A Tiny Thanksgiving Idea

          I love tiny things—tiny kitten noses, tiny paw prints, tiny little compartments that hold tiny little treasures.  I think it’s my childlike (not childish, mind you) outlook.  Whatever.

          One of my most popular YouTube Mom videos is about my fairy garden, here, again loaded with miniature things a tiny fairy would love.  Maybe I read the children’s book series,The Littles, at an impressionable age.

          And so I am sharing an original idea of mine that won the Grand Prize in a huge, national cooking contest.  It’s a miniature Thanksgiving cornucopia, entirely edible, and exactly the size for one serving. Notice, in the picture, that it's on a dinner plate.

This is perfect for folks who don’t want to cook a whole turkey, but it’s also great for entertaining house guests before and after the actual holiday, when you still need a main course.        

          I came up with the concept based on another idea of mine.  For years I’ve been wrapping bread dough around a greased cone of aluminum foil, then brushing it with egg yolk, and baking it to make a wonderful, edible cornucopia centerpiece.  After it baked, I would remove the scrunched up foil that held it in the cone shape, and fill it with sugar-glazed grapes, apples, and persimmons, and it was always a fun tradition.

          Then I got the idea to make tiny, individual ones.  Only instead of using bread dough, I’d use strips of turkey meat, and then make the filling out of savory stuffing and little veggies cut to look like fruit.  Tell me this is not a knock-out idea.  Okay, do not tell me that because I won’t listen; I know it’s a knock-out idea.

          You can see, in the top photo, that I used a melon baller to make ball shapes from cooked yams and purple potatoes, and threw in some cranberries and blueberries as well.  Totally edible, totally darling.  Just cut strips of turkey breast, wrap them around a small cone of foil, hold them in place with toothpicks, and bake until golden brown.  (I first wrap the foil with parchment paper to prevent the meat from sticking to the foil.) The complete recipe is here.         

          Tiny is a wonderful thing.  Except when it comes to desserts.  Pies should be cut into quarters, cakes into thick slabs, and cookies should always come in threes.

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