Ode to Thanksgiving

Our favorite time of the year is here! With our love of food, cooking, and eating, is it any surprise that today is one of our favorite days? The mashed potatoes! The turkey! And the pie... oh, the pie.

But today is also about family, and friends, and love, and being grateful. So we'd like to take a moment to give thanks for all of the wonderful parts of our lives.

We are thankful for our family... for our parents who always support us, for our extended family who brings so much joy to our lives, for our furry children who keep us entertained, and for our new additions (thank you for having us Maloneys!).

Speaking of Maloneys, we are also thankful for Justin. Thanks for letting us do our sisterly thing Just, whether that's putting up with the Bachelor, testing out our cooking, or just listening to our ridiculousness.

We are grateful for our wonderful friends, old and new. You make us laugh, hear us out, and keep us sane! Hopefully we return the favor every once in a while.

We are also thankful for you, our readers, whom we've lovingly started referring to as our Hungertons. We're really enjoying sharing our eating and cooking adventures, and our love of hot guys, with you. Thank you for taking the time to read our silliness and for even trying out some of our recipes. We're excited to continue on with this little venture!

We would be remiss if we didn't mention that we are also thankful for each other. It's been wonderful to live in the same city again and always have someone to share things with!

And finally, we are thankful for food! We think it's important to realize every once in a while that we're lucky to be able to eat the way we do because many others cannot.

Alright... now about getting some wine for this cheese...

So savor today's meal and let us know how it goes! What dish made your Thanksgiving dinner special? If you can, take pictures and notes and send them our way! Oh, and don't forget some dinner music!

Happy Thanksgiving Hungertons!

Bon Appetit! Buen Provecho! Gobble Gobble!

Mariana and Paula

Sprouts of Time

Brussels sprouts. We're not sure if there is another vegetable with a worse reputation than these little green bad boys. Justin hates them, Mariana likes them, and Paula has never even tried them. With Thanksgiving upon us and in an effort to see what kind of potential these sprouts have, we created a recipe for a side dish featuring the one and only Brussels sprouts (and maybe some bacon).

Bacon Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

• 2 lbs Brussels Sprouts, trimmed and halved
• 1/2 lb Bacon, cut into 1/4" slices
• 1/2 Medium red onion, sliced thinly
• 1 tbs Minced garlic
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 1 tbs Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper, to taste

Preparation

In our hunt for a good recipe, I uncovered some helpful tips on cooking sprouts. Food Blogga recommended "shocking" the sprouts, meaning moving them into a bowl of ice water after they have been drained to stop the cooking, helping them keep their vibrant color and keeping them from getting too mushy. So begin this dish by cooking the sprouts in a pot of boiling water, seasoned with about half a tablespoon of salt, for about 3 minutes and shocking them in ice water.

In a large wok or pan over medium high, heat the olive oil and add the garlic, bacon and onion slices in. Cook the bacon until nice and crispy. Then, very carefully drain as much of the bacon grease as possible or try soaking it up using a few paper towels.

Add in your sprouts to the pan and sauté everything for about 5 minutes or until the sprouts begin to get a nice golden brown to them. Finish up by seasoning with some salt and paper, and spinkling the parmesan cheese on top once plated on a serving dish.

The bacon sprouty wonders were a big hit at our last Biggest Loser viewing party and hopefully they will be a hit at your dinner table too!

And don't forget your music! (Caution: it's kind of a weird song...)

Bon appetit! Buen provecho! Sprouts!

Mariana and Paula