Thanksgiving 2020

I have no idea. The same family that owns Essex Pearl also owns Aquabest Seafood. That website says their Dungeness crab is from the Pacific Northwest, so I assume mine was from there. It was alive when I bought it, so if it’s from last year, it’s had a nice long time in captivity. Or it was illegally harvested.

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I saw a place advertising live ones here too, and I have recently seen some in tanks at a local Asian market. I’m just curious about where they are from.

I’ll ask next time I’m over there. But I can’t guarantee I’ll get a truthful answer, if there’s any shadiness going on. Most of their seafood is labeled by origin, but the crabs are kept in the back, so no label.

I would love to hear more about your baked oyster casserole ~ maybe the recipe?:slightly_smiling_face:

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Pretty simple recipe, it must have been a recipe from the 1950s because my mom knew of it when I told her I was making it. Layer of crushed saltine crackers, then oysters, then pour over warmed half and half, Worcestershire sauce, tabasco, salt, pepper, melted butter and a layer of crushed saltines on top and bake. Serve with lemon and hot sauce.

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I bought a turkey yesterday and will be roasting it tomorrow. Didn’t make one for Thanksgiving because it was just two of us—and it is still just two of us!—but I really wanted my post-Thanksgiving turkey-andouille gumbo, the several quarts of stock I make out of the bones, etc. And I just like turkey. Miraculously, I managed to find a 12-lb bird and didn’t have to buy a 20-pounder.

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We lucked out and found a 9 pound turkey last week. Sis had the same experience as I–in the past you couldn’t find a big turkey the week before Thanksgiving; this year it was hard to find a small turkey and there wasn’t a breast to be found. At least sis was hosting a family of five big eaters (how can skinny teenage boys fit in so much food :confused:

BIL, of course, got a 20 lb organic turkey.

We were separate, but we all ate well and visited virtually. That’s something for which we can all be thankful.

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Glad we stayed home. Sis just called to inform us nephew tested positive and is symptomatic. So they have to quarantine for three weeks, which means a very quiet Christmas as well.

I would like to bid 2020 a fond farewell, but I’m afraid it’s going to extend well into Spring of 2021 :sob:

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I’m sorry to hear about your nephew and family - I hope they are all okay! Glad you did the smart thing and stayed home. :grinning:

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Well Thanksgiving was definitely a different kind this year, but still so much to be thankful for. It was just the two of us. Here is the finished bird. We made most of our typical sides, with DD’s stopping by on Friday to take some leftovers. On a flight of fancy I totally switched up the dressing - horrors! Gak, NEVER again! Here is the finished bird. It was quite tasty.

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The turkey looks lovely! I find it hard to believe that YOU would have an unsatisfactory stuffing. What exactly did you make, and why did you hate it so much???

We spent Thanksgiving 2020 in our bubble of three. That is, me, my husband, and our dog. Our main was a locally raised turkey breast that I brined in buttermilk, following a Samin Nosrat recipe from the New York Times. Roasted veg not shown because the plate was already so full.

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Turkey breast was just okay. That said, probably it was the best that it could have been. We would have preferred a locally raised whole chicken for us two—um, three. But sourcing that chicken for the feast this year might have crimped my social distancing regimen, so turkey breast it was.

The pup was thrilled to share tidbits with us. While cooking, I learned she was happy to taste carrots, celery, and any other dog-safe vegetable.

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That’s one handsome dog. And love that he dressed for dinner :grinning:

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Aww, thanks! She’s a funny girl, often mistaken for a male dog. But if you ever saw her around puppies, you’d see her mama instinct kick right in. Great with little pups and kids too. She was a mama to at least one litter of puppies before coming to us as a rescue!

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Duh . . . that should have been my clue. So let me amend my comment to one beautiful dog :wink:

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Thanks @Elsieb and @shrinkrap for the pie compliments. I can’t take credit, it was all H, and he did a great job.

Hope everyone enjoyed their day. I’m ready to dispatch Christmas now, and along with NYE, the rest of 2020. Not that I’m wishing time away, exactly, just don’t think I’ll look back too fondly or ever miss it. Of course we will be well into 2021 by time things seem to be a little normal. Fingers crossed for a better year, at least, and sunny days ahead! :sun_with_face:

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@heidicooksandbakes - it was a recipe I’ve long wanted to make, and seized the opportunity because we didn’t have anyone’s expectations to live up to. (Meaning the DD’s and SIL) Stuffing is sacred to them, and us as well.

The recipe was for sourdough bread cubes, marinated artichoke hearts and Parmesan cheese, along with seasonings and broth. Thought H would get a rustic sourdough, but he got a loose crumbed, sliced sandwich loaf. Although we dried it out, it didn’t have the necessary heft to stand up to the treatment, so was too soggy, and with an overwhelmingly enhanced sourness to it, which was bad!! IMO, the marinated artichoke hearts gave it enough of a tang. So I will redo the recipe for a chicken next time, use a rustic non-sour French loaf, with part cornbread, as we do in our regular stuffing. And fervently hope for a better outcome, because it had lots of good ingredients in there. Think some shiitake mushrooms would go well in there as well. Oh, H ate a little, with the rest going into the garbage. :crying_cat_face:

Sad news, hope he will be ok & the rest of the family is ok…

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We ordered a complete dinner that was advertised as serving between 2-4 people. Six lbs of thickly sliced turkey breast with nicely browned skin, quarts of dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes and pints of cranberry sauce, butternut squash and peas with mushrooms. We wanted to support a local inn and not have the fuss for cooking for just the two of us. And - they delivered!

The dressing was disappointing and I live to have dressing on Thanksgiving. It was on the dry side, a mix of rustic white bread and cornbread, celery and onion. No sausage. Pretty bland except too much rosemary. I like mine better. We didn’t finish or save it.

The other thing that was disappointing were the potatoes. They were pureed to a soupy consistency and could’t hold up to the gravy. Actually, the gravy was thicker than the potatoes. I like sturdy mashed potatoes and I make killer garlic rosemary mashed…

So, I don’t know about next year. We both prefer dark meat, but the turkey breast was surprisingly moist. We vacuum sealed a lot of it and will have it later with my stuffing and my mashed potatoes and for sandwiches. Hoping to find some turkey wings to roast for gravy drippings.

We added a 9" maple pecan pie to our order and it was incredibly delicious. First time in my life that a pie was the star of the Thanksgiving meal!

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Oh, that is disappointing! When you said the ingredients, I thought is sounded terrific. But too bad the bread was all wrong. Good luck on the next try!

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