Interesting! The Cosmic Crisp we had last year (from Whole Foods) were enormous. However, I donât believe Iâve ever seen Snapdragons.
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I didnât cart anything home with me on Thursday night, with the plan that Iâd collect leftovers and dishware later. I told my stepmother that they should keep as much cranberry sauce and pie as they wanted (we only ate half the pear fudge pie on Thursday). She took me at my word, because on Friday I was told I wouldnât be getting any back. Iâd call that successful! (And to be clear, Iâm totally fine with it.)
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Same here.
Mr Bean first had it at a business event and had no idea what it cost. Itâs been our special event wine for many years. We will buy the Zin almost anytime we come across at as it is hard to find but will save it for something special. Every so often weâll open a bottle Grgich for no reason other than to enjoy it a really good wine. It makes anything special.
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OK, reporting back here after our TG odyssey with all the packing and hauling.
DH and I were responsible for different dishes (provisioning and packing). In a reversal of our usual patterns, he forgot a couple of things (not catastrophic) while I got all of mine.
You know whatâs worse than counting and packing and hauling your stuff? Counting and packing and hauling back your stuff - the tension of making sure you donât leave anything behind or inadvertently take away anything from the holiday rental place!
The actual food turned out great.
Appetizers:
- the quail eggs Nargisi koftas were very good, though fiddly to make. I was surprised how much they expanded after the coating and frying. They grew very large, even with what I thought was a minimal coating. Maybe the egg/breadcrumbs expand when fried? I had thought each person would easily manage at least two, but we could just manage one, in anticipation of the rest of the food. I am sure the NK made with henâs eggs will be really huge, how on earth do people eat multiples? We have lots of leftovers but they reheat OK in the toaster oven so they were and will be breakfast for a couple of days.
- the crackers and dips were all good. The vegan harissa âcheeseâ from WF was liked by all.
Main:
- The hybrid recipe between Tiktok pasta and Melissa Clarkâs NY Times baked Israeli couscous was super as always (spiked with a little TJ Bomba because thatâs how we roll, and some additional veggies).
Desserts:
- @saregama: the brigadeiros came out really well. The recipes online vary in the amount of unsweetened cocoa powder and butter they add to the single can of sweetened condensed milk. I went with the one that had maximum addition amounts: 4 TBSP cocoa and 2 TBSP butter. Right call. I cooked it on the stovetop for about 15-16 minutes. I also added a splash of vanilla, and to some of the mixture I added a little instant coffee powder. They were super easy to make and yielded very good results. I was worried that it would end up like a Tootsie Roll in texture, but they did not. So, if you are in the mood for a sweet chocolatey treat, these hit the spot. Rolling the finished product in unsweetened cocoa is good, as is rolling in the âtraditionalâ chocolate sprinkles.
- the key lime pie was also mostly a success. The filling came out perfect: 2 whole eggs instead of 4 yolks; plus 1 small tub plan full fat Greek Yogurt; + 1 can sweetened condensed milk; + 3/4 C lime juice (I used bottled key lime + some fresh regular lime since I was going to be zesting the lime anyway); + lime zest.
The crust was a challenge. I think the recipe I followed (SK I think) called for 7 Tbsp of butter which is WAYYY too much. The crust melted in the first baking and I had to rescue it which was mostly successful. The end result tasted good but next time I make this I will use less butter in the crust. The gingersnap was a great choice and I will add extra powdered ginger so that the taste comes through even more.
To drink: various seltzers and a Keever 2014 Inspirado red wine, which the old adults liked and the YA not so much.
Phew! Glad that traveling is over especially with all the weather challenges on the East Coast. The trip was overall a success foodwise, program wise, and no one fought. Dogs were also happy. Glad to be back and that I am not traveling anywhere for the foreseeable future.
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All sounds wonderful, @Rasam!
Iâve got half a can of condensed milk left from the rasmalai tres leches cake a few weeks ago, and youâve convinced me on the brigadeiros front â thank you for the measures and tips!
Re Nargisi kofta / scotch eggs â Iâve only ever seen them coated in a kheema / ground meat mixture, which doesnât expand. So when you eat one, itâs like a boiled egg with a thin coating of kabab â still filling, but not crazy heavy. I do think egg apps are more filling than other kinds, though.
We had a few trips like yours during the pandemic (including Thanksgiving) when we seemingly packed up the entire kitchen, and part of the pantry, fridge, and freezer â and then repacked it all to come home. Highlighted how picky we all get about our âstuffâ, lol. We got very good at it, but that was not the point 
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A belated report of the good, the bad, and the ugly 
TLDR up top, long and painful elaboration later. Not our finest Thanksgiving.
