Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving

In my last post I was complaining about how slow it was.  Last week was completely different - I was super busy.  So busy that I didn't even have time to read the blogs I follow, let alone post my own.  And yet, I still made it out of work before 1pm on Wednesday so I could get my holiday grocery shopping done on the way home.

And it was truely quite a bit of grocery shopping.  I, of course, have favorite places to shop for particular things - Whole Foods for most produce, Trader Joes for particular items (like mixed pearl onions, mixed baby yams and sweet potatoes, and spring mix), I had a stop to make at Target for a spring form pan.  After stopping at a reprographics place to buy paper for our plotter and picking up and delivering a prescription fo my Gpa, I finally made it home at 4:30.  That's right, over 3 1/2 hours of grocery shopping and errands.

There was still lots to do.  Thanksgiving dinner was to be at Bobby's parents house, and my parents would be joining us.  Bobby's mom was oven roasting a turkey, making regular stuffing and gravy, and warming up the dinner rolls, his sister was making pumpkin soup, sister-in-law making cranberry sauce, and his brother was deep frying a turkey and making mashed potatoes.  I was feeling ambitious, and had signed up to make:
Roast Sweet Potatoes, Pearl Onions, and Butternut Squash
Green Beans, Pearl Onions and Slivered Almonds
Mixed Green Salad

Bobby was convinced I'd purchased way too much food, but I knew that once we started preparing it the bags would condense down.  It would still be too much food, but that had more to do with the fact that we were making so many things.  I knew his parents' house would be busy and crowded, so I went to my parents' to prep food while Bobby went out with his brother.  Dad even helped by trimming Brussels sprouts.  Mom and I spent the evening trimming and peeling and chopping.  Then we sat down to watch The Colbert Report.  

Bobby came home during the show, and I expressed my surprise that he was home so early.  I'd expected him to be out quite late since it is so rare that he can go out with his brother.  But he said he was tired and that the bars out there don't have the kind of beer he likes.  Just not a Bud Light fan.  C'est la vie.  So we drank wine together and watched the end of the Report, and then crawled into bed.

I had decided to only make a half batch of the Wild Mushroom and Spinach Stuffing, so in the morning I took some of my excess mushrooms and shallots and cream and whipped up a little mushroom and shallot egg scramble with cheddar and jack cheese on top while mom made bacon.  Breakfast has always been a meal I love and it was nice to sit down to it with my parents.

After breakfast I went back to my prep work while Bobby worked on a plan.  We knew that if we went to his parents' house we would be less productive.  The kitchen would already be crowded, and everyone else would be bustling around the house cleaning up and preparing for company.  So we stayed at my parents' and worked there.

For the Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Pearl Onions, and Butternut Squash - everything was just cut in bitesized peices, tossed in butter, salt, and pepper, then baked for an hour at the same temp everything else was - 375.  For the Green Beans - just threw some butter and a little water in a saute pan, added in the beans and halved pearl onions, and covered and cooked until just tender.  Everything else was according to the recipes, except that I only blanced the Brussels sprouts and cauliflower for 3 minutes, not 3 and 5.  I like them a little crunchier.

Timing turned out to be just about perfect.  We took everything out of the oven and headed over to his parents' to arrive right on time with hot food.  The turkeys weren't quite ready yet, but my part was done now.  Mom brought some really nice red wine, and Bobby brought a bottle of port to go with dessert.

Everything was delicious.  Both turkeys came out moist and tender, and sides that came out especially well were the pumpkin soup, cranberry sauce (which I normally don't care for), and the wild mushroom stuffing.  Brian's mashed potatoes and my mushroom leek soup were delicious as always.  Both the babies fell asleep right at the table, while chewing their turkey, but woke from their nap in time to watch Wall-E while we ate dessert and had coffee or tea.  In addition to my pumpkin cheesecake (which was good, but in my opinion not as good a a slice each of plain cheesecake and pumpkin pie), there were pumpkin, peach, and pecan pies.  All went nicely with the port.

Of which I had a tad too much.  Along with the wine.  Bobby finally had to gather me up and take me home.  We knew we'd be back Saturday morning so there was no need to worry about taking leftovers home with us just yet.

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