My dinner was a success with a few flops. I overdid the acorn squash, and had to toss them. Luckily I was able to save the cornbread/cranberry stuffing, and that went over well. No one wanted any apple ice cream, so it's mine, all MINE! The apple/pear/cranberry salad was very well received. The broccoli with soy/butter sauce and cashews was yummy! The turkey was moist, the pies so-so (will not use that crust recipe again).
And except for the roasting pan and one salad bowl, we are all cleaned up and put away!
My dinner was a success with a few flops. I overdid the acorn squash, and had to toss them. Luckily I was able to save the cornbread/cranberry stuffing, and that went over well. No one wanted any apple ice cream, so it's mine, all MINE! The apple/pear/cranberry salad was very well received. The broccoli with soy/butter sauce and cashews was yummy! The turkey was moist, the pies so-so (will not use that crust recipe again).
And except for the roasting pan and one salad bowl, we are all cleaned up and put away!
Congrats! It all sounds good - especially the apple ice cream, the apple/pear/cranberry salad, and the broccoli with soy/butter sauce and cashews. We often stir-fry chicken with broccoli with a soy/mirin sauce and cashews - it's a good combination. How did you do the apple/pear/cranberry salad - what dressing did you use, if any?
__________________ Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices.
-- Voltaire
Gravy
Baked turkey (just the breast, we said fuck dealing with a whole bird this year)
Smoked turkey
Stuffing
Mashed potatoes
Fruit salad (grapes, bananas, cherries, whipped cream)
Baked sweet potatoes (with roasted marshmallows)
Jellied cranberry
Green bean casserole (cream of mushroom w/with fried onion topping)
Eggnog
Desert-started making most of these yesterday...
Dutch apple pie
Lemon meringue pie
Key lime pie
Pecan pie
Cherry pie
Pumpkin pie
(All that came out a can on the desert menu was cherry filling)
Oh, and someone gave us a "donut cake" from Allie's Donuts. Cake-wise it seemed made out of a giant glazed donut, shaped like a pumpkin with orange frosting. Only thing I didn't try.
YAY! Success! I did overcook the turkey a little bit, which I do probably more than half the time, but other than that, everything came out great.
INCLUDING MY NEW NO-BREAD STUFFING!
So I'm gonna put this here partly so that next year, I can look it up and see what I did.
Cook a couple cups of wild rice blend (brown rice and I think two kinds of wild rice) in chicken stock
Sautee three andouille sausages, casings removed, with chopped celery, garlic, and tart apples
When the rice is still a little unfinished, add the sausage mixture, correct the liquid, season (provencal herbs, salt & pepper), then finish it in the oven
Chicken, stupendous. Mashed sweet potatoes with lemon zest and scallions, delicious. Chewy triple chocolate chip bar cookies, fantabulous. All in all, an excellent not-particularly-thanksgivingy meal.
It's more thanksgiving like then my meal, the traditional take out Chinese.
Oh wait, there were pumpkin muffins, and champagne with blueberry/cranberry juice.
Turkey; roasted Brussels sprouts (5); a small roasted yam (approximately two bites); deviled eggs; mixed greens with walnuts, dressed with olive oil infused with red peppers; whiskey on the rocks; two slices low-carb pumpkin pie. Coffee. (There were mashed potatoes, pecan pie, and full-carb pumpkin pie, as well; I just didn't eat them.)
After dinner, we all watched "Penelople" together.
"Bring a dessert.", my sister says. Thanksgiving was at my niece's house this year and since I had to travel the farthest it was expected of me to bring a dessert dish that travels well. So we made a variety of cookies and I made a Blackberry Ruby Port tart.
So what happens when we arrive? Every single person has brought an extra dessert.
We had a hot-out-of-the-oven rustic apple pie, chocolate peanut butter pie, pineapple coconut cake, brownies, lime "salad", more cookies, blueberry cobbler, and a few others that I can't remember.
The rest of the food consisted of oven roasted turkey, deep fried Cajun turkey, maple cured ham, carrot souffle, broccoli casserole, potato casserole, cornbread dressing, turkey gravy, butter beans, crock pot mac and cheese, assorted pickles (including pickled peaches and pickled okra ), DEVILED FUCKING EGGS , and a ton of other stuff that I can't remember.
Most of the meal was basically Southern cooking, but that is because my family is your basic Southern Family. My Mom, Sonoma Bear, and I are the only real adventurous eaters. It is one of the reasons my Mom enjoys visiting with the two of us since we are not afraid to try different cuisines.
By the way, it is very common for Southern households to have a Deviled Egg tray. This is a tray designed specifically for Deviled Eggs and some of the extra large multi-tiered ones can hold as many as 3 dozen eggs. I'm ashamed that I could eat a tray by myself.
6 hard cooked eggs, peeled
3-1/3 tablespoons mayonnaise or salad dressing
1-1/3 tablespoons finely chopped celery
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon onion powder
few drops, worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1 can (6-oz) salad crab meat, drained
Directions:
1. Cut peeled eggs in half length wise and place yolks in a mixing bowl, set the whites aside. Mash the yolks with the back of a fork and add mayonnaise, celery, mustard, oregano, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce, salt pepper and crab meat.
2. Spoon or pipe the filling back into egg white.
3. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour before serving.
Curry Deviled Eggs
12 large hard boiled eggs – peeled
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 to 3 tablespoons finely chopped green onions
2 teaspoons curry powder
Directions:
1. Cut peeled eggs in half length wise and place yolks in a mixing bowl, set the whites aside. Mash the yolks with the back of a fork and add mayonnaise, chipotle chilles.
