2017 Thanksgiving ~ Who's Making What ???

bethk wrote:We were going to be alone for Thanksgiving....and I was sad because it's my favorite meal of the year to cook.

So, I quietly inquired around the neighborhood and found three people, Ana (from Brazil) and Bill & Sharon (from Indianapolis) who didn't have plans and asked if they would like to join us since I was planning to cook.  Not surprisingly, all accepted without hesitation...LOL  Ana has been here for other meals and really enjoys getting together with people but is somewhat shy until she gets to know you ~ then everyone has a great time.  Sharon, a 'self described' non-cook (she says she hates to cook and doesn't understand anyone who really enjoys the task) was so fast to accept the offer it almost took me by surprise.  She had no thought that she would or should consult with her husband, knowing full well that he loves to eat and would be thrilled with the offer of a home-cooked holiday meal.

So, I've gotten as far as picking up a nice 11 lb. Honeysuckle White turkey.

I'm planning on making some hot crab dip with crackers and olive tapanade (bought at the Olive Store in Myrtle Beach) as well as a dish or two of mixed olives to nosh on before dinner.

Dinner is planned (unless I change my mind about something):  Roast Turkey, Dressing, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Roasted Sweet Potato quarters (can't decide if I should just bake and cut or make mashed and re-stuff the shells), Green Beans with Shitake Mushroom Cream and Crispy Onions, Roasted Cauliflower, Cranberry Relish (home-made) and Cranberry Jelly (from the can), Grandma's 5-Ingredient Salad w/Mandarin Oranges, Pineapple Tidbits, Coconut, Marshmallows & Sour Cream and Pumpkin Pie and Apple Crostata for dessert.

I thought 5 or 6 was the perfect number for a nice holiday dinner.....large enough to have a few 'special' side dishes but not too many so I'll stress about where they will sit and if I have enough dishes and glassware.  My days of do holiday dinners for 12 or 15 is over.  I'll leave that chore to my 'cooking' daughter!

bethk wrote:Does anyone else wait until you invite people over to address mundane details?

I mean, since we've invited friends to join us for Thanksgiving I took a look at my kitchen.  The throw rug in front of the sink (a must have for Sloppy Me) just doesn't get clean looking when laundered.  It's time to retire it to the garage, I think.  And the drying mats I keep on either side of the sink (black cloth mats) are not really attractive since they got thrown into the washing machine with some black towels.....they have permanent LINT attached.  How can the lint from a black towel show up as white on a black mat??? I just don't understand.

So, I browsed through WalMart today and picked up two new black drying mats and a new black throw rug to go on the floor.  I also picked up a large plastic cutting board with a juice-catching trough (I don't like it when the juices run all over my tile counter top).  What irritates me is that I had three, yes, THREE, of those large cutting boards that I left in Ohio and I'm sure my daughter just ignores.  Why I thought I wouldn't use them here is beyond me.  I also picked up another ceramic butter dish WITH a handle on the lid to use.  It's plain white ceramic and goes with my white dishes nicely.

I also changed my mind about the vegetable side for Thanksgiving dinner.  Instead of taking the chance the cauliflower roasting in the oven might stink up the house, I'm making Brussels Sprouts with bacon, grapes and toasted walnuts instead.  I think it was Barb who first made the Brussels Sprouts with grapes and the first time I tried it I was hooked!  The sweetness of the grapes really added a nice flavor to the bitter sprouts ~ and bacon and walnuts just sound like a perfect pairing to me.

bethk wrote:I hear what you're saying, Imelda.  But she's old and, like me, it's her favorite meal to cook.  She has years of memories in her head of holidays gone by when she was able to do it all on her own.  It's hard to admit you should cut back ~ like admitting with old age comes limited ability.  

So, if she wants to cook a whole turkey, at least YOU get to have your favorite dark meat!  And as for all the leftovers, if some have to be tossed, so be it.  At least she gets the pleasure of making the dishes that are important to her.  I'm sure she still thinks her 'little boy' is able to eat and eat and eat and never get full.  She wants to be sure Dirk gets to experience all the Thanksgivings of his youth.

I'd rather waste some of the food that is leftover than to limit her pleasure of making it.  Just don't tell her.....it's not really a lie, well, maybe a little white lie ~ to let her be happy that she is still able to make her favorite meal.

