Grateful Gathering Dinner

We held a Relief Society Grateful Gathering dinner on Thursday, November 3.

We had a wonderful night where we were able to glean some wonderful Thanksgiving/ Fall decorating ideas from Tenille Byington.  We also heard some great turkey and Thanksgiving dinner prep tips from Debbie Plomaritis and ended the night with a fun getting to know you activity with facts about our new RS Presidency.

Each table was decorated with some creatively decorated pumpkins placed on pedestals.  The pedestals were made by gluing a simple white plate on top of a glass goblet and tied with a festive ribbon around the stem.  The pumpkins that were created by Tenille were decorated in a variety of ways.  The pumpkins pictured on this table were wrapped in decorative lace and another sprayed with glue and sprinkled with glitter.

Here is a closer look at a glitter pumpkin, along with a pumpkin decorated with colorful pushpins in a swirling pattern.

The pumpkin with the copper coils was made with a roll of copper wiring cut and bent into fun patterns and pushed into the pumpkin.  Other pumpkins were adorned with beautiful Fall ribbons.

Tenille also had some very clever pumpkins cut and arranged from old magazines and books.  Thank you Tenille for the beautiful table decorations and Thanksgiving decorating ideas!

We also had candy favors on the tables that were simple and easy.  We used Reeses Pieces candy as we loved their Fall colors (orange, brown, and yellow).  We placed them in small clear sucker/ treat bags found at craft stores and used sticky labels to adhere the following quote:

"Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel."

The dinner consisted of pulled pork sandwiches.  The pork was pre-cooked and purchased from Sam's Club and the rolls came from Winco.

We also had some festive fall punch.  For those interested in the recipe it was:

Festive Party Punch

1 (6 oz) can of frozen lemonade concentrate

1 liter club soda (we substituted Fresca)

2bottles sparkling apple cider

1 lemon

1 orange

Sugar to taste

Directions:

 Thinly slice lemon and orange and place in punch bowl.  Combine thawed can of lemonade concentrate, club soda, and sparkling cider.  Mix well and add sugar to taste.  Add ice as needed.

Turkey and Meal Tips from Debbie Plomaritis

-For an extra moist turkey, soak a brown paper bag in water.  Prepare turkey with desired rubbings or marinade and place in bag.  Roll top of bag down and place in an oven at 325 degrees for 3 1/2 to 4 hours depending on the size of the turkey.  Periodically spritz bag with water to keep turkey moist.

-To keep the juices in the breast and the tender parts of the turkey, lift the skin of the turkey and smear with butter.  Cook the turkey upsided down at 325 degrees for 4-5 hours depending on size of turkey.  Flip turkey right side up for the last 15 minutes to crisp the skin.

-For stuffing, if you don't like the stuffing in the main cavity of the turkey, you can stuff it in the innards.  Another idea is to scoop stuffing around the outside of the turkey and wrap with foil to keep it moist.  Keep in mind, the fuller you stuff a turkey, the longer it will take for it to cook.  When you check the temperature of the finished turkey, you should place the thermometer in the thigh.

-When thawing a turkey, you should place a frozen turkey in a refrigerator for 4-5 days to completely thaw.  If you don't have time.  You can also place in a cold water bath (the cold water prevents bacteria from forming), keeping new cold water rotated with the turkey every several hours.

-For festive sweet potatoes, you can cut an orange in half and hollow them out then place the prepared sweet potatoes in the orange halves topped with marshmallows.  This creates a delicious and beautiful side dish.

-One of Debbie's best tips of the night was to always create a GREAT DESSERT, so that everyone will want to eat their dinner all gone to get to the dessert.  And she did!  She brought us some amazing samples of her layered pumpkin pie to try.  They were delicious!

Thanks Debbie!

Debbie also mentioned that you can go to the Butterball Turkey Website by clicking on this LINK for tips on what size turkey to buy, thawing, marinating, and cookign a turkey.  They also have a helpful turkey hotline you can call!