Happy Thanksgiving!!

Well ahem, actually, by the time this publishes, I'll be in beautiful Vancouver (actually, according to the weather reports, it's supposed to rain or snow every day I'm there...) for a short break. I'm not sure what we'll be having for Thanksgiving dinner, but I'm sure it'll be good (and will not be turkey). So anyhow, since I am going to be out of town, I went home and had a little pre-Thanksgiving celebration with my family.

For the last couple of years, we've deep-fried a turkey; this year, my brother decided to go with roasting. The turkey was brined with salt, oregano, and a LOT of garlic. Okay, usually I'm not down with roasting, because in my experience, it results in a dry turkey, but this one was juicy and delicious! And because of the brining, the skin was really tasty (I kind of just wanted to eat the skin, actually).


Side 1, brussels sprouts, parboiled and then sauteed with olive oil and lemon. I probably should have let them brown a bit more.


Side 2, chorizo and mushroom stuffing (using a loaf of my brother's bread). I loooove stuffing, but my stuffing still needs work. I hate to admit it, but I kinda miss the plain old Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix that we ate as kids. Or maybe that's just nostalgia talking. Not pictured are sides 3 and 4, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce (with orange juice and zest)--oh, and gravy. Another thing I need to work on!


My first plate (you know how I complain about not having enough natural light to shoot pictures with during the winter? Okay, in this case, TOO much light.) I won't tell you how many plates this is the first of.


And of course, you can't have Thanksgiving without dessert--I'm very proud of this crust edge.


Not that it stayed that way after baking, HMPH. But oh well, taste trumps appearance, and hey, how can you go wrong with pumpkin pie? This one wasn't as rich as I usually make them, since I had no sour cream on hand. Which is probably just as well!


And with the crust trimmings, I decided to make a little freeform cranberry sauce tart (what was I saying about too much light? eek!)


Hey, presto! Bonus dessert!

Okay, I must run--gotta pack! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! And if you overindulge, I recommend some restorative ginger tea. :) Me, I hope I have time to hit up Panda Fresh Bakery and maybe check out some of the other food trucks on the scene (like Kimono Koi Crepes! Mmm, crepes.)