25 November 2007

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at One Britt this year! My dear friend, Ann Willoughby and her fiancé Steve Robbins, came to visit from Kansas City. They were the perfect guests, and Ann and I cooked together all day on Thursday while Jim and Steve watched football! Later that day, Steve and Amado showed up to help, and they did a beautiful job on the table decor! For me, the day was more of an experience and less of a production as in years past! ;-) Our group was complete with the addition of Matt, George and Sylvie from Atlanta and Mia from Chattanooga. Everyone brought amazing side dishes, and I cooked the bird, Franny Betty's southern sage dressing, mascarpone mashed potatoes, Franny Betty's sweet potato pies and the usual Red Velvet cake. It was a gray, rainy and chilly day today, so it was the perfect backdrop for tonight's supper. The menu:

• Day After Turkey Soup

• Franny Betty's Refried Dressing®

• Mascarpone Potato Pancakes

• Franny Betty's Sweet Potato Pie

You'll notice the ® on the "Franny Betty's Refried Dressing" item. I created this recipe tonight – either that or my mama sent it to me from heaven or that Super Walmart in the sky! I was using the leftover mashed potatoes to make pancakes, and I thought: I bet you could do the same thing with the leftover dressing! So, I made patties out of the cold dressing and dusted them in flour. I then "fried them up" in the same pan that I used for the potato pancakes! I drained them on paper towels and sprinkled with Kosher Sea Salt. They were divine, and FB would have been so proud of me. She would have been the first person I would have called after I created this recipe! Or maybe not since she had a tendency to "borrow" other people's recipes and submit them to Southern Living as her very own! She got busted one time! So, I will spend the next few months perfecting this recipe and submit it in her honor for next year's leftover Thanksgiving ideas. The ultimate tribute indeed!

Grace and gratitude to all,

Bill