Cooking Through Magnolia Table In A Year: Week 46

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Happy almost – Thanksgiving! It is crazy to think that in just 6 weeks we will be entering 2023 and will have fully completed our cooking through Magnolia Table in a year challenge. I am not sure about you all, but this year has been extremely memorable for my family and while not all the memories made this year are my favorites, the ones surrounding this challenge certainly are. I have been so thankful that this challenge has brought us so much laughter, fellowship and GOOD FOOD all while encouraging conversation and expanding our culinary horizons. This week of cooking through Magnolia Table was no different and our culinary horizons and mental aversions were most certainly challenged by the Roasted Cauliflower Soup (p.104) and White Bean Hummus (p.153).

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Growing up, my family did not eat much cauliflower and while I do love vegetables, it has never been a veggie that I have sought out. So, when I saw that this week’s recipe was a Roasted Cauliflower Soup, I have to admit, I was highly skeptical. That being said, this soup was absolutely delicious! It is creamy, flavorful and the perfect option for a cold drizzly day. The roasted pine nuts and prosciutto scattered on top give a great subtle texture change, while the herbs within the soup really do the talking. Coming from a cauliflower aversion (that apparently was all in my head!), this soup definitely has changed my mind.

Crowd Average Rating:

While only Charlie and I had the opportunity to try this dish, it still gained an average rating of 7! As I have mentioned in the past, soup is not necessarily Charlie’s dish of choice, however I absolutely love them, so this recipe was right up my alley. In the future, I do not think I would change a thing, as Joanna Gaines recipe is easy and quick to follow.

Cooking Through Magnolia Table In A Year: Week 46 - Roasted Cauliflower Soup

White Bean Hummus

Lemony, smooth and full of garlic, this White Bean Hummus is wonderful. Very simple to pull together, this recipe provides an easy spin to a traditional hummus recipe as it does not use Tahini or other very specialized ingredients. Charlie, who typically does not like hummus due to the chickpeas, loved this recipe, so it is great even for those that do not typically enjoy a traditional hummus!

Crowd Average Rating:

Slightly higher than the Roasted Cauliflower Soup, this White Bean Hummus surprised us both and came in with a crowd average rating of an 8! While I will not make any changes to the recipe in the future, I will follow it more strictly. I love the subtle creamy tones of roasted garlic and in the past, I have even used it to spread on toast for a garlic bread. That being said, when I saw that this recipe called for slow roasted garlic, I was very excited about the addition, but I did not have the proper amount of time to slow roast it. Instead, I added the garlic and olive oil to a dish and microwaved it until soft. This change did work and the garlic blended in very nicely to the hummus. However, once the hummus had the opportunity to sit for a day or two, the garlic flavor became VERY strong and became the prominent flavor of the dish.

Cooking Through Magnolia Table In A Year: Week 46 - White Bean Hummus

I believe that this was the case since I did not slow roast it, as the slow cooking process helps to significantly tone down the typically strong garlic flavor. In the future, I will follow this process more thoroughly, and I wish I had kept more strictly to the recipe like I normally try to do. If you plan to try this recipe, really do try to leave enough time to slow roast your garlic as it truly will make a difference!

Looking Ahead – Week Forty Seven

Week 47 Shopping List Includes:

Black pepper
Kosher salt
Butter
Heavy cream
Onion
All purpose flour
Chicken
Celery
Bay leaf

Baby Bella mushrooms
Garlic
Chicken broth
Milk
Parsley
Baking powder
Baking soda
Cheddar cheese
Fresh herbs
Eggs

Pie crusts
Brown sugar
Granulated sugar
Cinnamon
Allspice
Nutmeg
Apples
Dulce de leche
Turbinado sugar
Vanilla ice cream

Looking ahead to week 47 within our Cooking Through Magnolia Table In A Year Guide, this upcoming week will showcase Chicken & Wild Rice Soup (p.105), Herbed Cheddar Scones (p.136), and Dulce De Leche Apple Pie (p.273). If you have any parsley left over from the hummus, this soup and these scones are the perfect use for it! I absolutely loved the Bacon & Gruyere Drop Biscuits from Week 1, so I hope that these Herbed Cheddar Scones are just as good! I think cheesy biscuits / breads are the perfect soup side, so I can’t wait to try these recipes.

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for a last minute Thanksgiving dessert, try out this week’s Dulce De Leche Apple Pie and I would love to hear your thoughts on it! Almost to Thanksgiving, I hope that this upcoming week will be a wonderful one full of good food and sweet family time for each of you. Christ, friends, family, spouses, siblings, health, food, homes, freedom, church, sunshine, hot chocolate, chilly morning, popping fires, the Christmas season… there are SO many wonderful things in which we have to be thankful. As we finish Charlie’s chemo cancer treatments this week, I think this Thanksgiving is even more special to us as it has brought us back to the basics of all we have been blessed with. God is good and dwelling on His faithfulness to us over the past year surrounded by family and friends is the sweetest blessing.

Happy cooking!