Last year I was in Hilton Head, South Carolina for Thanksgiving with my family. Catered Thanksgiving meals are my favorite because I dont’ have to do anything and clean up is so much easier

Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook but sometimes all the pots and pans and cleaning required for such a big meal can be a bit of a deterrent. This year my Mom is doing the bulk of cooking but I’ve been tasked with making my mashed sweet potatoes (no marshmallows are involved) and a butternut squash mash that I made after tasting one at Nando’s.

It’s a kind of spicy and sweet side dish. Here’s what you need…

Ingredients:

- 1 butternut squash peeled, and diced into 2 inch cubes
- 1 red onion
- About a cup of chicken stock
- 1 handful of cilantro chopped roughly
- brown sugar to taste
- salt and pepper to taste
- Nando’s Peri Peri sauce

How I Made It:

I take the butternut squash with the red onion chopped up and sprinkle it with olive oil, salt and pepper and then roast it for 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven. When it comes out of the oven I pop in a medium heat pan and add the chicken stock (or broth), cilantro and just a sprinkle of brown sugar. I mash it over the heat and when it’s to a nice chunky consistency I fold in the Nando’s Peri Peri sauce - you could do a garlic hot sauce too if you can’t get Nando’s. It’s just enough spice but still a bit of sweet in the background.  

I’m adding a little something different to our Thanksgiving table, what about you?

I haven’t posted in a while, why? Because I’ve been enjoying myself. I had the entire week of Thanksgiving off and spent it in South Carolina with my family. We stayed at a Disney Vacation Club on Hilton Head Island and despite having kitchens we still ordered the catering for Thanksgiving Day. It was good.

I don’t really eat sweet potatoes, but I hear the sweet potato souffle was delicious. I thought the stuffing was super moist and delicious. The green beans were just green beans. Nothing too exciting about them but still tasty. I was slightly disappointed that I had to doctor up my mashed potatoes. They were a bit bland, they definitely needed more salt, pepper and butter.

What was the star of the dinner was the spiral cut ham. Don’t get me wrong, the turkey was moist and tasty but WOWZERS, that ham was on another level. We had so much food left over there were ham biscuits the next morning, ham sandwiches and just lots of ham in general. I didn’t overeat but I definitely enjoyed myself.