Receta Black Friday...
Whew! What a couple of days it's been! Cooking and baking up a storm - for THREE people! That's right, the famdamly didn't drive up this year because of the weather...so, so sad for me!! I had already puchased my Thanksgiving supplies so I had to make the entire feast - and I did - and we ate and ate and ate and it was glorious!!! We went into the dining room as three starving people and exited as the Three Pigs...so today is not Black Friday because of shopping...oh no, it's Black Friday because I'm under the illusion that if I WEAR BLACK I'll hide the 7 to 10 pounds I gained yesterday! I haven't actually gotten on the scale but I'm sure it was at least that much...
The 21 lb. turkey was a bit big for my counter-top roaster - so I had to use a few rocks to keep the lid on:
If you don't have a roaster, consider getting one - it works just like an oven - you can even bake bread and pies in the thing...but cooking a turkey in it will guarantee a crispy outside and a moist inside...and they're cheap, too! Target had one on sale for $27!! Then you can save your real oven(s) for pies and sides and rolls, it's the right thing to do! The turkey was the star, of course, but a couple of other turkeys showed up...
They refused to wear the hats until I said NOBODY EATS UNTIL I GET MY PICTURE!! In a sweet voice, naturally, and so they put them on but refused to show their faces...I didn't make them eat with them on, I'm not cruel....and besides, I couldn't have risked having them get food on them! We sat down at the table and before I brought in the food I made them read a small children's book called The Pilgrim's Story...it's about 12 paragraphs long...of course they protested...but I said, again in my sweet, soft voice, NOBODY EATS UNTIL YOU READ THE BOOK! And so they read...and after each paragraph they injected their snide remarks, thinking they were hilarious...and they were. Finally the feasting began...
Along with the Maple/Orange Glazed Turkey we had:
Pureed Pan Gravy - the best tasting gravy ever - no flour, no corn-starch, no lumps...it's miracle liquid!
Mashed potatoes...the secret to good mashers is butter...1 dozen peeled potatoes needs two sticks of butter and just a tad of milk...feel free to quote me on this.
Stuffed celery...it's a family tradition - stuffed with cheese that comes in little jars...artery clogging processed cheese on celery...polar opposites, like being a Republican in Seattle or a Democrat on the Eastside.
Creamed onions...recipe courtesy of Smitten Kitchen, she said they were great and they were!
Braised Red Cabbage...another family tradition - cooked in red wine with molasses and apples...nothing like what you would expect - sweet and tasty!
Stuffing...no oysters or cornbread but the mister lapped it up, saying it was the best ever.
Raspberry Jell-O salad...another family tradition...there's always room for Jell-O!
Sweet Potato Casserole...the boy wouldn't touch it but the mister who claims to have a natural aversion to the stuff had two servings...two!
Green Beans with potato chips...yep, you read that right...green beans cooked crisp-tender then drenched in cream of mushroom soup and a bit of soy sauce then topped with crunched up potato chips...it's the salt in the chips that makes this the mister's favorite...
Pumpkin-Pear Soup...we started our meal with shots of this - sweet with a hint of curry...recipe will be up soon as you'll want to make this over the holidays - yes, you will!
Homemade rolls...After watching the parade AND the dog show on TV I was thinking everything was under control and then I remembered I hadn't made the rolls!!! Fortunately I had just enough time so they were hot out of the oven right as we sat down!
Then we had pie...Cherry Cream Pie (recipe coming soon!) and Paula's Pumpkin Pie - that would be Paula Deen's Pie so you know it's loaded with goodness! And we had French Cran-Apple-Almond Pie ...and then, on the 7th day, seeing it was good, we rested from our work and ate and slept. And we slept some more.
And now we have leftovers!
Hope your Thanksgiving was equally as grand! Just typing all of this has me reaching for another Alka-Seltzer...plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is! Now I must go for a waddle walk...I need to squeeze into my black pants so I can go shopping!