1st TG: decor & app

Wow, that's a lot of abbreviations. As you can see, this Thanksgiving feast has involved so much work, I can't even write the whole title out for you. Have I mentioned yet that it's been a lot of work? Well, it has, and let's just say if it comes together well I will be gloating about this event for the rest of my life.

Today I put the final touches on my "bar cart." Seeing as how this dinner has cost me an arm and a leg already I needed a cheaper solution to serve drinks, et voilà! A frame as a delightful drink tray! I bought this hideous thing at Mercatopoli - a sad Italian Salvation Army where dust and Great Aunt Rita’s chipped sugar bowls go to die. Then I had fun spray painting the frame part red on my balcony. To finish it, I juxtaposed a map of America that Manu's dad gave me with a page from an Italian newspaper (symbolism people). 

[before]

[after]

I also made some appetizers today that Martha Stew says can keep up to a week before any party. I love cheesy things, and I'm positive my friends will devour these Parmigiano cheese twists while I slave in the two square feet that is my kitchen. They were so easy, here is the recipe. I changed it up only slightly - I added lots of freshly ground black pepper and at the end I brushed them all again with the egg wash. I can safely say that mine are way better than Martha’s.

Hope your planning is going well!