Gourmet Girls: Just in Time for Thanksgiving!

I know I say this almost every time the Gourmet Girls girls get together, but seriously this was one of the most fabulous meals we have had in the past five years! (Yes, August marked the 5 year anniversary of the Gourmet Girls!) We dinned on Tuesday, November 15 at Miss Raquel's home. Raquel always puts together the most exquisite table decor. She is so talented and so creative., and always has the perfect table for the season. We started the evening off with an appetizer by Jodi, Cheesy Roasted Red Pepper Dip with french baguettes from Our Best Bites (you can find it on their blog or in their cookbook). Next was Bridget's Pear and Blue Cheese Salad, also from Our Best Bites. Andrea arrived with two different types of rolls, No Knead Dinner Rolls by Martha Stewart and Thanksgiving Bread (I'm making it this afternoon from Taste of Home. After we had stuffed ourselves with appetizers, salad and bread, we served up Raquel's Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Preserves (Pioneer Woman), LS's Sweet Potato Gratin (I'm still dreaming about this), a Williams-Somoma Recipe, and Lara's southern flair on stuffing, Cornbread Stuffing (a family recipe). And then to finish the night off, Lynley treated us to a beautiful and delicious cake layered with chocolate cake, cream cheese and chocolate frosting, a Lion House recipe. See those beautifully wrapped packages in front of each place setting? Scroll to the bottom of this post to find out what was inside!

Andrea, Jodi & Bridget

Jodi, Raquel, LS & Andrea

Cheesy Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Pear and Blue Cheese Salad

No Knead Dinner Rolls

and

Thanksgiving Bread

The first course- salad and bread

Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Preserves

Sweet Potato Gratin

Cornbread Stuffing

8 cups cornbread, crumbled - 2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix works great

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup celery, diced

3/4 cup butter

2 cans cream of chicken soup

2 eggs, beaten

2-3 cups chicken broth

1 tsp seasoning salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp sage

1 tsp poultry seasoning

Make and bake cornbread mix according to package, then crumble until you have 8 cups (2 boxes in a 9x13 pan will make 8 cups). You can make the cornbread the night before - just keep it covered.

Melt butter in skillet and simmer the onion and celery until soft. Combine all ingredients with celery and onion (only using 1 cups of chicken broth). Put in lightly greased 9x13 dish. Lara pours 2 cups more chicken broth over the dish before baking so dressing will be moist.

Bake for 20-30 minutes at 450 degrees.