Baby And Thanksgiving
Oct. 10th, 2006 11:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lls_mutantSeriously, WHY does Netscape insist on logging me out every time I try to post?
Anyway. Guess who's walking? That's right. At 10 months, Toby's decided enough with this immobility and is walking. He's still going between Mommy and Daddy, but it's SO cute to watch him stumble towards me, all giggles with his arms out. Needless to say, we're rapidly putting up gates. Any peace we had is nearing an end! (But it's still SO adorable.)
I've felt like pontificating on food as I continue working on my Altar Boy fic there. I know Thanksgiving seems quite a ways away, but I've been thinking about it for a long time. We're having a huge crowd, I think- it has the potential to be seventeen tablefood eaters if my one brother-in-law brings his girlfriend and her daughter, and my other brother-in-law's family comes (his wife has family in the area, so they may opt to do T-day with her family). My parents are coming down, Howie's parents will be here, and I assume his sister and her family will definitely be here.
I'm not THAT nervous about the day- to be honest, I'm more excited. I LOVE to cook, and the centerpiece of Thanksgiving is definitely the dinner. However, I'm also very aware I've never cooked for this many people before, and I'm in planning mode.
What's tough about Thanksgiving is that it's such a traditional holiday. Certain things must be on the table. However, my style of cooking is a lot different from either my mother's or Howard's mother. I am a much more exotic cook at times. Let's put it this way: I know what capers are and I'm not afraid to use them. So Thanksgiving recipes from either house tend to be different than what I like to cook.
Some of it is easy to get around. My mother-in-law will insist on bringing something. I fully intend on asking her to do the Stovetop. I'm not sure what stuffing/dressing I'm going to make yet, but I strongly suspect it will involve sourdough bread, sausage, and mushrooms. I'm not a Stovetop kind of girl. However, it is a staple in hubby's family. So we'll have her bring it. Easy, cheap, and it makes her feel useful. Yay!
However, I'm wondering how my mother will feel about my departure from her recipes. Now, she won't be bothered by the turkey, I don't think, because my mother cooks turkey according to the package directions, so if I want to make a honey-brined turkey (which I've made before and is AMAZING), she won't care. I also don't think she'll care that I don't make gravy her way, because again, she doesn't really have a written recipe, and one taste of the recipe I use for gravy and frankly, she won't complain, because it's the best recipe I've yet to find. It's a simple, plain gravy, but SO good. (And it has cream.) But there are three traditional items on our table: bread stuffing, gizzard stuffing, and green bean casserole.
The gizzard stuffing is a little sad because frankly, I love it. I really need to find out how long she cooks the gizzard for when she makes it. The reason I don't plan on making it is because I cook the gizzard for the gravy. I don't actually use it in the gravy, so I may try to make the stuffing anyway, because it's a traditional dish from my family and it's my favorite of the three. Does anyone else even make gizzard dressing, or know if it makes a difference how long you cook turkey organs? (Doesn't that sound SO appealing?)
The green bean casserole is middling. Our version is always the classic dump-a-can-of-Cream-of-Mushroom, French Onions, and bake thing. I'd like to update it a little, make it a little lighter, a little tastier. We'll have to see.
Finally, the bread-mushroom stuffing is where I worry, because honestly? My mom's stuffing recipe is quite bland and I fully intend to deviate from it. Hopefully she won't be offended. :P We'll see. I'm probably making too much of nothing.
So right now, for the holiday dinner, I know parts of the menu:
-Honey Brined Turkey with Giblet Cream Gravy (have made both parts before with extraordinary success)
-Mashed Potatoes with Chive Cream (have tested this, because mashed potatoes are my nemisis food- I always make them too lumpy or watery. These were perfect, and the chives made them interesting without being overpowering.)
-Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes (have yet to test because I don't care for sweet potatoes, but it looks really good, especially with the marshmellows on top. However, I need to check on my mom's like/dislike for sweet potatoes since the recipe contains nuts, which she's not allowed to have. Pretty sure it's not an issue.)
-Some sort of stuffing/dressing. I have not yet found a recipe.
-Stovetop, provided by Mother-in-law
-Relish tray, with black and green olives, cheese, and pickles
-Rolls- in an ideal world I'd love to do homemade, but I think I will be wise and just get some potato rolls at the grocery store.
