Thanksgiving!

[gayathri]

I'm thankful for many things.

I had this brilliant idea of doing a Thanksgiving dinner for a good friend of mine - I know she loves having people over, but its hard for her to entertain. I love spending time with her and her family, and was trying hard to figure out some way of returning all that they've done for me in the past few years.

So, I offered to help cook thanksgiving dinner, take care of the turkey and a couple of side dishes, if she'd provide the space and let me invite a few people who are important to me to spend the afternoon. It worked out amazingly well even given the restrictions of a fairly strict kosher kitchen - the meat had to be prepared and cooked there, and since I was brining and cooking _two_ turkeys.... this was going to be slightly exciting.

littletranquil was awesomest in finding and picking up two kosher turkeys and bread (thanks again for all the driving, and erranding! it was really helpful!) and we showed up on Wednesday evening to brine them both - this was a bit of a hassle, as they have to be stored in icewater brine and kept under 40 degrees overnight. The usual way is to keep 'em in a cooler with plenty of ice, which we did. Littletranquil kept me company and hung out while bobbing_bob basically pointed out where things were. Perfect! It was fun and crazy spending time with them both.

bobbing_bob already had a vegetarian shepard's pie, and basil/zucchini, and I took on the stuffing and roasted potatoes, and roasting the brussel sprouts. Ended up making all of that wednesday night while byronium made his awesome apple pie, and passed out.

Up early to head over to get the first turkey in the oven - I should have had it in the oven by 9 am, but it was closer to 10 am. I used Alton Brown's method, which I find to be painless, easy, and makes for a fine roasted turkey that's pretty to look at, moist to eat and tasty as all get out.

the second turkey didnt come out of the oven until 3 pm, but I think that was ok, ended up not even actually _needing_ it - I'd utterly overestimated that 12 people meant I'd need about 18 lbs of bird, when really - the 12 lb bird with all the sides would have been perfect, just leaving no leftovers of turkey for folks to take home. Big thanks to byronium for carving both birds. (You're getting awesome at it!)

One thing I screwed up was in making the stuffing, I should have stuck to the rule in my head to make anything vegan to keep it safe in terms of kosher - turns out even using non-kosher chicken broth made it so the kosher folks couldnt eat or even actually serve the stuffing at the table. (I sent it off with littletranquil to her second dinner party, where it was apparently a huge hit! I'll have to make it again for me to eat. :))

I wanted to be ultra respectful of the rules, and I'm glad I managed ok - I felt bad about the stuffing, but seriously - roasted potatoes, roasted brussel sprouts, bread, cranberry chutney, turkey, veggie potpie, and the zucchini cooked with basil... plenty of food for all. Dessert was apple pie courtesy of Byronium, who as always, didnt disappoint, even tho he'd never made it with vegetable shortening before.

I'm glad I got to spend time with some of my favoritest people, to have a lovely dinner with tasty foods, good wine, interesting conversation, and best of all, Not Clean Up. :) (Thanks to yozlet and bobbing_bob's father for taking care of us!)

Heading home, I had to stop at the pharmacy, and was approached by a homeless woman - I had a moment of such anguished sadness for her, that I wished her a happy thanksgiving in return and gave her the change out of my pocket. I wished I had the leftovers from dinner to give her as well, but she seemed content in that I'd spoken to her, acknowledged her, and given what I had. I am fortunate indeed that I have a roof over my head, a warm clean place to sleep at night, friends and family who would step in to help if I needed it,

Comments

[boyastridgirl.livejournal.com]

Sounds like an absolute lovely time!