A Pleasant Pheasant Thanksgiving

First, we wanted to say THANK YOU to friends who invited us to dine with their family. I know how crazy the day can be, and so to invite us to join the people who are "especially" special to you and an already large crowd...it made us feel loved—we have gratitude for you!

Michael and Hayden had just visited (so it sorta felt like we'd already had Thanksgiving.) So, I was considering letting the holiday slip quietly by. It wasn't until the DAY BEFORE Thanksgiving—when a dessert arrived unexpectedly on my doorstep and slapped some sense into me—that we decided to celebrate.

We'd had POUNDS of BBQ with M&H, so our semi-traditional pork ribs DID NOT sound appetizing. My thoughts turned to the pheasant Adam had brought home from a hunting trip in South Dakota. So we went with that plan!

Luckily for me, the Rooster Roost Ranch had already plucked and cleaned the pheasants so prep was minimal—just had to rinse and cut the foot off each bird. (Shooting hens is illegal. In case a hunter is stopped by the game warden, a foot is left on to prove it's a rooster. The male birds have a spur on the back of their leg.)

I found and tried this Slow Cooker Pheasant recipe. Everything about the ingredients and cooking looked appealing. The bird gets seasoned and floured then browned in butter. Then the meat gets moved to the crockpot.

More ingredients like bacon, juniper berries, dry cider etc get grilled up and added to the slow cooker with broth.

When the bird is done, the sauce gets strained and a gravy is made with cream. The very last step is to brown apple slices in butter and serve with the pheasant. The gravy was DIVINE! It's the kind you want to lick off your plate. It's the kind I DID lick off my plate (a perk to celebrating alone). I should have doubled that part of the recipe.The pheasant was good as well, better than turkey.

The day was incredibly pleasant and calm. The television stayed off, Christmas music was on, conversation, reading, jogging, and cooking filled our time. Plus, we had no schedule to keep which I LOVED.

I kept things very simple. So the menu this year included:
Pheasant and apple with gravy
Mashed sweet potatoes
Grilled asparagus
Cesar Salad
Cornbread with honey butter pecan spread

And the dessert from my doorstep? (A Holiday "Thank You" delivered via mail from my employers)...we ate caramel apples! I think that's a great substitution for pie don't you?

This year I am particularly thankful to my Heavenly Father. I look around and see the bounty in our life and KNOW it's because of Him.

We hope your Thanksgiving was a good one too!

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