Monday, November 21, 2011

The MP 2011 Thanksgiving Menu

So J and I did a great job of planning fun outings for Thanksgiving when we first married, but then I went and got seasonal work wrapping gifts at a retail store. Guess what that means for our Thanksgiving weekend?  Yep, it's kind of cut in half by Black Friday which ruins any chance of getting away.  How do we fix that?  Immerse ourselves in the culinary marathon that is Thanksgiving, do a little work on Friday morning, and enjoy a lazy long weekend.  It's different, and it's probably not our first choice, but we count ourselves blessed to have work and an opportunity to break from work, if only for a day.

Yesterday, before I left to train the new gift wrappers at W-S, J and I discussed our Thanksgiving Day menu.  We started with last year's menu, which was pretty amazing, and tweaked to suit our tastes this year.  I thought I'd share it with you guys so you can at least conjure up the delicious tastes we'll be enjoying on Thursday.

First up is the turkey.  Not just any turkey, we'll have turkey brined for 36 hours, then rubbed and stuffed with herbed duck fat.  You've not tasted a more moist, succulent turkey than this one.

We're going without mashed potatoes this year (see below), but there will be gravy made from the duck-fat turkey drippings and some cake flour.  I don't even like gravy, but I certainly had seconds of it last year.

Instead of mashed potatoes, J will make mashed parsnips or celery root (he's not decided yet) and I'm making potatoes romanoff, a baked dish made by first baking potatoes, then chilling them, grating them, mixing them with mass amounts of white cheddar and sour cream, then baking again.  Amazingly good.

There will be also W-S focaccia stuffing and cranberry relish, as well as steamed broccoli for a dash of healthy eating.

For dessert, last year we roasted pumpkins and made our own gingersnap crust for pumpkin pies.  This year, J decided he didn't want pie, so I'll be making pumpkin ice cream instead.  We're going to pick up some gingersnap cookies and whip up some chantilly cream to serve with the ice cream.

I think that's it, though I feel like I should add one very long nap after dinner to the plans!  Between the cooking and the eating, J and I will certainly need one on the schedule!

What are you planning to make for Thanksgiving?  Or are you going out to eat instead?

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