I do hope you aren’t in this kind of mess. Or worse, hanging out at some dreary airport waiting for a flight. Or fogged in which apparently is what is happening in the Midwest.
But even if you are *gasp* working today (and of course not really working but playing on your computer), or just waiting for the big feast, I figure that most people are too busy to be bothered reading the tripe I work so diligently to produce.
That being said, I’m unable to shut my trap for long, so here’s what I’m doing.
The menu is of course decided upon.
It is the usual fare.
I like tradition a lot when it comes to my Thanksgiving meal. It’s MY tradition, by the by, not necessarily yours. So feel free to bemoan that there is no wretched green bean casserole (made it once thought it was awful boring), or pumpkin pie (like it just fine but just finished eating a pumpkin cheesecake about a week ago thank you very much. –stay tuned for that recipe on What’s on the Stove in upcoming days or weeks)
*FanFare***
- HAM (because I couldn’t find a goose and didn’t feel like trekking to Wal-Mart *shudder* to see if they had one) Nothing special here, just a honey/soy sauce baste I think. Or I might get brave and try some of the chile honey I have to spice it up a tad.
- Mash potatoes (standard fare)
- Gravy (it will be chicken based cuz that made more sense than beef and I couldn’t find any turkey broth-go figure-and I may put in some bacon grease to liven that baby up a bit, but Thanksgiving without gravy is like sex with your clothes on, very exciting to start with but a poor finish)
- Corn casserole (my synthesis of many recipes and I think mine is actually the best. It comes out light and fluffy without all that cornbready taste of a heavy topping. I don’t use JIFFY by the by). You can find it here. (I know, it’s too late for Thanksgiving but gee, Christmas is just around the corner.
- Sweet potato casserole (again, I synthesized a lot of really lousy sweet potato casseroles to get one that is more savory than sweet. No marshmallows on this one. You can find that recipe here.
- Italian stuffing (this is a recipe I picked up from ABC on one of their holiday contests. I modified it a bit, but we love it. Combines cornbread and regular bread and well, you should try it. You can find it here.
- Brussels Sprout Saute. I created this one myself and it’s wonderful. If you like Brussels, and you will if you make this. Trust me. You can find it here.
- Relish Tray. Standard scallions, radishes, pickles and olives.
- Rolls. Having my Cheddah Jalapeño biscuits that I made a few days ago. I just froze the balance for tomorrow. You can find that recipe here.
- Cranberry Sauce. This is a new recipe but it turned out wonderfully. It’s made with mulled wine. I’ll be posting it in a few so be on the lookout.
- German Chocolate Cake. Again, this was a new recipe. The layers were all sunk in, but I’ve been advised how to fix that. I may post the recipe. The frosting is the standard coconut/pecan type. I’ll be posting that too.
I’ve got the brussels cleaned, as well as the scallions and radishes. The Sweet Potato casserole is in the fridge all put together. That came together a bit faster than expected since Diego was caught grabbing the cooked sweet potatoes. (A gate is being prepared for the kitchen since the boy now regularly sneaks in and scarfs anything off the counter (eatable or not) within his reach. It’s becoming a real pain.)
The veggie parts of the dressing are cooked and stored in the fridge and the breads are drying out.
The cake is made and the cranberry sauce as well.
I guess I’m about done for today.
A nifty bunch of left overs from past meals is serving us well these days, so I don’t have to spend extra time in the kitchen. Today, baked rigatoni and salad.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone and we’ll talk on Friday again.
Related articles
- 135 Nourishing Thanksgiving Recipes (unmistakablyfood.com)
- Smashed Sweet Potatoes (lifewithalittlespice.com)
- Web’s Best: Thanksgiving Leftover Recipes (coolmaterial.com)
- My very favorite Thanksgiving recipes (thegrassskirtblog.com)
- Sweet Potato and Sage-Butter Casserole Recipe (talesofinspiration.wordpress.com)
- Thanksgiving Menu (kansaspokerwife.com)
- What Your Favorite Thanksgiving Foods Say About You (1019litefm.cbslocal.com)
Existential Ennui 
I can’t imagine why anyone would ruin a perfectly good sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. Your sweet potato recipe sounds a lot more appealing.
My favorite sweet potato casserole has to be the one my co-worker made for an office potluck. It had a thin layer of caramel, and it was decadent.
ooh now that sounds interesting indeed.
Have a great day Sherry. Is it possible you could TEACH Diego to stay out of the kitchen or do you like running the hurdles?
Have a fine feast. Sounds lovely.
Yes he’s quite teachable, but he’s a sneak. He only does these things when we are in other parts of the house. We are keeping him firmly from the kitchen when we are in it or around it, but it’s not clear that will take when he’s left to his own devious devices. It’s quite comical when we aren’t fuming. lol..
Happy Thanksgiving Sherry and try not to work too hard with all that cooking 🙂
I have it down to a pretty decent science, so I am not frazzled on the day in question. Today however is pure heaven. Left overs and the day is MINE! lol
It all sounds great Sherry. I know Diego will look forward to the table scraps for days. Happy T-Day.
yep, he is busy slurping up every tidbit given to him. He’s developing a waddle that not even a 2 mile walk per day seems to effect.
Sorry, but this upset me. You see, there are some of us out here that will not be pretending to work, because our money hungry companies have decided they just have to try to get as much traffic as they can thru their stores. So we, the low paid peons in retail, have no holiday, no big dinner, and no time to spend with family. I worked a regular shift last night, got off at 6am, and go in at 10 tonight for another one. And mine isn’t the worst, I always work at night. We have sales people who work during the day being expected to come in at 8pm and work all night. All hail our corporate masters, sigh.
I apologize if I offended you. I know that retailers cannot stop trying to grab an extra buck and at your expense. We fully support the strike at WalMarts and do not shop certainly on Thanksgiving or Black Friday either for that matter. We are fully in support of unions and hope that you can achieve through this means a fair and honest wage and benefits along with proper working conditions. Again, I apologize if I failed to recognize your plight.
I’m salivating right now. Sounds magnificent! The German chocolate cake is an interesting twist – I’d have to sneak in some pumpkin pie, I think. Have a wonderful day. Diego is a lucky pup.
I never stick with tradition when it comes to dessert. I’m not a huge fan of the traditional pies frankly, though I like them well enough. The cake turned out exceptionally well even though I had trouble with the cake baking properly. Assume that it works perfectly at ground level. lol. Hope your day was lovely too Jean.
I’m playing on the computer. The wife however, is working her ass off getting ready for the big meal
Gosh, who does that sound like? Oh yeah…THE CONTRARIAN! Oh he will put in his efforts….that ham needs to be sliced. Boy that will wear him out!
I have a recipe I’m going to try at Christmas – Brussels sprouts in a horseradish cream sauce with bacon bits.
My Thanksgiving is a lot like the meal my mother made – except no jello, no cauliflower in cheese sauce, no green bean casserole – but Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes mashed with orange, butter and brown sugar, green salad, cranberry relish (homemade).
Have a great day, enjoy!
the brussel sprouts recipe sounds very interesting. I like horseradish. Its fun to see the traditions of others. I noted at your blog that you get your tree on Thanksgiving and decorate it. Now that’s something I’ve never come across before. I will try to get ours up by next weekend! That’s as best I can do.