U.S. Thanksgiving Dinner (1621-) - Celebrating and Giving Thanks for the Good Harvest in Plymouth, Massachusetts

[zoramargolis]

Home made terrine (no SPAM in this one )

I made a modified version of mdt's Spam terrine, and brought it to a Thanksgiving potluck held at Alias Restaurant on Clinton Street in NYC's Lower East Side. (The owners of the restaurant live in a co-op a block away with my SIL and BIL.) My modification of mdt's recipe consisted of adding a layer of sliced bloc foie gras in the center. I called it "Simultaneously Sublime and Ridiculous Terrine" but did not reveal the secret ingredient. It turned out very well indeed, and was effusively appreciated by all of the dinner guests. After dinner, when a select few of the guests were edifying themselves at the bar over sips of the Willett 22 y.o. rye that I had brought along, I revealed the secret ingredient. Those I let in on the secret were delighted beyond measure--true foodies, but not food snobs. One of the most pleased was a sommelier who had been raised eating Spam by his Dominican mother in San Francisco. It was a huge hit.

Other appetizers I brought were:

Cannellini bean mousse

Roasted eggplant caponata

Medjool dates stuffed with homemade lavender goat cheese, warmed and drizzled with EVOO and fleur de sel.

My contributions to the cheese board:

P'tit Basque

Aged goat blue from Firefly Farms (sourced at Dupont Circle Market)

Vermont Shepherd

Washed rind cheese from Galax, VA (the name of the cheese is escaping me just now)

Fig-sesame cake from Spain and dried apricots

The co-owner of a new Italian restaurant a few doors away on Clinton Street (Falai Ristorante--they also have a fabulous pastry and coffee shop across from Alias) told my husband that he would like to hire me as a chef in his restaurant, but that may have been the 136 proof rye talking...

[mdt]

I made a modified version of mdt's Spam terrine, and brought it to a Thanksgiving potluck held at Alibi Restaurant on Clinton Street in NYC's Lower East Side. (The owners of the restaurant live in a co-op a block away with my SIL and BIL.) My modification of mdt's recipe consisted of adding a layer of sliced bloc foie gras in the center. I called it "Simultaneously Sublime and Ridiculous Terrine" but did not reveal the secret ingredient. It turned out very well indeed, and was effusively appreciated by all of the dinner guests. After dinner, when a select few of the guests were edifying themselves at the bar over sips of the Willett 22 y.o. rye that I had brought along, I revealed the secret ingredient. Those I let in on the secret were delighted beyond measure--true foodies, but not food snobs. One of the most pleased was a sommelier who had been raised eating Spam by his Dominican mother in San Francisco. It was a huge hit.

Yeah!

[Ilaine]

Things we did this year that turned out better than expected:

Turkey -- this time I persuaded the DH to smoke over plain hardwood charcoal without the use of flavoring smoke from, say, hickory wood or fruit wood. Very mild, and didn't overload the turkey with smoke flavor.

Also, used a slightly different recipe to brine the turkey, from Chef John Folse's website. Link Caveat, BIG caveat, the recipe has the proportions of salt ALL WRONG! You use either one cup of table salt or two cups of kosher salt, not the other way 'round. Table salt is much finer than kosher salt.

Dressing -- this was also an excursion based on Chef John Folse's recipe. Link After a gazillion years of making corn bread stuffing that did not live up to my expectations, the biggest change I made was "no eggs" in the final mixture, also, no wheat flour in the corn bread, which is contrary to Folse's corn bread recipe, but I think my way is better. I flavored the dressing with turkey tasso rather than chicken meat, but I think any suitable meat will do, or even none. Neither of my children will eat oysters and only one will eat pecans, so what is a mother to do but make generic? Anyway, this time it worked.

Green beans -- we went with Chinese style green beans rather than green bean casserole. Top and tail green beans, blanch 6 minutes in boiling salted water, plunge into ice water, then saute in toasted sesame oil with multo minced garlic until tender-crisp. The diners wolfed this down and cried for more.

