Eek. We had a ton of delicious food. It was heaven... but I do wish I hadn't been so all-over the cheese plate.
Now, here's another reason I was so obsessed with the cheese plate.
Well, I guess first of all, its cheese. Duh.
But, second of all - pecan and date goat cheese is LIFE. It is scrumptious life.
And its SO easy to make. As in, I had been preppin' a turkey for three dang days and still managed to sort of half-hazardly come up with the recipe... Its barely a recipe but more like three simple actions that create a delectable appetizer.
Basically, if you have a potluck to attend this holiday season, don't be a dope like me and take three days to make a delicious turkey.... but INSTEAD take ten minutes to make a flippin' unforgettable cheese plate that everyone will devour because they'll be super hungry upon arriving to the partay.
Lesson learned, folks, lesson learned.
JAYKAY. I already can't wait to host Friendsgiving again next year (turkey and all!)
Pecan Date Goat Cheese Spread
serves a small party of 4-6 guests
ingredients
1 log of goat cheese, cold from the fridge
1/2 cup pecans
6 dates
instructions
1. Add pecans to a food processor and process into a fine powder. If you prefer a coarser texture, then process for less time.
2. Remove pecans and add to a small plate. Add dates to the processor and process briefly to dice them into small chunks.
3. Add the date pieces to the plate and combine with the pecans.
4. Cut the cold goat cheese into 4-6 pieces depending on how large you want to roll the goat cheese balls.
5. Roll the cheese into a ball-shape or log-shape depending on personal preference.
6. Roll in pecans and date mixture until coated.
These are best served right away, as I found that storing them in the fridge made the dates soften and less aesthetically appealing. That said, I served them after storing in the fridge for two days and everyone ate them and loved 'em!
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