2. Spoon or pipe the filling back into egg white and top with 1 cilantro leave.
3. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour before serving.
Directions:
1. Cut peeled eggs in half length wise and place yolks in a mixing bowl, set the whites aside. Mash the yolks with the back of a fork and add mayo, green onions and curry powder.
2. Spoon or pipe the filling back into egg white.
3. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour before serving.
Deviled Eggs From Hell
These eggs are hot!
12 hard boiled eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons adobo sauce from Chipotle Chilies can
3 minced green onion stalks
2 teaspoons lime juice
salt & pepper to taste
cayenne powder
Directions:
1. Cut peeled eggs in half length wise and place yolks in a mixing bowl, set the whites aside. Mash the yolks with the back of a fork and mayonnaise, adobo sauce, green onion, lime juice, salt and pepper. Mix well.
2. Spoon or pipe the filling back into egg white and sprinkle tops with cayenne.
3. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour before serving.
Chipotle Deviled Eggs
Spicy, delicious deviled eggs, these are sure to be a hit!
12 large hard boiled eggs – peeled
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 to 3 teaspoons finely chopped canned chipotle chiles
24 fresh cilantro leaves
Directions:
1. Cut peeled eggs in half length wise and place yolks in a mixing bowl, set the whites aside. Mash the yolks with the back of a fork and add mayonnaise, chipotle chilles.
2. Spoon or pipe the filling back into egg white and top with 1 cilantro leave.
3. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour before serving.
Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs (No Mayo)
12 hard boiled eggs – peeled
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 teaspoon dijon mustard
8 tablespoons minced smoked salmon
2 minced green onions
Salt & Pepper – to taste
paprika (optional)
Directions:
1. Cut peeled eggs in half length wise and place yolks in a mixing bowl, set the whites aside. Mash the yolks with the back of a fork and add olive oil, lemon juice, dijon, smoked salmon, and green onions. Mix well and salt and pepper to your liking.
2. Spoon or pipe the filling back into egg white.
3. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour before serving.
Congrats! It all sounds good - especially the apple ice cream, the apple/pear/cranberry salad, and the broccoli with soy/butter sauce and cashews. We often stir-fry chicken with broccoli with a soy/mirin sauce and cashews - it's a good combination. How did you do the apple/pear/cranberry salad - what dressing did you use, if any?
I used raspberry balsamic, dijon "hearty" mustard, and olive oil. The fruit was served in baby mixed greens, with some added feta cheese and chopped walnuts.
eta: Deviled eggs are awful! all that mayonnaise-yuck!
These Thanksgiving dinners all sound delightful, and I hope everyone had a delicious time, mayonnaised or not.
Turkey lasagna came out perfect. Old weight watchers recipe that I've been using for a decade and a half. I burnt the veggies that I cooked the sausages in (peppers and onions), but I just buried the evidence and served the well-done sausages without any veggies, and I don't think anyone noticed. Garlic bread, chicken caesar salad, store-boughten punkin pie, and sparky cranberry drink (can't not have cranberry on the table!). Easy Peasy.
Since it's just the two or three of us this year, we're going to do what the fuck we want (neener neener) and make turkey lasagna.
And it was good, I also made beer and mixed drinks, because I am a great partner to my lovely wife.
and by beer and mix drinks, I mean my beer and drinks. see how thoughful I am? not demanding that she make me drinks why she makes thanksgiving dinner?
Roast turkey breast
Cornbread dressing
Gravy
White/wild rice
Collard greens
Sweet Potato casserole
jellied cranberry sauce from a can
probably fresh cranberry relish
Pecan pie
Went off without a hitch, although I did end up making the pecan pie at 6am on Thanksgiving because that's the way the cookie crumbled. I was just too tired to make it the night before. My mama kept saying, "You make this look so easy!" and we sat down for dinner 30 minutes ahead of my schedule, which was a triumph. Everyone said things were delicious, whether they were or not! A good morning, and I didn't have to put the leftovers away or do dishes, so even better.
Janet, I used your recipe and the cranberry salad was lovely!
Here is a blurry view of our pre-dinner table with the giant flowers. We did move them so we could all see each other when we ate.
My sister and I had a little communication problem in that we both thought the other had bought the cauliflower. So no cauliflower with cheese sauce and I now have a ton of cheese, which is not at all a bad thing. Fortunately our guest found a great mixed greens salad with berries and pecans on sale and decided to bring it along, so we had two vegetables anyway.
I overcooked the turkey a bit. I've never cooked a 10 pounder before and it made a difference. It was still yummy, though, as was everything else. Had a bit of a mishap with the salad dressing. I was shaking balsamico and olive oil in a small jar and did not notice until too late that the lid didn't fit well. Little brown drops all over the counter, floor, fridge and, of course, my white apron. Oops!
__________________
"freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order."
- Justice Robert Jackson, West Virginia State Board of Ed. v. Barnette
I was going to partly or entirely blow it off because it's just me and Matlock mostly, but then I figured we'd probably regret it later if I didn't do it, so: Turkey, bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, brussels sprouts, cranberry relish, apple and pumpkin pie.
The only things I'm really blowing off are extra appetizer stuff we usually do, and more vegetables. People never eat much of that on Thanksgiving anyway.
Re: Thanksgiving menus
and pickled okra 
), DEVILED FUCKING EGGS 
, and a ton of other stuff that I can't remember.
I'm so making some tomorrow.
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