Pies -- yes, we bought our pies from the "Mom's" store in Warrenton. I love to bake but this was just not the year for it, and these pies were quite good, much better than ordinary Sara Lee's, assuming they were made by Sara Lee at all. The pumpkin pies claimed they were baked using "Mom's" real pumpkin. I dunno who actually make's "Mom's" pies but these are acceptable.

Biggest other change this year -- the boys helped cook. Ben made gravy and the baby onions, Nick made the fresh rolls and the green beans. Everybody washed dishes. Big millstone out from around my neck.

The best Thanksgiving ever.

(Edit: the roasted carrots and parsnips from our own vegetable garden probably qualified more for "bragging rights" than an improvement over store-bought, but it was fun.)

[Free Wilma]

Lesson worth noting (and I don't think anyone else has mentioned this yet) the drippings from a brined turkey are much saltier than those from a more traditional baked bird. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this until I tasted the gravy made from the drippings. Oops. It wasn't horrible....just a good bit saltier than I'd planned.

[hillvalley]

Interesting, we didn't have this problem. My mom brined our bird and the gravy we made from the drippings was as good as ever. The only problem, if you can call it that, was the heated discussion on the thickness of the gravy. I like mine nice and thick but was in the minority

[thistle]

Ilaine,

The great thing about the best T'giving ever is you have something to shoot for next year. I was really surprised at how well ours went this year, of course, we had it easy, just the meats-turkey, turkey breast, ham, & country ham-& apps. We had a great group of guests-they brought their own sodas, & sides, takeout containers for leftovers, & helped w/ everything. Everyone thanked us for hosting, but it was easy, we're central, & everyone brought stuff-I (momentarily) felt bad for not providing everything, but noone who came to our T'giving dinner was overworked....

[Ilaine]

Lesson worth noting (and I don't think anyone else has mentioned this yet) the drippings from a brined turkey are much saltier than those from a more traditional baked bird. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this until I tasted the gravy made from the drippings. Oops. It wasn't horrible....just a good bit saltier than I'd planned.

This will also affect the dressing if you like to bake your dressing inside the turkey. I think the drippings from a brined turkey make the dressing way too salty.

Which is another reason we smoke the turkey, since you really can't put dressing in a smoked turkey unless you sew it in.

In theory you could drain the turkey for a long time after you brine it -- we've never tried that. In a cold climate or a cooler or fridge, of course.

[blakegwinn]

Well my thanksgiving dinner kicked ass. All 20 some odd people loved it and the seal of approval from the cantankerous 80 year old grandmother isn't easy... I had all my recipes in a word document with all the ingredients/measurements/recipe they are used for in an excel sheet (so when going to the store I sorted by ingredient to see all the butter I needed and when cooking sorted by recipe used for as I was making something.) This really helped me calm down and focus.

I did a LOT of prep work on Wednesday and actually spent a good part of the afternoon on Thursday playing football with the kids outside. On Wednesday I made about 8 quarts of turkey stock, made cranberry sauce and apple ginger chutney, made the roux for the gravy and all my other sauces, compound butter to rub under the turkey skin, poached a bunch of pears in red wine, baked some bread pudding (with brandy caramel sauce) and spiced pumpkin cupcakes topped with brandy coolwhip and candied pecans, then chopped diced peeled and snapped everything and put them into gladdware tubs and then put the two turkeys in brine (I used brining bags purchased at WF worked like a charm! I stood it up in a camping cooler put the brine in submerged the turkeys and packed the rest of the cooler with ice to keep the bag vertical.)

The next day I got up at six and got the first turkey out of the brine, threw some aromatics in the cavity and roasted. After that was done de glazed the pan with chardonnay and set aside then I baked the apple/cranberry stuffing. I took this out when it was almost done and covered with foil. Later I brushed with the fat I skimmed off the stock and roasting pan mixed with some butter and crisped it up right before dinner.

