Thanksgiving I

So, this year for Thanksgiving day we went to our friend Dan's house in Hollywood. Going to Dan's has become a tradition about four years ago. I brought up two new dishes...Cheesecake-filled Pumpkin Cupcakes and Cauliflower Gratin.

Cheesecake-filled Pumpkin Cupcake Recipe courtesy of Rachael Ray Magazine

These cupcakes were really rich! The cake part was easy to make. However, it was my first time making butter-cream frosting and it was a lot of work. Definitely worth it for a special occasion like Thanksgiving though. I honestly didn't realize how much butter went into frosting! I doubled the recipe and made 24. But 12 was really all that was necessary since they were so decadent. Also, I tried piping the frosting through a ziplock bag, but it wasn't turning out very well, so I ended up just frosting them with a butter knife.

Look how thick the frosting is! So good!

Cauliflower Gratin Recipe courtesy of Real Simple Magazine

I used two bags of frozen cauliflower instead of fresh. I just defrosted them in the microwave first. I also used Monterey Jack instead of Cheddar. I mixed in 1/2c. shredded Parmesan into the Panko brad crumbs. Also, I didn't have any fresh parsley, so I used about a Tbsp of dry parsley. This turned out amazing! Just make sure to serve it nice and warm.