Search This Blog

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Tuesday-Afternoon Quarterbacking

Lessons learned this Thanksgiving.  How bout you? Tell me. And Kim and Lin, I'm lookin' at you, with your huge crowds for dinner!


STILL KEEPERS
NEW TWISTS
DITCH IT
Cranberry sauce made from recipe on bag of fresh berries, but cut sugar down to 1 cup.  Anyone can do this with hands tied behind back. Serve in Mom’s pretty round crystal bowl.
None.
That raw relish you make in the food processor with a whole navel orange [pits removed]  and uncooked cranberries. Nope.
Mom and Dad’s gravy boat, from their wedding china—it’s the one time you use it all year, and it’s a comfort.
Dan googled vegetarian gravy and made a potful so delicious, that all of us, even vegan Figgy and picky Punchy, loved it. MJ said it was the best gravy she ever had. [She whisked it over the heat for a while to remove the lumps, so that was a big help.] Dan being Dan, I have pressed him for the recipe but he won't be nailed down. He said it had flour, bouillon from a jar, oil….
The jar of Heinz turkey gravy. In a pinch, if Dan’s not making the magic gravy, get the expensive fresh turkey gravy Kings sells for the holidays.
N/A
ShopRite brand frozen young turkey was excellent, once the 24-pound freebie finally thawed. This year, if you spent $400 between Oct. 15 and the day before Tgiving, your turkey was free. Dan chose a huge one. I was skeptical of ShopRite brand, preferring classic Butterball but it was the best turkey I ever had. Sam Sifton’s orange and fresh sage treatment from nytimes.com surely helped. I coudln’t get into tucking the sage leaves under the skin, but Punch and I brushed the bird with melted butter and I squeezed on the juice of 2 oranges and put 2 squeezed halves inside the cavity., I salted the bird liberally. and stuck the sage leaves on top, pressing onto the butter.
N/A
Pepperidge Farm bag of cornbread stuffing. Have Dan doctor it and keep it vegan, using broth, mushrooms, Craisins, celery, onion.
I think Dan did add some of my fresh cornbread from Kathryn at Home book recipe but  I forgot, or Figgy wouldn’t have partaken, since I’m pretty sure it contained butter, egg and Parmigiano-Reggiano. But fresh cornbread dressing always sounds appealing.
N/A
The 4 small French apple tarts [Tartelettes aux Pommes] you’ve been baking for Dan since you were dating in the late 1980s—a recipe from Lionel Poilâne via the NYT Magazine.
N/A
Next time, do not make the apple tarts and 2 pies; rein it in to the tarts and 1 pie. You had to throw out half of a delicious Melissa Clark peanut butter pie w chocolate crumb crust because you would have eaten the entire thing and no one was helping. You were right to skip the absolutely fabulous Emily Luchetti pecan pie because again, you would eat the lion’s share. Maybe if you are taking it somewhere….

6 comments:

  1. My family has the good fortune to be guests, not a host, for Thanksgiving, at the always gracious and welcoming Liz&Peter home. This year, for my vegan girl, we brought along side dishes: excellent vegan dressing (bread, onions, apples, slivered almonds, and sweet corn) and bought mushroom gravy (in a box, not fresh) from Whole Foods. My girl made a vegan pumpkin ice cream that was excellent. But I loved the turkey, stuffing, and very non vegan apple and pumpkin pies and real whipped cream. I went for some of each dessert, and seconds on pumpkin pie. But also, L&P are so gracious and fun, they conceal all the hard work from their guests.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds like Liz and Peter are like Kim and Farhan, such gracious hosts. How lovely! That is such a gift. I love that your girl made pumpkin ice cream! Yum!!!!! I forgot to mention that Figgy made vegan chocolate chip cookies from Betty Crocker site and they were really good, too! xo

      Delete
  2. I started writing and it got ridiculously long! So I posted on my blog instead! Loved reading about yours. The look-back was fun! Thanks for inspiring it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. After 20 years of hosting large Thanksgiving crowds, the most important thing I have learned is when someone offers to bring something say "yes" and "please bring it over hot". No matter what it tastes like, say it is delicious. Have plenty of wine available. Have fun with your guests and family. It's a day to be thankful. Maybe someday we will spend the day together like our parents did. Love, Lin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lin, what excellent advice! Was L there? And the two new babies? And a lot of joes nice sibs from handbag party? I hope we can be together too...xo

      Delete