Then it was time for the second turkey to go in. This is when I did the buttermilk mashed potatoes, steamed carrots with a smallll but of butter cinnamon and nutmeg, and got the green been/shallot/almond dish ready to roast while the second turkey rested. Also threw together some yams with 'mallows, green bean casserole (for nostalgia sake) and a honey-sherry vinagrette salad with sauteed apples, gorgonzola, and toasted wlanuts (courtesy of Dave Lieberman). Lastly I made the gravy with the deglazed pand drippings/white whine, roux and stock from the day before. This sounds like a lot but it really just took like half an hour while the turkey roasted for 4.

When I took out the second turkey I tossed the green beans, and two casseroles in the oven for a half an hour and then we ate. It was AWESOME. I am prettttty full of myself right now. I will say I brought 2 of my own pots a strainer and my knives so everything in the kitchen wasn't completely foreign. It did take awhile to get used to the gas oven and stove as my apartment is electric. I felt like linus with my security blanket in tow though. I hope everyone else had a great holiday. I have to hit the gym, badly....

[mhberk]

I just picked up my 17lb turducken. I'm so excited. I'll post food porn pix, assuming it all turns out.

Well?

I've never seen a turducken

[squidsdc]

frango mint chocolate cake

mmmmm frango mints! Got a recipe to share?

[Poivrot Farci]

[legant]

Thanksgiving dinner, November 2007: OMG! What an obscene amount of food. Yet: I will have turkey sandwiches for lunch next week. Not to mention mashed potatoes for breakfast.

BTW: Did anyone purchase a ready-to-cook or pre-cooked meal this year? Sister picked up a Cracker Barrel meal; her family loved it. Mom, solo dining this year, picked up a plate at a local restaurant; I'm guessing a local variation of Hot Shoppes. She raved about her meal. Way too much food at both tables, yet: they both sang high praises about their meals. But then again, they're both in Ohio.

[Banco]

Everything went well despite my last minute discovery that the "boneless turkey breast" I had bought for my roulade was in fact both breasts still on the bone and from a rather small bird. (Market Poultry really did not come through for us this year despite advance ordering.) Since the recipe called for a single large breast to be double butterflied and pounded out flat, I had to sew both breast halves together a la Marcus Welby before covering them with stuffing and rolling the thing up. All sins were covered by the layer of prosciutto I wrapped around the roulade. This recipe is a lot of prep work but it's always fun and turns out great. The pan sauce was also fantastic, made with reduced veal stock, wine, and porcini soaking liquid. Mashed potatoes were simply a delivery device for cream, butter, and roasted garlic. In addition I finally managed to get a recipe right that I learned from Drew at Sonoma: Brussels sprouts roasted with slivered almonds and shallots and glazed with balsamico. I also served some nice French beans with tomato concassé and garlic. The 1999 Talbot went very well with all this, and even the kids behaved!

[Al Dente]

Lesson learned: don't let anyone pour smoking hot roux into the simmering turkey juice while you stir. Burns narrowly averted...

[scottmcl]

I cooked a small Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, but it was a special one for me and my son. My son's middle name is "Edson," an old family name. The Edsons were among the Pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving, and this was my little Allen Edson's first real Thanksgiving - since he's 14 months and can finally chew

Not all traditional fare. I tried to make everything fatty/cheesy/savory so little Allen might like it.

I started out by making fresh turkey stock from necks and wings and such ahead of time. I also brined a whole Turkey breast in salt/sugar/spices/citrus/wine for 12+ hours. Then the dishes were as follows.

o Brined turkey breast with butter and fresh sage stuffed under the skin.

o Mashed potatoes with rosemary/marjoram infused cream, roasted garlic and Manchego cheese

o Mashed sweet potatoes with nutmeg and sour cream

o Mushroom gravy with shitake/crimini shrooms and the homemade stock (and booze)

o Cranberry sauce with fresh orange juice, orange zest, Port wine and cinammon stick

o Green beens with pancetta, mushrooms and a little wine and sour cream

o French peasant loaf/sausage/apple/dried cherry dressing with stock/milk/eggs (a little custardy)

o Pumpkin pie (bought, I don't bake) and homemade whipped cream

Of course, more onions, red onions, garlic, celery, butter, shallots, etc. than I can remember

Well, my little son munched happily away - seemed to like everything! Dad and Allen's mother ate well too

Scott

[monavano]

May I please come to your house next year???

