Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!!

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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).

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

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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!

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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.

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

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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!

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

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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.)

6 comments:

Kaimono888 said...

Have a good break and I'm looking forward to see your post on the food trucks ^.~

KirkK said...

Looks like a delicious Thankgsgiving!

tofugirl said...

Thanks Kaimono! In the end I only got to visit one...trip was too short :(

Kirk, it was :) Can't go wrong with turkey and stuffing, I say.

Bentobird said...

Sorry, jusy seeing this yummy post now! Love the amber-lit stuffing pic, looks so good...thanks for sahring your holiday!

Unknown said...

Haha a funny post again! We don't have Thanksgiving so I'm jealous. Turkey and pumpkin pie are musts, right? I don't like turkey so much but this one sounds very very good!! Could you please put into my mouth a slice of the turkey and cranberry tart if they are left...:D

tofugirl said...

Whoops, I'm a little late responding to comments! Sorry!

Bentobird, stuffing is my # 1 favorite Thanksgiving food, but I haven't settled on a favorite recipe yet. Next year, I'm gonna try putting chestnuts in it...

Izumi, glad I made you laugh, hehe. And yes, turkey and pumpkin pie are definitely musts!! I'm not a huge fan of turkey myself, but this one was really yummy. I hope you have a chance sometime to eat a deep fried turkey, because it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!!!