Thanksgiving Menu

First things first, happy belated birthday to Mod R.

Lo, it is the traditional Thanksgiving Menu post. I planned to skip it, but Mod R tactfully asked when it would be coming.

Thanksgiving is a big holiday for our family, because life is short and we must celebrate whenever we can. It is also one of the more relaxing holidays we have. There is no pressure of gift giving, and everyone just eats too much of the kind of food that you indulge in a couple of times a year.

We are looking at for sure seven people for Thanksgiving, probably at least a few more, and we focus on variety and quality over volume. We use smaller pans and lay everything buffet style on the island, so people can make their plates and then head to the dining room. In the end, the kids and guests are loaded with leftovers, which they conveniently take to their house. The goal is to make just enough for the majority of the sides to be either eaten or taken home.

Menu

Meats

Popeye’s Cajun Turkey with Turkey Gravy

H-E-B Bone-in ham, smoked with home made cider glaze

Sides

Turkey Stuffing

Green Bean Casserole

Mac and Cheese

Mashed potatoes

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Dried Cranberries

Sweet potato casserole

Corn

Cranberry Sauce

Bread (I’m going to attempt to plait some bread, Universe help me. Too much Great British Baking Show and Paul Hollywood.)

Desserts

Apple Pie

Pumpkin Pie

Pecan Pie

Sweet Potato Pie

Drinks (non alcoholic)

Mulled Cider Sangria

Rosemary Ginger Cocktail

Normally we do some recipes but I’m not sure what you guys want to know more about as these are all pretty basic. I will stick to tips this year.

Gravy and stock:

I thought of adding a pot roast to all of this, but decided against it due to Gordon wanting ham. One thing that I see about people who opt for pot roast or stews for Thanksgiving: a lot of time people will brown their meat and then add chicken or beef broth to the pot to cook it in. Same with stove-top stuffing – chicken broth is the go to.

Here is the thing: you already will have meat broth naturally as the meat cooks. I recommend swapping half of your broth for vegetable stock.

Good vegetable stock packs a lot of umami flavor. When I make stew or pot roasts, I typically add vegetable stock and water to the pot instead of broth and it turns out delicious. For our Thanksgiving, if you are doing Popeye Turkey, the drippings from this turkey as it cooks are super yummy. I usually pour them into a pot and add a tiny bit of apple cider and either good quality turkey gravy or just thicken it with corn starch.

For stuffing, I’m going with the Stove-Top Turkey option. I know, blasphemy. My oven space is at a premium, and having cooked a whole bunch of gourmet stuffing from scratch in previous years, I can confidently report that everyone just loves the Stove-Top Turkey as the base. You can doctor it with bacon or caramelized onion and dired cranberries, but as far as the stuffing itself, it works.

The key to making it super delicious is using quality bone broth instead of watery chicken stock.

Brussels Sprouts

I am going to be trying something new with Brussels sprouts this year. The basic recipe is to cut them in half, toss them in oil and spices, arrange them in a single layer on the baking sheet and cook them at 400F for about half an hour. Here is a good write up. I read about a method that involves preheating the baking sheet in the oven. Supposedly this caramelizes them faster and better. I will report on success or failure.

Mac and Cheese

Block cheese is essential. You will find recipes that are calling for shredded cheese, but shredded cheese is coated, so it doesn’t melt the same. This year we have a good smoky Cheddar, Gruyère, and Parmesan with heavy whipping cream as the sauce base.

Apple Pie

Tried and true apple pie recipes call for Granny Smith. I am swapping half of the apples for Pink Lady. Pink Lady bakes well and having two apple varieties adds richness to the pie.

And that about wraps it up. We are going to start cooking pies on Wednesday and Thursday will be busy, but I bought a charcuterie board, so i am going to throw that at the kids and guests to buy us time to get the dinner ready.

This year I’m thankful for surviving. The truth is, the surgery and the three months immediately before it took a lot out of me. There was a period of self-imposed starvation, punctuated by a lot of pain wrapped in uncertainty. I knew something was seriously wrong, I didn’t know what it was, I didn’t have a definitive diagnosis, and I felt guilty for going to ER. I never before had surgery and when I was done, it messed with my head. The gallbladder attacks were so severe that after I was released from the hospital, I had 24 hours of irrational panic that the surgery hadn’t worked and the pain would come back.

When I think about it, it seems so far away, but it was six months ago. This is my first no-gallbladder Thanksgiving. My scars have healed. I’m grateful for making it through and writing silly posts about cooking too much food which I will gleefully offer to my family.