[thistle]

Slightly stressful T'giving-after the stove being inoperable most of last week, the repairman came at 3:30 Wed. afternoon, I still was calm, we're going to do the turkeys in the smoker. I get up at 5 am Thurs morning, go out in my jammies to place the turkeys in the smokers (already set up-chips, water pan), turn it on, hear a large 'POOF!-the coil exploded, busting out a wire. I still have time to put my turkeys in the oven-a 15 lb. turkey & 7 lb. breast (never done it before, have always used the smoker), also heated up a 9 lb. ham.

I had 20 guests come for T'giving, mostly family ( & outliers)-I was prepared this time for the guest who's allergic to pepper, but shortly before most of the guests arrived, I learned that my BIL's girlfrend's sister was a vegetarian-"Oh, don't worry, she's used to looking out for herself". I'm sputtering & rethinking some things, "We just won't tell her there's chicken stock in the veg". It was a beautiful day, the kids got to run around outside & frighten the neighbors, everyone had enough to eat, my delightful vegetarian guest volunteered to carve the turkey (she's a pro), there were a couple of veg dishes she could eat (but I wish I had known), & it was OK-we had 4 pies & 2 cakes..today, I made sort of an Asian soup w/ the turkey stock from the carcasses-ginger, green onion, lemongrass, mushrooms, turkey, fish sauce, glass noodles, & Sriracha. I love my extended family, but, boy, do they test me every year!

[zoramargolis]

SIL, BIL and MIL here this year, so it was all on me, with a bit of help on T-day from BIL after arriving on the 10 a.m. train from NYC.

Apps in the yard in the warm early afternoon:

Figs stuffed with lavender chevre, wrapped in prosciutto, drizzled with honey and lemon zest and roasted

Chicken faux gras with cucumber-parsley gelee

Nancy's Hudson Valley Camembert, Firefly Farms aged ripened goat cheese

Champagne Duval-Leroy (brought by SIL and BIL)

Dinner:

Herb-brined Cibola Farms Bourbon Red Turkey, hickory smoked on the Weber kettle bbq

Marvy Market French loaf stuffing with roasted home-grown chestnuts, mushrooms, fresh herbs, Marsala and dried cranberries

Mashed roasted sweet potatoes with maple and orange zest

Mashed russet potatoes with roasted garlic

Creamed pearl onions

Oven roasted brussels sprouts

Haricots verts

Cream gravy with brown turkey stock, herbed drip pan stock and brandy

Cranberry conserve with ginger, orange and brandy

Quince mostarda

2005 Martin Schaetzel Gewurztraminer Cuvee Reserve

2003 Seghesio Zinfandel Home Ranch

2005 Dom. Nicolas Rossignol Volnay

Dessert:

Kabocha squash pie

Pecan treacle pie

Créme chantilly

2005 Chappelle St. Arnoux Muscat de Beaume de Venise

[Al Dente]

SEVENTY-TWO POUND TURKEY?!?!?!?!

[Waitman]

Cassoulet. Chicken pot pie. Pommes Anna. Fresh oysters. Cheese. And desserts galore. And leftovers...

[DameEdna]

Cassoulet. Chicken pot pie. Pommes Anna. Fresh oysters. Cheese. And desserts galore. And leftovers...

Recipes? Photos? Police report? Give us the inside scoop, for the tiny, discerning

(very discreet) audience who might be listening.

[Anna Blume]

Post 62. So nice to have the starch named in one's honor...

