I love Thanksgiving. It’s like Christmas, but without all the stress and madness. Instead, on Thanksgiving all you have to focus on 1) people you love 2) things you are grateful for, and 3) food.
Today I am thankful for Mary’s guardian angels. That little child has had a lot of close calls, but today we had a real scare. During dinner, my mom exclaimed, “Oh, look! Mary fell asleep standing up!” We all got up out of our seats to admire the cuteness, and while we were admiring, Mary coughed, screamed, and started crying. We feel pretty sure she wasn’t sleeping. She was choking. We concluded she had probably passed out standing up. Her mouth was full of kale leaves, and her lips were blue. It was really scary.
Thankfully, her guardian angels got her back on track. Tonight I am thankful that all the people I love are alive, well, and close.
Here are some pictures. Sorry for the million iterations of our family photos. I promised Mom that I would share them all with her, and I have no energy for an email in addition to blogging.
First of all, the end product:
The menu this year consisted of:
- Salt brined turkey http://www.marthastewart.com/317581/roasted-dry-brined-turkey
- Sweet potato casserole http://foodforthoughtrd.com/2014/11/24/sweet-potato-casserole/
- Kale salad
- Roasted brussel sprouts with turkey bacon and apples
- Herbed oyster stuffing http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Herbed-Oyster-Stuffing-107371
- Cranberry and mixed berry sauce “Alex’s Mother’s Cranberry Sauce” http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2006/11/cranberries-candied-fruity-and-drunk/
- Gravy http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/homemade-gravy-recipe.html
- Rolls from a bakery in Salt Lake that I’ve forgotten the name of
- Apple slab pie http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2013/10/apple-slab-pie/
- Pecan pie http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pecan_pie/
- Pumpkin pie from Trader Joe’s
Thoughts for next year: I would try the stuffing again with cornbread. For the cranberry sauce, I would add two cans of whole berry sauce so that there would be three total cans of cranberry sauce in the mixture. The recipe as is isn’t cranberry-intensive enough. I would also definitely do the back of the bag cranberry sauce–I missed that! I might also do the mashed potatoes next year, if only as a vehicle for the gravy. I wanted an excuse for a gravy puddle, and so maybe I’ll reinstate the mashed potatoes next year. Also, the salt brine was great for tenderizing the turkey, but next year I will do it 48 hours in advance instead of a mere 10. I would also double the amount of pie filing in the pecan pie, especially if I used the same pie plate again.
