Grading Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving for me was a day of non-stop cooking in the kitchen. My day started at 8 am and I finished cooking / serving around 6pm.

All in all the food turned out pretty good, but I now know why we normally ate at 1pm. Then you feel that all of your cooking efforts were worth more when it turns out to be an all day eating feast instead of a fancy dinner. Plus, you actually have time to sit and visit with all of your friends and family that came over to share it with you. If I ever have to do a full T-Day dinner by myself again, I'm taking shortcuts. Like buying mashed potatoes from COSTCO.

Our menu was:

Turkey (cooked in a bag): Everyone liked it, but I still though it was a bit dry. Not sure all the trouble of brining it was worth the effort.

Sausage, Cranberry, Apple Stuffing: I really liked it. I did use "stuffing" bread from the bakery downtown which I think made a difference.

Make Ahead Gravy : A+ all around. I made it the night before using turkey wings and it was marvelous!

Mashed Potatoes : Next year I'm going with the COSTCO ones. Not worth all the time with peeling and boiling.

Cran-Raspberry Sauce: Always wonderful and quick to make

Sweet Potatoes: I tried a fancy recipe where you whip them with vanilla and cinnamon. Nah, next year I will remain a purist. Boiled, sliced, topped with brown sugar and butter and baked. THAT is my favorite. Easier too.

Carrots w/ Bacon: Yummy, but too much orange food overall. Next year I will just try something simple like steaming green beans and have them with Hollandaise

Caesar Salad: Ed brought this over. Quite yummy

Fresh Fruit: Bob's mom brought a big fruit salad and Logan ate most of it.

Rolls : From the Great Harvest bakery downtown. Wonderful as usual.

Pumpkin Pies: A tradition and yummy. Katya was bummed I didn't get them baked and cool enough for breakfast. She had to have some for lunch instead.

Apple Pie: Not a big mover. A great pie, but too ordinary. Next year I will cook a marionberry for sure.

I was totally wiped out last night. We only had our family, Bob's mom, Bob's sister, Diane and our friend Ed (his wife was sick and couldn't come). So, it was the smallest Thanksgiving dinner I think I have ever had. But it was lovely and everyone seemed to enjoy the food. I did miss the crazy chaos that usually surrounds holidays with my huge family.

Our turkey was organic, and I learned the hard way that those birds don't have a lot of dark meat on them. Quite a bummer for me, but good to know for the future.

I hope that everyone had a lovely Turkey Day no matter what you did. To those that joined me for dinner, thank you for coming and sharing the day with us. To all my family in San Diego - I missed you terribly.