[zoramargolis]

Post 62.

I hope that you are collecting your various essays for publication together--I want to read them all. That was fabulous.

[Waitman]

Post 62. So nice to have the starch named in one's honor...

I hope that you are collecting your various essays for publication together--I want to read them all. That was fabulous.

Indeed, much better than the dinner itself.

[Pool Boy]

My wife and I were on our own for Thanksgiving Day itself and we opted to make a whole fish for the first time ever.

YUM!

Got a whole rockfish, had it scaled, de-finned, and gutted. Rinsed well at home. Stuffed belly with a lot of thyme. Make a salt crust with 2 egg whites whipped by hand to soft peaks and folded 2 cups of kosher salt in and spread over fish. Tossed in the oven for 30 min.

Perfection!

Well almost, no crispy skin.

[lackadaisi]

Jlock and I had never hosted Thanksgiving, but had always wanted to make a traditional dinner, so we decided to give it a shot this year.

Everything was wonderful. Jlock made the most perfectly cooked turkey using the Cooks Illustrated recipe, and with it we served stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberries, and an assortment of cheeses. I also made a pumpkin and a pecan pie (the pecan was the best I had ever tasted - again the Cooks Illustrated recipe proved to be superb). All in all, we had a wonderful meal that would have served about 15.

However, with a three-week old baby, we were a little apprehensive about whether we could pull it off, so we only invited two close friends. Our hesitation seems to have been unwarranted as everything was done at the same time, and dinner was served within 20 minutes of our original estimation. The four of us feasted and have been eating leftovers ever since.

[mktye]

Nothing much new yet again this year (and no acorns!) -- we are definitely traditionalists when it comes to Thanksgiving.

The 2007 Menu:

Porcini & Arugula Crostini

Grilled Turkey

Sourdough Dressing

Mashed Potatoes

Gravy!!!

Candied Sweet Potato Slices*

Peas with Bacon & Garlic

Carrots glazed with Brown Sugar/Mustard/Chives

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Scalloped Onions, Shallots & Leeks

Apple Chutney

Traditional Cranberry Sauce (cranberries, water & sugar)

5-Spice, Ginger & Pinot Noir Cranberry Sauce

Brioche Rolls

Pumpkin Pie*

Pecan Pie

French Apple Pie

Pumpkin Frozen Custard (from The Dairy Godmother)

Shortbread Cookies (which I forgot to serve but were a great midnight snack!)

I bought this year's turkey from MOM's and it turned out to be the best turkey EVER! It was a local, free-range bird from Maple Lawn Farms.

*Graciously and deliciously supplied by our dinner guests.

[PollyG]

Our experimental dessert this year was persimmons (the Fuyu variety) scooped out and filled with a mixture of balled persimmon flesh and home made cinnamon ice cream balls. Much to our surprise, several of our guests had never had persimmons! This dish had its genesis at Makoto a few months ago when their persimmon and tofu cheese just wasn't "working" for me and we started tinkering with ideas to make the dish work for our palates.

We'll probably make it a permanent addition to the menu; heavy desserts don't appeal to me after such a big meal.

[hm212]

Bumping up for this year -

I just ordered a fresh Maple Lawn turkey to pick up on Sunday. I have always done frozen Giant turkeys but really excited to see the difference. Planning on brining - Probably do Alton Brown's brine or similar.

http://www.maplelawn.com

[Sthitch]

Starting with a squash soup, then a heritage turkey from Heritage Foods, a goose from D’Artagnan, brioche dressing, chestnut and sausage dressing, mashed potatoes, parker house rolls and I am not really sure what else yet.

[agm]

I'm planning a reprise of last year's meal (not very creative, but very tasty):

Butternut squash & chestnut soup w/bacon

Deep-fried turkey

Cornbread & chorizo stuffing

Mashed potatoes w/cream cheese and sour cream

Bourbon-glazed sweet potatoes

Cranberry sauce w/champagne and currants

green beans - not sure of recipe yet

bread TBD

Maple-pecan tart

Pumpkin pie

The only problem is, it looks like there are only three of us for dinner. I'm not sure if I can scale it down for such a small group.

