Thanksgiving

Yesterday, my husband and I did the most rebellious thing we could for a holiday - spent it together with just the two of us.  The last few weeks have been hard, with little time to spend together, if at all, so this was just what we needed.  I did most of the work in the kitchen, which was OK.  I thought I'd share my Thanksgiving Menu, which of course left TONS of leftovers for just the two of us, but that was partially intentional.  Most of the recipes were taken from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook my MIL got us a while back.  I'm finding the recipes are basic enough for me to follow, but still add my own ideas to.

* Appetizer: Baked brie with craisins

1 8oz brie, cut in half horizontally (making two wheels). Fill with about a tablespoon on melted butter, about a tablespoon of brown sugar, cinnamon to taste and about about a 8th to 6th of a cup of craisins. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. Served with crackers.

* Turkey: Followed Fannie Farmers directions (mostly)

Rinsed and dried outside of turkey. Filled cavity with peeled & sliced onions and sprigs of parsley. Put salt & pepper on the outside, then rubbed butter on the outside. Put it, breast side up onto a parchment paper covered rack in a baking pan, and made a tin foil tent for the top of the breasts. Cooked for a few hours at 350, until it got to 180 according to the thermometer. We basted it every 20 minutes with butter and then the drippings in the pan. This came out super moist and yummy.

* Stuffing: Stove top.  Totally cheated.  It was eh.  I'm not a big stuffing fan to begin with, but my husband loves it.  Meh.  Next time i'll do it from scratch too.

* Potatoes: Roasted yukon gold, russet and sweet potatoes with rosemary and thyme.

This is one of those i can make anytime and do a thousand ways and they come out awesome. Cut up potatoes into bite size-ish chunks. Use what ever kind you like. I like to do a mixture for flavor and texture, but you don't have to be so fancy. I used 3 large potatoes and half a bag of tiny potatoes, enough to make a single layer (mostly) in a casserole dish. Drizzle olive oil and spices (i used rosemary and thyme, but there are no rules about it). Stick in the oven until tender. I usually cook these at a higher temperature, but since the turkey was hogging the oven, they were at 350 and took a little over an hour.

* Veggie: Asparagus, pretty much just like the potatoes.  Washed it, broke off the bottoms since they're not tasty and arranged on a cookie sheet.  Drizzled olive oil, then rosemary and thyme (keeping the flavor profiles together!) and stuck in the oven for about 15-20 minutes at 350.  Tasty and simple!

* Gravy: Followed Fannie Farmer's advice and used the pan drippings and flour.  This was the husband's big contribution.  Although he wanted to get fancy i encouraged him to keep things simple.  He rushed a little, so things were a little thin but still tasted awesome.

* Pumpkin bread with chocolate chips: Used the Fannie Farmer pumpkin bread recipe and added chocolate chips instead of nuts, because dear husband is not a fan of nuts.

* Apple pie (of course!): Again, Fannie Farmer for the dough and basics, but had a little fun with spices.  Used a nice mix of apples that gave some good texture and a little tartness.  I don't like totally uniform apple pies.  With the leftover dough i made some flower cut outs, which made me happy.  She didn't mention doing an eggwash on the top of the pie, but i always grew up doing so, for browning and shine, so i did.

Overall everything came out great (except the stuffing).  I'm really proud of myself and think next year we may host thanksgiving!