Happy day-before-Thanksgiving to you!
[NOTE: This is a slightly-edited reprint of a previous post.]
I happen to like Thanksgiving. Always have. It’s a holiday for anyone and everyone in this country—except, of course, people who hate turkey. There are quite a few of those curmudgeonly folks, but I’m happy to report I’m not one of them. Even if the turkey ends up dry and overcooked, it’s nothing that a little gravy and cranberry sauce can’t fix. And although the turkey is the centerpiece, it’s the accompaniments that make the meal.
My theory on turkeys is that they’re like children: you coax them along and just do the best you can, but as long as you don’t utterly ruin or abuse them, they have their own innate characteristics that will manifest in the end. A dry and tough bird will be a dry and tough bird despite all that draping in fat-soaked cheesecloth; a tender and tasty one can withstand a certain amount of cooking incompetence.
One year long ago my brother and I were cooking at my parents’ house and somehow we set the oven on “broil,” an error that was only discovered an hour before the turkey was due to be finished cooking. But it was one of the best turkeys ever. Another time the turkey had turned deep bluish-purple hue on defrosting and was so hideous and dangerous-looking that it had to be abandoned. Another terrible time, one that has lived in infamy ever since, my mother decided turkey was passe and that we’d have steak on Thanksgiving.
Since I like to eat, I’m drawn to the fact that Thanksgiving is a food-oriented holiday with a basic obligatory theme (turkey plus seasonal autumnal food) and almost infinite variations on that theme. Sweet potatoes? Absolutely—but oh, the myriad ways to make them, some revolting, some sublime. Pie? Of course, but what kind? And what to put on it, ice cream, whipped cream, or both?
For me, there are three traditional requirements—besides the turkey, of course. There has to be at least one pecan pie, although eating it in all its sickening sweetness can put an already-sated person right over the top. The cranberry sauce has to be made from fresh cranberries (it’s easy: cranberries, water, and sugar to taste, simmered on top of the stove till mushy and a bright deep red), and lots of it (it’s good on turkey sandwiches the next day, too). The traditional stuffing in my family is non-traditional – and I already gave the recipe for it yesterday.
Thanksgiving is one of the few holidays that has a theme that is vaguely religious – giving thanks – but has no specific religious affiliation. So it’s a holiday that unites – although good luck on that. It’s one of the least commercial holidays as well, because it involves no presents. It’s a home-based holiday, which is good, too, except for those who don’t have relatives or friends to be with. One drawback is the terribly compressed travel time; I solve that by not usually traveling very far.
The main advantage to hosting the day is having leftovers left over. The main disadvantage to hosting the day is having leftovers left over.
I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving Day, filled with friends and/or family of your choice, and just the right amount of leftovers.
Right back atchya, neo! 🙂
Have a Great Thanksgiving neo!
And everyone else too!!!
Not a house that enjoys turkey much, so we’re spending today smoking a brisket for tomorrow.
The main point of Thanksgiving, besides gratitude and family, is abundance. It doesn’t so much matter what you cook, as that you cook way more than anyone can eat.
A Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Even in the aches and pains of aging, there is so much to be thankful. And thank God for President Trump.
Have a great Thanksgiving holiday, friends [that latter includes neo]!
I went from 2 thanksgiving dinners invitations last year to zero this year. I was about to blow it off. I’ve got lots of friends, but everybody seemed to have made plans well in advance.
However, I made a very low probability invitation to a single friend that’s not in my other groups. Voila! Dinner for two at a local restaurant serving a traditional meal.
I don’t know about the pound cake, but of all the Thanksgiving stuffing I have eaten, the stuffing I liked the most had fruit in it. Definitely dried fruit. Apples–probably, but don’t remember. I had it at my brother’s place. My sister-in-law is the best cook I know. Which is why she and my brother hardly ever eat out. Not many restaurant cooks are up to the level of my sister-in-law.
Fruit and turkey- reminds me of a Christmas tradition in (Alta+ Baja) Verapaz, Guatemala: Kak’-ik, a.k.a turkey stew/soup. Here are some (DuckDuck) kak ik recipes.
While there were definitely plums in the Christmas meals, I remember from Guatemala, and plums were definitely in the tamales–along w some turkey meat–I don’t remember if plums were added to the Kak’-ik. Probably not.
My wife makes what she does best: reservations.
happy thanksgiving all
Happy Thanksgiving to Neo, and all!
Thanks!
Happy Thanksgiving!
The turkey (not injected with any basting solutions, just turkey) is in the fridge on a rack, uncovered, salted inside and out. Tomorrow, we’ll smear the outside with ghee, add pepper and onion powder, put a cut onion in the cavity, and put it in a 450Âş oven, reducing immediately to 325Âş. Dressing with sausage and apple, homemade cranberry sauce. And the best thing about all this is the turkey soup made next day. I would not go through all this without making soup.
Also, thanks to Ben David, from yesterday, for the idea of baking a spatchcocked chicken on a bed of stuffing/dressing. I’ll try that sometime!
I was introduced to Sugar Cream Pie by a commenter on your Thanksgiving food post last year, and was curious. Haven’t tried one yet, but my brother will be bringing one using cornstarch, and I just made one – using flour (Dan Quayle’s recipe) – to bring. Dueling recipes – we will see which is the favorite!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
We had lunch today with one son and will have lunch tomorrow with another (work schedules sometimes ignore holidays).
Completely vegan meal today, full-bore traditional tomorrow.
Best of both worlds!
My vegan son is an excellent cook; his teen-age daughter has health issues that preclude a meat diet, although they only discovered that this past year. She is doing much, much better now, and the family started cooking new ways to support her, and discovered they liked it.
Me: I enjoyed the meal, but I’m too old and set in my ways to stop eating meat entirely and it doesn’t bother me, so I won’t. However, we have gone from me cooking fresh turkey in the oven to my other DiL cooking smoked turkey in a covered roaster.
Tastes good either way!
And there are always plenty of left-overs.
PS to Shirehome: May the blessings of the Author of Thanksgiving be with you and your wife at this difficult time.
Mrs. Sam Owen’s Deep-fries her Turkey/s. People say they are ‘Over the Moon‘ – tho am not sure anyone has ever tasted one (?!). Compared to Sam’s Deep-fried Turkeys Putin’s MIRV ICBM’s are nothing…
Every year I read about someone suffering serious burns from deep-frying a turkey. Be careful!
Now this guy knows how to make a turkey.
https://youtu.be/dJZeAAs2V2c?si=Fvk9fyEkawLuNuuS
Lots of garlic butter, and there’s bacon. I’m trying this the next time I do Thanksgiving at home.
Wishing everyone a joyous Feast of the Leftovers tomorrow.