[TinDC]

I am making Thanksgiving brunch and then going to a cousin's house for dinner. I love cooking brunch and love that I don't have to slave over a big dinner.

[ALB]

Bumping up for this year -

I just ordered a fresh Maple Lawn turkey to pick up on Sunday. I have always done frozen Giant turkeys but really excited to see the difference. Planning on brining - Probably do Alton Brown's brine or similar.

http://www.maplelawn.com

I did that exact combo last year- it turned out fantastically. I'll be doing it again this year.

[chomer]

November's issue of Gourmet has an article on salting turkeys. They have a few versions, herb, southwest, etc. I'm thinking of trying the herb version. Also, I ordered turkeys from Cedar Run Farm (cedarruncattle.com), a cattle, hog, chicken and turkey farm on the Eastern Shore. I'll report back.

Oh, and I'm sort of new, been mostly lurking, but Thanksgiving gets me excited!

[goodeats]

Early Thanksgiving this year:

Roasted turkey from TJ's, seasoned with sage under the skin & rosemary with ginger in the cavity, then basted with an apple-sparkling wine concoction.

Roasted vegetables: Butternut squash, Carrots, Yellow yams, and Mushrooms (salt & peppered)

Birch syrup sweet potatoes

Mashed potatoes

Pear stuffing

Cheesy Chicken Meatloaf

Homemade cranberry sauce

Homemade gravy

Cabbage risotto, courtesy of friends

Bread rolls, courtesy of friends

Sea salt-apple pie (cheated on pie crusts from TJs)

Fed 8 people and still have leftovers.

I agree with chomer that Thanksgiving gets me excited too!

[Tweaked]

This year we decided to stuff the turkey and instead we are cooking up a Korean feast. (sister-in-law is korean). Yum!

[Woodleygrrl]

can you add your recipie for the bourbon glazed sweet potatoes? I am looking for something special to bring to our dinner this year and that is the dish that I am in charge of.

[thistle]

I'm quite happy to be a guest this year-my SIL is taking over. I've been assigned bean dip (not very t'giving, but everyone likes it), pound cakes, & a veg dish (we have a new vegetarian in our midst). I think it will be very relaxing, I also have a small turkey breast for the smoker, so we have turkey for leftovers, a small ham, & an exceedingly large country ham, that I expect will last us the winter...

[agm]

can you add your recipie for the bourbon glazed sweet potatoes? I am looking for something special to bring to our dinner this year and that is the dish that I am in charge of.

It's a very simple recipe. Unfortunately, I don't remember where I found it, so I can't give proper credit for it.

3 lb large sweet potatoes, peeled and halved crosswise

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 to 1/3 cup bourbon

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Cut each sweet potato half lengthwise into fourths, and steam on a steamer rack set over boiling water,

covered, until just tender, 10 to 15 minutes, then cool, uncovered. Transfer to a buttered 3-quart

shallow baking dish.

Simmer brown sugar, butter, water, and salt, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved and syrup is

thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in bourbon to taste. Drizzle syrup over sweet potatoes and bake in middle of

oven, basting occasionally, until syrup is thickened, about 1 1/4 hours.

[Ilaine]

Lesson learned: don't let anyone pour smoking hot roux into the simmering turkey juice while you stir. Burns narrowly averted...

The image your post calls up reminds me of dropping sodium metal or magnesium into water in chem lab.

The roux should be in the pot or pan, and you stir the liquid into the roux. Actually I use a whisk, even if you get lumps the whisk breaks them up.