-Cranberry sauce- I will go with both family traditions and use the canned stuff. Especially since I do not like cranberry sauce and can't be bothered to put a lot of effort into it, and I suspect even if I do this is one of those foods where everyone will say they like the canned version better. This is fine.
-Veggie 1: some sort of green bean casserole, either the classic recipe or something slightly updated.
-Veggie 2: I'd like to try this Mushroom-caramelized shallot strudel from Cooking Light. There may be a lunch time playgroup at my house this week. I think I shall use the adults as guinea pigs :)
-I should probably offer some form of salad.
Dessert will be:
-pumpkin pie (1 or 2)
-Either the second pumkin pie or a pecan pie, depending on the results of an informal survey of who likes what
-Caramel apple cheesecake
I will also have to provide lunch for my parents and my husband and myself, which in my family is traditionally hors d'oerves. I must see how much I can do ahead, and get a shrimp platter.
Wow. Thanksgiving is much work!
Anyway. Guess who's walking? That's right. At 10 months, Toby's decided enough with this immobility and is walking. He's still going between Mommy and Daddy, but it's SO cute to watch him stumble towards me, all giggles with his arms out. Needless to say, we're rapidly putting up gates. Any peace we had is nearing an end! (But it's still SO adorable.)
I've felt like pontificating on food as I continue working on my Altar Boy fic there. I know Thanksgiving seems quite a ways away, but I've been thinking about it for a long time. We're having a huge crowd, I think- it has the potential to be seventeen tablefood eaters if my one brother-in-law brings his girlfriend and her daughter, and my other brother-in-law's family comes (his wife has family in the area, so they may opt to do T-day with her family). My parents are coming down, Howie's parents will be here, and I assume his sister and her family will definitely be here.
I'm not THAT nervous about the day- to be honest, I'm more excited. I LOVE to cook, and the centerpiece of Thanksgiving is definitely the dinner. However, I'm also very aware I've never cooked for this many people before, and I'm in planning mode.
What's tough about Thanksgiving is that it's such a traditional holiday. Certain things must be on the table. However, my style of cooking is a lot different from either my mother's or Howard's mother. I am a much more exotic cook at times. Let's put it this way: I know what capers are and I'm not afraid to use them. So Thanksgiving recipes from either house tend to be different than what I like to cook.
Some of it is easy to get around. My mother-in-law will insist on bringing something. I fully intend on asking her to do the Stovetop. I'm not sure what stuffing/dressing I'm going to make yet, but I strongly suspect it will involve sourdough bread, sausage, and mushrooms. I'm not a Stovetop kind of girl. However, it is a staple in hubby's family. So we'll have her bring it. Easy, cheap, and it makes her feel useful. Yay!
However, I'm wondering how my mother will feel about my departure from her recipes. Now, she won't be bothered by the turkey, I don't think, because my mother cooks turkey according to the package directions, so if I want to make a honey-brined turkey (which I've made before and is AMAZING), she won't care. I also don't think she'll care that I don't make gravy her way, because again, she doesn't really have a written recipe, and one taste of the recipe I use for gravy and frankly, she won't complain, because it's the best recipe I've yet to find. It's a simple, plain gravy, but SO good. (And it has cream.) But there are three traditional items on our table: bread stuffing, gizzard stuffing, and green bean casserole.
The gizzard stuffing is a little sad because frankly, I love it. I really need to find out how long she cooks the gizzard for when she makes it. The reason I don't plan on making it is because I cook the gizzard for the gravy. I don't actually use it in the gravy, so I may try to make the stuffing anyway, because it's a traditional dish from my family and it's my favorite of the three. Does anyone else even make gizzard dressing, or know if it makes a difference how long you cook turkey organs? (Doesn't that sound SO appealing?)
The green bean casserole is middling. Our version is always the classic dump-a-can-of-Cream-of-Mushroom, French Onions, and bake thing. I'd like to update it a little, make it a little lighter, a little tastier. We'll have to see.
Finally, the bread-mushroom stuffing is where I worry, because honestly? My mom's stuffing recipe is quite bland and I fully intend to deviate from it. Hopefully she won't be offended. :P We'll see. I'm probably making too much of nothing.
