Thanksgiving Leftovers

First I wanted to thank everyone for the vote of confidence regarding my pumpkin pie. You were all right, the pie still tasted really good. The only issue there was really only cosmetic.
As you can tell from the picture, there were a few spots where something didn't get mixed in completely. At least I know for next year to mix a little better before I pour it into a pie crust.

My other contribution to the meal was bacon-wrapped, Parmesan-stuffed dates. My mom made them the past two years, and they're so addicted I needed to make them as well. And the best part, they're so easy to make.

1. Start but pitting a few dates.
I bought to large packages of dates as Whole Foods, because I knew these would go quickly. Which was about 40 dates overall.

2. Stuff with slices of parmesan.
I went with a thin rectangle of cheese, which made the slicing part far easier than it would have been with an actual wedge.

3. Wrap with bacon and secure with a toothpick.
I hadn't actually bought enough bacon to wrap all 40 dates. So I had to make a quick run to the grocery store Thursday morning. I made it there just in time.

4. Cook dates in the oven until the bacon gets crispy.
This was by far the hardest part of the recipe for us. I had found a recipe to use, that involved prosciutto instead. And that recipe said to cook at 450 degrees for 6 minutes. While that would have probably been a perfect temperature and length for prosciutto, not to much for actual bacon. At the end of 6 minutes the bacon was nowhere near cooked, and the cheese was starting to ooze out of the date. Looking back it would have been better to cook them at a lower temperature for less time. But since the cheese was starting to ooze out, we took them out of the oven and fry them up on the stove to get to bacon crispy.

I know these look good in the picture, but even that doesn't do justice to how amazingly addictive they are. They're a bit sweet from the date, yet savory from the cheese and bacon. They're crunchy from the bacon, yet gooey from the date and cheese. Pretty much an amazing package, that taste a bit like candy to me. They turned out to be quite a hit with the boy's family.

And if you remember this post on my Thanksgiving tradition, you know this post wouldn't be complete without a picture of my plate.
That's gumbo on the right, and the plate on the left has turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, and potato salad. And there were definitely two plates of this that were consumed by me.

It was a good Thanksgiving overall, but still isn't anywhere near the same as having Thanksgiving at home with my family. But it was great spending Thanksgiving with the boy and his family, and having the chance to experience a holiday so different, yet somehow the same as normal.

I hope everyone else had a fabulous Thanksgiving as well!

~Shoshanah