[agm]

Slight change in plans yesterday. Instead of frying my turkey (which I did last year, with awesome results), I cooked my turkey in one of these:

http://orionoutdoors.com/products/cooker/

Yes, a new toy, just arrived Wednesday. A 12 1/2lb bird cooked in just over 90 minutes (and would have been just under 90, if I had been patient enough not to check it early), and came out incredibly moist and tender, with a beautiful, dark brown exterior and nicely smoked flavor (enough to enhance the flavor, but leaving turkey as the dominant taste, not smoke).

For those who fry or have considered frying turkeys (the old-fashioned way, with propane), the Orion cooker is a nice alternative. Yes, frying takes half the time, but when you factor in the time for the oil to heat, it's not much faster. The Orion is much safer - there's a lot of very hot charcoal involved, but no oil, no flare-ups, and no burning down the house (if you take the same precautions as with any charcoal-based cooker). And frying requires constant monitoring once you light the propane; with this thing, it's light it and ignore it until the time is up.

The bird was every bit as moist as frying, with no brine, only a bit of butter marinade injected into the breast and thighs two hours before cooking. The skin, unfortunately, was beautiful to look at but not crispy. That slight negative was offset by the delicate smokiness of the meat (smoke is optional).

No pictures, because, well, I'm an idiot and I forgot. Once we get past the turkey leftovers I'll throw some ribs in and take pictures.

[Waitman]

I confess that I find the whole concept of deep-fried turkey deeply unfortunate, but will pass along the tip that on our Black Friday trip to Bed Bath and Beyond in Columbia Heights, there were stacks of Turkey Fryers on sale. For them as likes that sort of thing.

We cooked a Flintstones-sized standing rib roast chez nous. Leftovers you can believe in.

[zoramargolis]

This year we were invited to a multi-family potluck, held at a small restaurant called Alias on Clinton Street in NYC owned by the hosts of the party. There were 50 or 60 people there, including a few chefs and sommeliers from nearby restaurants. My instructions were to bring some appetizers. Last time I was here, two years ago, I made a version of mdt's terrine with spam that also had small cubes of foie gras in it--I called it "sublime and ridiculous terrine," and it was very well received. This year, I did something a bit less whimsical. I made rillettes du porc with pork shoulder confited in a combination of goose fat and homemade lard, with veal stock added while I was shredding it. With a big basket of baguette slices and a bowl of cornichons on the side, this was a huge hit, with people standing around and eating it and reminiscing about the last time they'd eaten rillettes in a little bistro in Paris. For the vegetarians, I bought some fresh farm creamline milk from Saxelby's, the cheese monger in the Essex Street Market, and made fresh ricotta on T-day morning, and served it with some homemade quince and persimmon mostarda that I had brought from DC along with the rillettes.

As at most large potluck gatherings, many people who had many different skill levels at cooking provided other appetizers and the rest of the meal. so some of the food was really good--like my SIL and BIL's brined and oven roasted heritage turkey and gravy (one of three turkeys cooked for the event), the celery remoulade with shrimp, country ham, one of the two cranberry compotes, wild rice stuffing, silky sweet potato puree, brussels sprouts, the crepe cake with bruleed topping and tiramisu brought by the pastry chef and sommelier from Falai. And then some of the food was just awful, but no matter. The hostess's dad mixed old fashionds behind the bar, and there was lots of wine. It's so nice having a big party in a restaurant with all of the dishes, cutlery and glasses, the big ovens and the industrial dishwasher to make cleanup easy. Great fun.

[Pat]

We went to friends' in Baltimore yesterday. We took salad (romaine, tomato, cucumber, feta, bacon, plus buttermilk dressing), two kinds of bread (a loaf of basic no-knead bread and one cranberry-nut quick bread), and chocolate pecan pie squares for dessert. Our hosts supplied roast turkey with stuffing and gravy; roasted parsnips; steamed brussel sprouts; green beans; whipped potatoes; mashed sweet potatoes; whole cranberry relish; and, cream of cauliflower soup (to start). There was a pretty wide variety of food but not an overwhelming amount of anything. We came home with some turkey, cranberry relish and the remainder of the pecan pie squares. It made a whole 9X13" pan of a very rich dessert. I hadn't made them before, and they were quite good.