So right now, for the holiday dinner, I know parts of the menu:
-Honey Brined Turkey with Giblet Cream Gravy (have made both parts before with extraordinary success)
-Mashed Potatoes with Chive Cream (have tested this, because mashed potatoes are my nemisis food- I always make them too lumpy or watery. These were perfect, and the chives made them interesting without being overpowering.)
-Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes (have yet to test because I don't care for sweet potatoes, but it looks really good, especially with the marshmellows on top. However, I need to check on my mom's like/dislike for sweet potatoes since the recipe contains nuts, which she's not allowed to have. Pretty sure it's not an issue.)
-Some sort of stuffing/dressing. I have not yet found a recipe.
-Stovetop, provided by Mother-in-law
-Relish tray, with black and green olives, cheese, and pickles
-Rolls- in an ideal world I'd love to do homemade, but I think I will be wise and just get some potato rolls at the grocery store.
-Cranberry sauce- I will go with both family traditions and use the canned stuff. Especially since I do not like cranberry sauce and can't be bothered to put a lot of effort into it, and I suspect even if I do this is one of those foods where everyone will say they like the canned version better. This is fine.
-Veggie 1: some sort of green bean casserole, either the classic recipe or something slightly updated.
-Veggie 2: I'd like to try this Mushroom-caramelized shallot strudel from Cooking Light. There may be a lunch time playgroup at my house this week. I think I shall use the adults as guinea pigs :)
-I should probably offer some form of salad.
Dessert will be:
-pumpkin pie (1 or 2)
-Either the second pumkin pie or a pecan pie, depending on the results of an informal survey of who likes what
-Caramel apple cheesecake
I will also have to provide lunch for my parents and my husband and myself, which in my family is traditionally hors d'oerves. I must see how much I can do ahead, and get a shrimp platter.
Wow. Thanksgiving is much work!
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no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 04:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 05:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 05:15 pm (UTC)I just put a couple more up there - one major benefit of working in a library - when all the November magazines come in, I get to scour them for good recipes!
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 04:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 05:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 04:43 pm (UTC)There is nothing cuter than a baby who has just learned how to ramble around all clumsy and excited. *g*
It was a funny thing with Thanksgiving (and Christmas) in my family. A few years ago we all just sort of decided that we were tired of turkey -- despite having had traditional meals that never varied for DECADES before -- and started making random things like ravioli and cheesecake instead. The variety is fun. :)
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 05:10 pm (UTC)We did the same thing for Christmas, but I think Thanksgiving is pretty much still a tradition. My mom got sick of making the turkey after my father passed away. Thing is, now she still makes the same thing every Christmas, only it's roast beef and roast pork. Although we all appreciate the new "traditional" dessert, which is white chocolate raspberry cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory!
I'm glad I'm cooking this year, to be honest ;)
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 05:44 pm (UTC)Also, save room for me at the table. T-giving dinner sounds scrumptious!
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Date: 2006-10-10 08:00 pm (UTC)I love making mashed potatoes, and I've always made them for large groups. (It was a dinner staple at our ski house, as well as for our yearly Thanksgiving parties we used to throw for 40 or 50 of our friends. Everyone brought a dish, but we always made two of the turkeys, mashed potatoes and stuffing.)
I use both a traditional masher and a hand blender, and I've never had a problem with them being too lumpy. My favorite way to make them is with roasted garlic (which I roast myself) and plain (or chive) cream cheese. (and some butter, salt and black pepper.) I actually prefer using cream cheese to too much milk or cream or even sour cream, because it keeps them creamy without tending towards wateryness.
The menu sounds wonderful! Well, except the gizzard stuff. Heh. :)
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 08:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 04:54 am (UTC)Also a tip I learned from one of my recipe ezines (you might already know it.)
To make room in your oven for all your dishes... When your turkey is done, if you pull the pan out and wrap it in a couple of heavy bath towels, it will give the turkey a chance to set, yet keep it hot for over an hour, giving you a chance to get all the side dishes baked without the turkey taking up room in the oven. It works like a charm.
Allrecipes also has a recipe for make ahead mashed potatoes. It is very good. Something you can do the day before to lessen the work on the big day.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 06:39 am (UTC)