Thanksgiving Plans

November 23, 2011

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Scott Serrano

Got plans for tomorrow’s big Turkey Day? My fiancé and I are driving down to San Diego and spending some time with her family. Every year her brother cooks an amazing feast for the entire family and the only thing I have to offer is my huge appetite. So in hopes of changing things up this year, I am going to present some of my favorite Thanksgiving Day dessert recipes and my suggested Jessup wine pairings!

I’m not saving the best for last on this one; the first and my most favorite is this spiced pumpkin pie recipe! Let me preface this by saying, I’m not a huge fan of the traditional pumpkin pie. But alas, my family loves it so about 5 years ago I sought to find a recipe which worked for all of us. After making about 3 pumpkin pies that year, this recipe is definitely the winner!

Due to all of the spices, the pie doesn’t have that same light brown glistening look to it, but instead has more of a dark brown crusted appeal. I was a bit concerned at first, but boy is it delicious! The spices really stand out yet don’t overpower the traditionally sweet pumpkin flavor so the resulting taste is one which everyone in my family enjoys! (Then again, maybe they’re just saying that since I baked it) To pair this dessert, I am going to go with the 2007 Zinfandel Port. This port has a lot of sweet characteristics to it, however, since it’s based on a Zinfandel it has a nice spicy finish. The resulting pair is to die for! If you don’t yet have dessert plans this year, I would certainly suggest giving this one a try!

Another dessert I would suggest is for all you chocolate lovers out there! Both my fiancé and my dad are a huuuuuuge chocolate fans so of course we can’t have Thanksgiving dinner without some sort of chocolate goodness. If you love chocolate and you love cherries, listen up because this Black Forest Cake recipe will knock your socks off! The rich chocolate goes perfect with the tart cherries making for a lip-smacking-have-to-get-seconds type dessert.

However, I know that Kirschwasser isn’t exactly the easiest thing to find at the last minute so if you’re unable to find it you can either swap it out with cherry syrup (I have not personally tried this but it’s been suggested to me) or follow this alcohol free recipe! Both will pair very well with Jessup’s 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Port. This port is my favorite Jessup port of them all! The last time I was at Jessup I bought 6 bottles of it on a whim, so I highly recommend it. And for all those non-chocolate eaters, you’ll be happy to know that the port stands up on its own without the pairing so regardless if you like chocolate or don’t, everybody wins!