[Poivrot Farci]

Homage to Turkey

Mulled Cider

Humus and Home Made Pide Bread

Pickled Fish

Foie Gras

Red Lentil and Celeriac Soup

Potatoes with Anchovies and Cumin

Pumpkin and Barley Stuffing

Brussels Sprouts with Apricots and Pistachios

11,000,000 milligram Amish Turkey:

The Breast Roasted with Sumac and Yogurt

Black Cardamom Kofte with the Legs and Giblets

Cranberry and Walnut Baklava

Backgammon

Massage

[Heather]

For the first time ever, I didn't cook Thanksgiving dinner. Mother-in-law, Father-in-law, and Father-in-laws's wife (yes, you read that right) joined us from out of town, and a combination of illness (mine) and work (also mine) made the idea of trying to prepare a big meal unappealing. Instead we took the kids to the zoo, and then had a leisurely lunch at Bistrot du Coin. Entrecote Bearnaise, Crozes Hermitage, and a big kiss from Michel were far preferable to the stress of cooking and cleaning up a wrecked kitchen. We had a pecan pie from Vidalia, and whipped cream waiting at home.

We might make this a holiday tradition.

[hm212]

I am a total convert - Will never get anything but a fresh turkey again, it was the best and juiciest ever.

[Waitman]

Yeah, we hate turkey at our house so we cooked a Flintstone-sized standing rib which I mention only because the strategy of letting it sit around the kitchen coming up to room temperature for like five or six hours and then cooking it for another three or so at 325 (actually, between 275 and 400 depending on how panicked we were about guests showing up) worked so fucking perfectly that I thought I'd pass it along. Like, crispy outside (start at 525 for 25 minutes or so) and warm but red throughout. Made a Bordelaise to go with. Cooked the ribs down for stock and have a pile of steak sandwich makings.

Union Meats was our connection.

Beats the shit out of turkey.

[Pat]

Yeah, we hate turkey at our house so we cooked a Flintstone-sized standing rib which I mention only because the strategy of letting it sit around the kitchen coming up to room temperature for like five or six hours and then cooking it for another three or so at 325 (actually, between 275 and 400 depending on how panicked we were about guests showing up) worked so fucking perfectly that I thought I'd pass it along. Like, crispy outside (start at 525 for 25 minutes or so) and warm but red throughout. Made a Bordelaise to go with. Cooked the ribs down for stock and have a pile of steak sandwich makings.

Union Meats was our connection.

Beats the shit out of turkey.

That's what my mom used to do, especially for Christmas meals. I don't know if she started at the higher temperature, but it sat out quite a while and went in around 350-375 for a few hours until it was done. I've never been able to make a rib roast come out the way she could . The crusty browned parts on the ends tasted just as great as the rare meat in the middle.

[bettyjoan]

I am JUST now emerging from the food coma. What a Thanksgiving!

Thursday night was our family's traditional feast of standing rib roast, green beans, roasted potatoes, and sauteed mushrooms. I must say, this year's cow was quite possibly the best ever, due to 1) my dad's new super high-tech meat thermometer, which took all the guesswork and premature oven-opening out of the equation; and 2) a lovely kosher salt rub, which created an amazing crust on the outside of the meat. Yum.

Friday night, my sister's boyfriend's family did THEIR traditional Thanksgiving meal: roasted turkey (which was cooked nicely, but I'm just not a fan), mashed potatoes and pan gravy, cornbread stuffing (which was AMAZING), and canned cranberry sauce. It was so nice to get those "normal" side dishes, as that's what I always missed when we did our non-traditional beef-fest.

Saturday we continued the gluttony with football food--pigs in blankets, spinach dip, fried shrimp, fried calamari, and fried okra. After a while, we just started experimenting with batters and throwing random leftovers in the fryer. Fried brownies were my personal favorite.

Hope everyone had a great holiday!!!