Happy thanksgiving, everyone!!

[fenchurch]

Wow. I'm so glad Thanksgiving only comes once a year, because eating that much food in one meal is simply insane.

Everything turned out so well this year!!! rackham did the bulk of the cooking, with me acting as assistant, and we made sure to do dishes as we went (we managed it last year and it made things go so much more smoothly). taradaktyl and her family came over for dinner again this year, plus we had the missionaries from our church... one of whom is from Japan, so it was all pretty new to him.



Main Dishes
Turkey, of course... brined and roasted using this recipe by Alton Brown. It was our second year using the brine recipe and I think the turkey was even better than last time... seriously the Best.Turkey.Ever. I can't recommend brining enough!

Ham -- it was one of the ones we got from my dad... so, homegrown. At the last minute, we found a glaze recipe for it that turned out really well (we didn't have any rum, so I used rum extract and a bit of water).

Side Dishes
Fruit Salad -- my family's recipe. I think I made enough for 20 this year, instead of 30... so it's an improvement.

Gravy -- from the drippings. Yummy!

Stuffing -- Another Alton Brown recipe, though we cooked it separately (i.e. not in the turkey).

Cornbread stuffing -- made by Taradaktyl's husband who grew up in the South and knows how to do these sorts of things.

Baked sweet potatoes with maple spice butter -- I made the maple spice butter yesterday and used a technique I picked up on the Food Network to form it into a roll. The sweet potatoes were simply baked, whole. So good that way.

Fresh Cranberry Compote -- we found this one last year during a Thanksgiving special on the Food Network... it's this recipe by Emeril. MUCH better than cranberry sauce carved into the shape of a can.

Fresh green bean casserole -- Taradaktyl made this one and I don't know what exactly was in it, but it was VERY good... fresh green beans and mushrooms and onions.

Grilled Asparagus -- Taradaktyl's husband did this one. Asparagus is one of my favorite veggies, and it was seasoned with garlic. Bliss.

Mashed potatoes -- Taradaktyl's family brought this... a must for Thanksgiving!

Butter rolls -- Taradaktyl and her daughter made them and they were absolutely heavenly.


Dessert -- pie, pie and more pie

Eggnog Pie -- Rackham's family's recipe. He makes it every year. (I should see about posting the recipe at some point.)

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie -- I posted the recipe to my LJ a few years ago. Rackham made that one last night, as well. The gingersnap crust is the best!

Pumpkin Pie from CostCo -- seriously, don't knock it. It's cheap and tasty and one less pie we have to make ourselves.

Apple Pie -- this was a last minute addition. We ended up with an extra pie crust, so we ran to the store last night and picked up some Honeycrisp apples... I threw together an apple pie and topped it with an apple crisp topping. It turned out really well!

Drinks
Sparkling Apple Cider
Sparkling Blueberry
Sparkling Cranberry
Sparkling Peach
Sparkling Raspberry
(sensing a theme here?)

Our Japanese guest was a bit dismayed when we first mentioned we would be eating dinner at 2:00... but I think he figured out why, soon enough. You really need time to eat a bit of a food, let it settle, eat a bit more food, let it settle and then have pie. It also tends to work best as, essentially, the only meal of the day.

And now... the leftovers. There will be turkey quiche in the next few days. And we'll probably be boiling down the turkey carcass on Saturday to make turkey stock. Yum!

I hope all my American LJ friends had a fantastic Thanksgiving!!!

Comments

[queenofattolia.livejournal.com]

Yay for multiple desserts! And for the rest of your menu -- the whole thing sounds fab. I love reading what other people made for Thanksgiving as it usually gives me ideas for next year.

And yes, pleae post the Egg Nog Pie recipe -- my little nephew loves egg nog.

[rosiewook.livejournal.com]

MUCH better than cranberry sauce carved into the shape of a can.
I have to admit that no matter how much I may love a real cranberry sauce, there is a special place in my tastebuds for the stuff that comes out in the shape of a can. I don't know why. It just pleases me.

Our Japanese guest was a bit dismayed when we first mentioned we would be eating dinner at 2:00...
We had the same issue with my friend's four-year-old. She kept saying, "But you're calling it dinner. Does this mean I have to go to bed afterwards?" We kept explaining to her that Thanksgiving Dinner refers more to the fact that it's such a large meal. But she was very focused on the fact that we were eating at 2pm. Freaked her out! :)

Sounds like a lovely meal. I've brought in my share of the leftovers for work where those few of us who are here eat off of each other's leftovers. It's a wonderful way to extend the Thanksgiving Dinner.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I really must try brining my turkey at Christmas - turkey season over here.

I can now picture you and rackham lying in a stuffed heap recovring for a week - like us on Christmas day!

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

Definitely give the brine a try! It doesn't so much flavor the turkey as make it taste more like turkey (if that makes any sense), while helping to stay moist during cooking.

BTW, I was chatting with my aunt this evening about our trip to the UK and the Isle of Man and she mentioned off-handedly that we had ancestors from there! Ack! I wish she'd said something BEFORE we were there. Of course, later in the conversation she backtracked a little and said that maybe they were from the Isle of Wight. *sigh*

I need to go dig through my genealogy to see if I can figure out which one it is.

[allthatjazmyne.livejournal.com]

We had many of those same items here. I use Emeril's brining recipe instead of Alton's, though. There's a small nod to Alton, though, as I add an apple to the fruits and veggies stuffed inside the turkey.

[fishsanwitt]

Your menu is *fantastic*!

[onetwomany.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's a lot of food :) In Australia, it's traditional to have ham and turkey for Xmas (Although many people figure it's too hot to bother these days), but I've noticed it seems to be more thanksgiving kind of food in the USA. SOunds delicious!

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

Brining just ROCKS! I've been doing it ever since I first saw the Good Eats Thanksgiving show (four or five years already, I guess! Wow, how time flies!).

We tried the do-dishes-as-you-go thing, and it was working well until the sink clogged up. I couldn't get all the turkey grease out of the sink until I blasted the clog with super-powered chemicals (so much for home remedies).

Glad you guys had a great day!

[pmgoose.livejournal.com]

Yum! That sounds fantastic!