Thanksgiving and the question of dessert

Terrain at Styers, October 2013

With Thanksgiving just a few days away I'm having a bit of a tough time trying to contain my excitement.  For one, Thanksgiving might possibly be my favorite holiday - if not my favorite it's certainly tied with Christmas.  But secondly, it's our first Thanksgiving as newly weds! Hooray!  And I have two days off!  Double Hooray!

This year we are spending Thanksgiving day at my sister-in-laws so that they can christen their new home with a good ol'Thanksgiving feast.  Friday we'll be traveling out to central Pennsylvania to partake in another feast that Saturday.  It's looking to be a promising holiday, for sure.

As usual, I'm bring desserts to both dinners.  No complaints here!  For the past few weeks I've been tossing dessert ideas around in my head and am having, admittedly, an embarrassingly hard time deciding on what to make!  I really just can't make up my mind.  I'm determined to make a cheesecake.  I've never made a cheesecake before- most likely because I never had a proper spring form pan.  Now that I have one in my baking arsenal I think it's time to put it to good use.  Originally I wanted to make  a pumpkin cheesecake.  Then I decided on a pumpkin chai cheesecake or one subtly flavored with cardamom.  But alas, after endless pinning, I just couldn't settle on a recipe.  I continued my search for a pumpkin cheesecake only to abandon the idea because there will probably be 101 other pumpkin treats that day.  Instead, I'll be make this incredibly decadent orange cranberry cheesecake with dark chocolate crust.  Who cares if we are all stuffed and the thought of a slice of cheesecake will send us all over the edge?  A sliver won't hurt anyone and I'm sure it will be even better in the days to follow.  I was asked to bring a second one to my sister-in-laws so in addition to the cheesecake I plan on making this brown butter tart with pears instead of apples and a dash of cardamom for good measure.  I'm drooling on my keyboard as I type this.

My mom requested a pumpkin pie for her dinner so I'll be jumping on the creme brûléed pumpkin pie bandwagon of Thanksgiving 2013 with gusto.  I'll make a simple pie, hopefully with a gingersnap crust, inspired by these delicious little confections.  And with that, I think I'm ready to go!  Now, to get through the next three days of work.

In other news, have any of you watched the movie What Maisie Knew?  I saw it last week and can't stop thinking about it.  I highly recommend it if you find yourself with a good lazy day on the couch kind of day this holiday weekend.  Let me know what you think if you watch it.  Are you cooking or baking this holiday?  If so I'd love to hear what you are making!

Simpson House Tea Room, Chester Springs, Pennsylvania

This past weekend, Dan and I were fortunate to have my parents visit us over the Easter holiday weekend.  On Saturday my mom and I visited the Simpson House Tea Room in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania while Dan and our fathers went golfing.  The visit to the tea room for a traditional English tea was a first for both of us and we really had such a wonderful time.  

The Simpson House Tea Room is located in a restored farmhouse that dates back to the 1890s in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania.  The decor is bright and airy without being too overly sentimental.  It recalled, what I would imagine, as an English cottage.  We enjoyed a traditional full afternoon tea, or "low tea", that consisted of a mixture of savory and sweet finger sandwiches, scones, and sweet confections.

Simpson House offers an assortment of over 100 loose teas ranging from Black teas, to Rooibos to a variety of Green teas.  

Our "Royal Tea", as it was described, included a pot of tea for each of us.  We both ordered from the Easter specialty menu which included approximately 6 or so seasonal teas.  My mom enjoyed a Black tea infused with white chocolate chunks and I chose a caramel Rooibos tea that was divine.  The caramel flavor seemed to develop throughout my meal- I really wish I had inquired about the possibility of purchasing the tea to take home!  My mom really enjoyed hers as well and it smelled delicious.  Our individual pots included an ample amount of tea that carried us through the meal and remained warm until the very last sip.

The meal began with a choice of three house made soups.  I chose a tomato basil soup and my mom went with a Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken Corn soup that appeared to be lighter than the typical chicken corn soups I am used to seeing.  The soups were paired with salads composed of fresh greens with what I believed was a raspberry vinaigrette.