A friend chided me because I was too tired to make dessert. I’d already made the Pate Brisee and I was going to make little tarts of “less goo” pecan pie.
Instead I took out from the freezer a package of TJ Puff Pastry to thaw in fridge overnight.
My almost 13 lb Butterball just went into the oven.
Hope I get enough energy to make whipped cream for the Apple Strudel later.
When this happens to me, I try to relax and say it’ll be done when it’s ready to be done. At least we have digital thermometers to help us now.
This recipe is super easy to make!
Right? There’s no such thing as leftover deviled eggs.
The devilled eggs almost did not make it to the table. We were all seated and eating when I did the - jump up and say "OH!’ that most often goes with “The rolls! Are still warming in the oven!” In my (no dinner rolls today) case, the lidded glass dish of prepared eggs was tucked safely on top of the egg carton in the fridge. By meal’s end we still had enough to send some home with the guest and a pair for us to nibble for breakfast tomorrow… if they last that long.
Some friend!!! 
I speak French fairly well, and it took a couple minutes of charades to figure out what they were talking about.
Nibbled liverwurst mousse and onion jam on toasted baguette while sipping a Negroni Sbagliato. Smooth jazz on the stereo while prepping turkey tenderloin, dressing and salad. I think I will start cooking at six-ish.
Hope you made it on time…and were greeted with the libation of your choice!
My Thanksgiving meal for one. (Wife and Daughter are in Shanghai visiting their Parents/Grandparents. So it’s just the kitty and me) This year, I leaned heavily into Dorie Greenspan’s “Around My French Table” for inspiration. Blinis with caviar, creme fraiche and chives. Grated carrot salad, with raisins and a honey dijon viniagrette. Crab, avocado and grapefruit salad. Steak au Poivre a la Paul Bert with pommes puree and a roast chicken gravy for the potatoes. For dessert, a simple vanilla custard with blueberries and raspberries. The bowl of peanut butter M&M’s were there in case of emergency or for other snacking. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Kitty and me relaxing after all of our hard work:
Ding-ding-ding! Winner!
Well, you’re all influencers.
I picked up a third of a turkey breast this afternoon.
Bread dressing, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, Italianish borlotti and cannellini beans.
Purchased pie and cranberry sauce.
Belly schnarfling included.
My order resulted in a larger than expected turkey (16.8lb!) rather than the 14-15lb one I hoped for. Most years it’s worked out; this year was the first one to tip the scales for me. 
Same dry brine as years past, but I accidentally spilled it half way through. Had to quickly make another batch, and might have ended up with too much. Turned out a tad saltier than years past, but still ok.
Pre-roast with marinade.
The one new element - tried the popular mayo marinade/rub on the skin vs the usual herbed butter on the skin. Still had her bed butter medallions under the skin. Separated the legs before cooking to fit on my sheet pan. The mayo worked great! Everyone loved the color and how crisp it made the skin!
Ready to eat!
Had the usual mashed potatoes, buttered corn, a mushroom stuffing, green beans (not casserole), cranberry sauce, corn bread, vegetarian spring rolls, and apple pie. Leftovers for the next 3 days!
Beautiful bird! 
I’m back from my first-ever Thanksgiving Delivery Run. Pretty sure my car will smell like turkey and fixin’s for a while, and I’m not mad about it 
I was not a huge fan of the turkey breast, ultimately. Turns out it was “pre-brined” in the package, which I noticed when I was getting it out to defrost. As a result, I didn’t add any additional brine, neither wet nor dry, but I found the meat to have the slightest… gumminess…? and I can only attribute that to the pre-brine treatment. It was very well-received, however, and all the sides were delicious.
The pumpkin roll was also pretty successful; I’ll put that over in the baking thread.
As we sat finishing the meal, my mother’s friend presented me with an astounding gift: a very vintage, lidded cast-iron chicken fryer. I collect very vintage cast iron so I know what a special piece this is, especially with the original lid. It’s from the 30’s and in beautiful condition, and originally belonged to her grandmother (who would’ve been born in the late 1800s.) She told me some stories about her memories of the piece, what her grandmother cooked in it on an old wood stove, and how there was a family fight over it when she passed away.
I am thinking about what I’ll cook in it to take over to her to share. She’s not much for chicken (even though it’s a chicken fryer) but mentioned she used to make roasts in it a lot. So I think I’ll start there.
An idea would be to type up that history she gave you and keep it near that pot. Lucky you!
My sister and I had a mini-Thanksgiving dinner a few weeks ago, so today we went out to…Denny’s! 
Being as I hadn’t had a REAL Thanksgiving dinner since 2008 (turkey is extremely uncommon in Japan), I was still in the mood for Thanksgiving dishes. (She had a burger…)
Denny’s has this annually…both dark and white meat turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, broccoli and the only non-traditional item…garlic bread! (which I purposely didn’t take picture of!) The photo on the menu showed a little bit of cranberry sauce as part of the menu, but it wasn’t served to me. However, it’s the one Thanksgiving dish I’m not really a fan of, so I didn’t miss it!
Everything was surprisingly very good!
