Dinner was turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, roasted squash, green beans with crispy onions, olive oil biscuits, stuffing, and two different cranberry sauces…homemade and schloopy.
Dessert was my apple pie, a peach-raspberry, and a chocolate cream pie, both purchased in Maine and brought back by my sister and BIL. The eldest kid made brownies.
I made my Thanksgiving part deux.
A commercially prepared thigh roast from Farm Boy (too salty), braised parsnips, apple mushroom bread stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, cauliflower cheese with gruyere, havarti and peas, black-eyed peas, and commercial praline pumpkin pie from Farm Boy.
Just me & DH for Thanksgiving this year. Son was supposed to join us but he has Covid .
So, I like spatchcocking the bird & have had pretty good results… This year, for the first time I got a fresh turkey rather than the usual bargain supermarket frozen one. Dont know if that made the difference or if it was the ATK dry brining method, but this is the most flavorful turkey I have ever made! Made my usual pear cranberry sauce, IP mashers, very yummy gravy & ATK Brussel Sprouts with Dijon, brown sugar & red wine vinegar. A very delicious Papapietro Perry Pinot Noir (Mukaida) was the perfect drink with this dinner. Now I’m stuffed & still need to put the leftovers away!
I forgot to mention, our inside 50 lb. dog was sprayed by a skunk tonight. Bad. Supposed to be a high of 60* for the next week. So no outside peroxide/shampoo bath. Oh sh*t is right.
My dinner: Turkey tenderloin, rolled in fresh herbs, garlic and bacon, seared, then roasted over onion, carrots, celery and chicken stock for gravy. Baby hasselback potatoes in a pool of sour cream with garlic chives. Stove Top dressing with added celery, onions and chicken broth. Ocean Spray cranberry sauce. Gravy made with said broth and (no judgement please) turkey gravy mix. Shaved brussels sprouts salad. Wine.
Went crazy with pics this year because we were both off ON Thanksgiving and agot to celebrate it on the actual day unlike last year.
Fried asparagus. For years, these were meant to be a side. But they never quite made it to the table. Great snack while cooking, and I added a roasted garlic aioli.
Some years we host a family Thanksgiving dinner for twelve, with a traditional turkey-mashed-and-gravy menu. Other years, such as this one, it is the two of us. In the latter instance, we’ve settled on a much more casual menu, incorporating the ingredients of the traditional meal but in a more relaxed (and welcome) format.
Roast turkey breast and Swiss on cranberry sourdough. Shoestring potatoes (in our new countertop convection oven). Cider gravy for dipping (secret ingredient: bacon fat). Carrot slaw in vinaigrette. Pickled green beans. Pickled cherries.
For dessert: homemade pumpkin ice cream and pumpkin tart.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Mrs. P is not a turkey person, so she made fried softshell crabs (that we vacuum sealed over the summer) with a side dish of delicata squash, Andouille sausage, candied pecans, drizzled with hot honey, and topped with fresh shaved parmigiano Reggiano cheese. It all went great with our favorite inexpensive Zinfandel. We have plenty of leftovers for tomorrow.
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