Thanksgiving 2013

I love Thanksgiving. It's a favorite of mine, as far as holidays go. I like to cook, and I like to create new foods and pretty tables. I'll spend time ironing napkins and table cloths, get the candle sticks and good china out. I was given my mother in law's wedding silver, but I didn't use it. I didn't want to polish it. So I use our good Onida table ware and my cheap but elegant Pic N Save pink water goblets. We use all the china, bread plate, salad plate, dinner plate and dessert plates.

When we sit down to eat, I feel like I am at the best restaurant in the world. But the day is a lot of work ahead of time. It's a two day affair to cook for even us three. I love to make home made rolls. I use my bread maker to prepare the dough, and it saves me loads of time, and kneading. It does a fantastic job and I get them baked the day before. But, I need to double the recipe since we will want to have them for breakfast the following day. I make the pies the day before, as well as the sweet potato souffle. I get the turkey ready for the brine and then pull all the dishes out and run them through the dishwasher.

On Thanksgiving day, everything else gets done, roast the garlic for the mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, broccoli, and this year instead of cheese sauce, hollandaise  sauce, made with the blender. WOW now that was easy! The stuffing doesn't go in the turkey. I have struggled with that for years, and now I bake it separately. The turkey goes into my extra oven in the garage, and stays for 4 hrs. That leaves the kitchen oven ready to do the in and out thing for the side dishes. You see, my oven is pretty small and there is no way the turkey can go in along with anything else.

So, after all that work, prep and busy-ness, it is good to sit at a pretty table and feel like a queen.

Then POOF!, it's over. Time for clean up, put up and boil down the carcass. Oh well, it was a great time, and now it time to just sit and relax, waiting for room for pie!