A belated wish to you and yours for a peaceful Thanksgiving and a gentle entry into the high drama and activity of December.
My Thanksgiving dinner hit most of the marks, but not all. Turkey was delicious, slow-cooked on a barbecue and lavishly seasoned with garlic olive oil, Hawaiian sea salt, fresh rosemary and sage and some secret toppings. Very moist and looked handsome, too. The dressing this year was indeed baked in a muffin tin, which the guests liked as much as I did.
Did I fall for a trendy new recipe? Nope: stuck to the old classic: dried bread from Southside Food Pavilion, vegetable broth (a nod to the vegetarians among us), diced onion and chopped celery sauteed in a cube of butter, salt and pepper and eggs, baked till hot but not hard as a rock. Everyone raved over this special recipe, and what could have been easier than watching the Macy's Day Parade and the National Dog Show while leisurely cooking this up?
The other big hit of the day was the potato dish. I had my issues, previously discussed, with stuffing and potatoes as almost the same thing. But I went with scalloped potatoes, again very simple: sliced and layered with heavy cream flavored with sliced garlic and topped with lots of fresh Parmesan cheese, baked till a little crunchy on top. My guests practically licked the dish clean!
The maybe dish: a roasted vegetable pie, chock full of winter vegs like turnips, rutabagas, onions, Yukon gold potatoes, mushrooms, brussel sprouts, carrots. I slow-cooked them to soften them up in olive oil, then did a mash-up with fresh herbs like basil, thyme and sage, roasting them in the oven for an hour or so. I put them in a pie plate and topped it with a pie crust brushed with olive oil. Looked great, and the vegan among us liked it, but no one else was enthusiastic. Too many vegetables, I suppose. Grandma's old chestnut, the cucumbers and onions in vinegar, sugar and lots of salt, had their loyal denizons, on the other hand.
The not-next-year-dish: sliced broccoli baked with jalapeno cheddar cheese, cream of broccoli soup and soup cream. Kind of blah and boring, and people took a spoonful just to be polite. Also, same with the salad: why bother? People were eating to eat the turkey, the stuffing, the potatoes, the fresh bread and butter...and dessert, of course.
I don't care for pumpkin pie, but ran out of time to do anything else pumpkin. So I baked some shortbread cookies, both brown sugar and standard variety, as well as some kiss cookies. The cookies were a big hit and I had none left by last night. The pumpkin pie, on the other hand, was still there.
I had three big dog guests at Thanksgiving this year. For their meal, they each got a bite of turkey and were very thankful: one took it a little farther and made a bold and successful bid for all the butter in the butter dish. What could I do? It's one of the few days all year we are expected, even encouraged, to overindulge...even our animal companions!