APPS:
- Baked brie: AWFUL. Thwarted by arrival delays.
- Smoked salmon platter, cheese board - usual for this meal and this group (I didnât like the salmon at all which was TJs 1-pound wild salmon pack)
MAIN EVENT:
- Turkey: AWFUL. Didnât get properly cooked, then all attempts to fix that ruined it further.
- Stuffing Balls: FANTASTIC, crunchy all over, fluffy inside, but SALTY.
- White gravy: This is usually my favorite thing on the plate, but it didnât taste like itself. I think she forgot or significantly under-used the Herbes de Provence that goes into it.
- (Brown) Gravy: Fine, but also not the usual flavor bomb (my aunt makes amazing gravy), and not enough for leftovers.
- Mashed potatoes: Under-seasoned, which was perfect in light of the salty stuffing.
- Other Vegetables: Green beans were fine, roasted acorn squash was new to the mix and mostly went uneaten, Brussels sprouts dried out in the air fryer (not enough oil)
- Cranberry sauce: Homemade by one of her kids, and eaten out of a dedicated bowl by one of the grandkids, lol)
DESSERT:
- Pecan pieS: One from a fancy place, one from TJs. I think a whole one went into the freezer.
- Apple pie: Also store-bought. I ate a bit of crust with ice cream.
- Peach crumble: From frozen peaches and homemade crumble mix.
- Ice cream: To go with everything (or, if you were one of the grandkids, the main event)
- I kept my brownies and orange olive oil cake for hostess gifts as they were unnecessary given the options (also, I didnât want the grandkids eating brownies and ice cream vs the crumble grandma made)
Post-game analysis:
BRIE EN CROUTE:
The only app I was âallowedâ to make. Coated in hot pepper jelly, then wrapped in puff pastry. Usually fabulous.
But the two big eating families were 1-2 hours later than expected without explanation, so the brie that had been baked to be ready 30 mins after they arrived ended up sitting in the oven to stay warm, which did not turn out well. The worst baked brie I have ever cooked or eaten - rind became leathery, inside turned to melted fat. Still, half was eaten.
STUFFING BALLS:
This was my âinnovationâ a few years ago, for more crunchy bits. Aunt suggested I add chicken breakfast sausage this year, which I did without much thought, because who doesnât like sausage? No one in this family anyway! BUT⊠the sausage is salty, the stuffing mix is salty (as expected), and the butter we had was also salty.
So, it was a salt lick. And yet: delicious, all gone between the meal and leftovers packed up by everyone (I had to lobby for a double batch so there would actually be leftovers). And lots of comments about how much we all love stuffing balls.
Next year: no sausage, unsalted butter. Either that or a loaf of plain/unseasoned stuffing bread mixed in.
TURKEY:
My last real thanksgiving (pre-pandemic), I convinced my aunt to do the Judy bird (salted in advance, cooked at a very low temp for longer). She declared it âthe best turkey ever madeâ and also proclaimed âthis is the way weâre going to do it from now on.â
Well, the three years between then and now apparently wiped her memory, and she instead employed a bizarre hybrid of her previous methods (butter under skin, high temp start plus mid-temp rest of the way).
There were two smaller turkeys (because thatâs all WF had) crammed together in the new All Clad pan she really wanted to use. I strongly suggested, several times, that we use another roasting pan and separate the turkeys, but for some reason she dug in her heels and did not want to do this, even though there was plenty of space in the oven for two roasting pans.
So. Dark parts didnât cook. Light parts partially cooked. Turkeys had to be hacked while hot to put the uncooked parts back. This was a whole other thing. She kept refusing verbal help and suggestions from her kids (to maneuver the bird out of the hot pan, or on the carving boards). I finally rolled up my sleeves (literally), went around to her side of the island and put my hands where she needed them: lifted one bird off the board so juices could be poured off, got out kitchen shears to help her separate the legs and thighs, picked up the other bird with my hands so she could swap them, and so on â while her kids watched, bemused. âSHEâS ROLLED UP HER SLEEVES! HERE WE GO!â Yup, better than standing around watching your mom, who is already appalled and embarrassed, have to struggle through this while the rest of you yell out at her without actually doing anything 
Dark parts were put back in at a higher temp, and then inedible to me when they were âdoneâ (I am a dark meat eater, and this annoyed me enough that I ate only white meat, which was also in short supply because the breast was also somewhat underdone on one side - my last assist of the day was to suggest everything go in to the PC for a short cook, when the meat could be removed and the carcass go back in as it usually would for soup â to save more oven overcooking).