Yup, that's what we are doing, we let her cook, her way, but I offered to bring some side dishes and we'll take home whatever she offers us, we'll eat them, and toss out what we don't want ( the stuffing ), now that D is trying to spend more time with them, he is visiting them at least once a week, and having dinner with them, I usually cook for him to bring there, I know my father in-law enjoys them, I think he is missing the taste of flavorful foods, she is almost 90 years old, so it's hard for her to cook now, and she begins to forget things

bethk wrote:It's beginning to smell a lot like THANKSGIVING in here!


Mom liked to make a cranberry relish - ground in the old hand crank cast iron grinder screwed.  She would grind a bag of cranberries, an entire navel orange, peel and all, some walnuts and sometimes an apple.  Then she'd add enough sugar to make your teeth ache and let it sit in the refrigerator for the week before Thanksgiving to meld the flavors.  I think she was the only one who ever ate any of it.  I'd put some on my plate, just to be nice, and push it around with my fork, but I wasn't a huge fan of the stuff.  I much preferred the cooked kind.  And my dad only wanted the canned jellied kind that his mother put on the table.

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bethk wrote:Glad to see you've cut back, Jimmy......


Hahahahahahaha!


Your list is long.  And yummy.   And you can go out and invite another 6 or 7 people to come.....
Even the cat wants to get in the act!

bethk wrote:The only time I EVER saw our cat on a table was one Thanksgiving morning.  Everyone in the house was completing their assigned tasks ~ you know how it is, you wait until the last moment so stuff doesn't have time to get messed up again before company walks in the door.

I had put the three pumpkin pies in the middle of the dining room table, it was set for 13 (ONE more than my set of 12 china, of course) and I thought the pies would be out of the way sitting on the table runner.  I even had set the serving dishes, all with a small tag of paper stating what would be in them, just to be sure there was room for everything.

As I was doing the last of the quick mop of the kitchen floor I glanced at the dining room and there was the damn cat stretched out to his entire length next to the pies.  I screamed at him, asking, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" (as if he could understand English.....) and as he jumped up he walked in two of the pies.

Any holiday after that he spent in a bedroom with a closed door.

bethk wrote:Today was cooking prep day......Jeeze Louise, how did I do meals for 15???

First thing this morning I got stared on my pies.  Pumpkin pie with the old family recipe, cut down to make just one pie instead of three.  I was happy as could be that the custard is set perfectly and not a break in the top at all.  The apple crostada got the apples pre-cooked in a skillet with a bit of butter, a little brown sugar (not much) and some cinnamon red-hot candies.  Once they had softened a bit and turned a lovely pink color I dumped them on a sheet pan and let them cool.  Once cooled I mixed in a bit of cornstarch just to tighten up the juices and put them in the crust lined pie pan, folded the edges over, brushed with some half & half and sprinkled with decorative sugar.  I line the pie pan with parchment so I can, hopefully, slide it out on to a pedestal dish for serving.

I then got started on the mashed potatoes (I always make those ahead and just reheat in a casserole dish) ~ boiled potatoes, cream cheese, stewed onions and a little sour cream.  The protein always prevents the 'leftover' taste when reheated the next day.  Then I sauteed the onion and celery for the dressing.  I use the Pepperidge Farms Herb Cubed bread then add my sauteed vegetables (with a stick of butter) and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.  Tomorrow I'll add the turkey stock from cooking the neck and 'innards' and bake in a casserole.

I cleaned the beans for my green bean casserole.  I'm going to make my own 'mushroom' sauce with roasted mushrooms, probably add some sliced almonds and (gotta do it....) the French Fried Onions.

I put together Grandma's 5-Ingredient salad ~ Mandarin Oranges, Pineapple Tidbits, Coconut, Mini Marshmallows and Sour Cream.  That has to sit overnight to meld all the flavors together.

Tomorrow I'll prep the turkey (got a nice 11 pounder) and peel and dice the sweet potatoes.  I'm just going to roast them with evoo, fresh thyme and s&p so they'll be a quick 30-minute cook.  Then it will just be the Brussels Sprouts - cleaned/cut in half, fry up a couple slices of bacon & brown the sprouts in the bacon fat, add a sliced shallot, green grapes and toasted walnuts ~ easy-peasey!

I did have to go out and pick up some dinner napkins.  Just went to BB&B and they had simple white ones in a 12 pack for under $9....all I could find was sets of 4 in the linen closet and we're having 5 for dinner.  It's my OCD kicking in, don't you know?