Next year: Start lobbying for the Judy bird in September to slow-play the convincing.
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Where did you get the salt cod?
Riveting drama, beautifully told. Definitely future family loreâŠ
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MIL in Atlanta. I donât know where she got it, but last year when we were in ATL, we got it at the nearby "International Farmerâs Market ".
Do you have notes anywhere you could share?
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Haha
No, best forgotten 
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I would like to know more about your stuffing balls. Care to share any deets on the technical aspect?
I actually made a note for the next time I make this to sprinkle kosher salt over the interior of the breast and then coarsely grind the pepper before slathering over the other ingredients that have been turned into a paste. Mostly so I can control the salt a bit more, but also to bust up the peppercorns more. I used the mini processor that came with my Braun for the paste. It worked fine for the most part, but there were a few peppercorns that missed the blades.
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OMG what a saga!!
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Oof! I forgot to mention the sides:
- multicoloured carrots roasted with herbs. Very good
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts with maple soy caramel - the best Brussels Sprouts I have tasted! Outstanding! In fact in this weekâs post TG grocery shop I have bought another bag of BS so DH can make these again. I would suggest cooking just a few minutes longer, but the flavours are perfect.
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Sure thing, theyâre actually very easy, just a bit labor-intensive in the balling. Here are my previous comments.
But from this yearâs experience: WF version of Stovetop was the base, I ignored the instructions (except proportions) â in a big bowl, add the butter and hot water (eg from a kettle) but hold back 1/2c of whatâs called for (to prevent sogginess), then add the stuffing mix and stir to moisten. Check after a few mins and add the water held back (this year I actually needed more). Let it all sit for a bit to cool down, then form balls (I did just over 1/4c scoops) and arrange on a baking tray on parchment.
Cover and refrigerate â they take about 20-ish mins to bake and crisp up in the oven, which is exactly how long the turkey rests, so I put them in when the turkey comes out,
Based on the salt situation I ran into, be very cautious with add-ins â water not stock, unsalted butter, etc.
You can also scoop into muffin tins if you like, but we like the all-over browning of having them fully exposed on a sheet pan. Double the recipe if other people are eating â stuffing haters (like me) get converted when itâs more crunchy than soggy!
You can also use a waffle iron for leftovers, just to get all the crunchy ideas in the same place!
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Sure, right in my memory bank, here you go:
Begin with this recipe from NYTimes / Melissa Clark.
The basic technique is to:
- Roast some tomatoes and scallions in a 9x13 inch glass dish @450 deg F (adjust dish size based on if you are going to make the full recipe or half), along with minced garlic, herb sprigs, olive oil, balsamic vinegar drizzle, salt and pepper; for about 15 minutes
- In the meantime, boil some veg stock (based on the amount of couscous you plan to use) and punch it up with cumin, a little more salt, lots of minced cilantro or parsley, lemon zest or juice, and we added TJ Bomba here, something like 1 TBSP, can do more or less based on your taste. This stock concoction should taste very intense as it has to seep into the couscous and flavour the whole dish.
- Take the roasted veg out of the oven, add Israeli (pearl) couscous. I used 2 Cups couscous and how much ever stock it said to use on the back of the couscous package.
- Add more vegetables - bottled (drained) artichokes and several handfuls baby spinach in this case and distribute aroundâŠ
- Pour the boiling stock over it. Cover tightly with foil and roast for another 15 minutes.
- Here is where I deviated: Take 2 (I think 8 oz?) pkgs of feta, slice them horizontally to get slabs, take the dish out of the oven, stir the contents to mix, place the slabs atop, drizzle with OO, cover again, and bake for another 10-ish minutes, then uncover and bake for another 10-ish minutes. The original recipe uses much less feta, crumbles it, and mixes it in and bakes (not the slabs on top etc.)
Take it out and cut up the feta, mix, and serve.
We just love this dish.
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Thank you! Iâve been toying with the idea of making balls (using a cookie scoop), and wasnât sure where in my own stuffing recipe would be the best stage to shape them. Your explanation helps quite a bit.
FYI my all-time favorite stuffing recipe is from Bon Appetite. Itâs delicious, and can largely be made in advance. I think the best time to make the balls will be after the first stage (Step 4: Do Ahead).
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I almost took my scoop along this year but thought it might be regarded as extra, so I used my auntâs cup measure instead, and it was just fine.
Btw I have debated the egg issue (for binding the stuffing balls) before, and landed firmly on the no-egg side because it tastes cleaner / not eggy.
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Iâm wondering, also, whether you could freeze the balls before the final bake and then bake/brown them from frozen. Hmmm⊠
