I made my first all-veggie Thanksgiving feast: Field Roast Celebration Roast with onion-miso gravy, mashed sweet potatoes with bananas and nutmeg; French beans, maple-Dijon-pecan-glazed Brussels sprouts, roasted acorn squash and pumpkin tofu cheesecake. Mmm mmm.
We deep-fried a turkey for the first time this year. If my husband and son-in-law had read the instructions, the bird would have been done on time.It was delicious, though, and the thing I liked best about it was that I got the bird outside the kitchen and into the (semi) responsible hands of someone else. The rest of the meal (potato-artichoke casserole, brandied-orange sweet potatoes, stuffing, green beans) was suddenly very easy to finish. All that oven space!
Time to head for the leftovers!
Wheee! I totally agree with everything you said here.
Inneresting. My son-in-law is an executive chef, and it always fascinates me that these guys (and gals) can control the cooking of a thousand different dishes for a thousand orders and have 'em all finish at the same time.
Brilliant.
Lectric lady, back in the day when my house was still Thanksgiving Central, I always hickory-smoked my organic bird on the Weber grill on the back porch. It only takes 3-4 hours to do a 20-lb bird, and it comes out all black and gorgeous, so moist it falls off the bone.
And, yeah, it's not tying up the stove -- which was, at that time, a cobalt blue four-oven AGA extravaganza. (If you remember the aunties' big buttercream yellow stove in "Practical Magic," it was exactly the same beast in a different color. (Photo attached -- click here.) Four ovens, each permanently set to its own temp, meant I had two to bake in, and two to hold already-done things in. The oven's cast-iron radiant heat means nothing dries out. So things were always ready to come out at the same time.
Good times. I had no idea they'd be over this soon. Smaller house, smaller AGA, family farther away, and simply no energy for it. I enjoyed that feast-making zen LM describes, too. But I don't know if I'll ever be up to feeding a dozen people three or four holiday meals (say, Christmas Eve stew, Christmas morning brunch, and Christmas dinner) in a row again. It doesn't seem likely.
Dang it. We've got that little photo utility, but I can't seem to make it work.
The html is here:
http://thumbsnap.com/v/PrYMLXhk.jpg
Ahhhh.
Sonoma County's own Willie Bird and rich brown gravy. 2 kinds stuffing (onion/celery & apple/apricot). Root vegetable casserole featuring chunks of sweet potato, sunchoke & pineapple. Smashed potatoes. Roasted green beans with shallots & lemon zest & toasted hazelnuts. Brussels sprouts with garlic & pancetta. Roasted beets in balsamic vinaigrette, homemade cranberry-orange relish with cinnamon stick and red wine, pumpkin pie, fancy chocolates. Local pinot, beer, and sparkling cider. Oh, my!
I'm fascinated by the differences between American Thanksgiving meals and Canadian Thanksgiving meals. Turkey and dressing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie seem to be the only things in common.
Bean pie? Macaroni and CHEESE? (MACARONI and cheese?!?) Sweet potatoes? Green bean casserole (see you didn't have this one)? Huh. Weird.
And where are the rutabaga, Brussels sprouts, creamed onions and butter tarts? Eh? Where?
yumity yum! next year we should all go to LM's!
Holy shit, I think I just gained ten pounds reading this. LM, you did Mr. Gilliard proud today. Now I want to make everything you did.
I agree with you about Empire turkeys. I got one a few years ago and have never gone back. Unless you can get one from a turkey farm, the rabbis know what they're doing.
“Root vegetable casserole featuring chunks of sweet potato, sunchoke & pineapple.”
Whoa! This sounds absolutely spectacular! As does your entire spread, Makeda!
Sounds like you had a gastronome's delight of a day as well.
On a side note, my brother's in the neighborhood and asked if he could stop by to kick off his shoes and have a bite. Blazin' up a plate for him now.
Gettin' a blanket too. He'll pass out till about midnight afterwards. 
“and butter tarts?”
Had these for the first time two years in Kincardine ( Couple of a hours west of Toronto by car) wile there on a film shoot.
Oh, my!
I was 40 lbs heavier then and these ddin't help.
“two years in Kincardine ( Couple of a hours west of Toronto by car) wile there on a film shoot.”
two years AGO in Kincardine WHILE there on a film shoot.
Damn tryptophan blindness.
LM, good thing we're on opposite coasts or we'd be doing the progressive (! what other kind is there?) dinner from your house to mine & back again, and all gain 40 lbs!
I was discouraged from bringing the maple-pecan-chocolate tart this year, since most of us at the dinner actually took off weight this year and are trying to keep it that way.
Didn't miss it too badly. And there were lots of yummy veggies. Yeah, that root veg. casserole was a winner, and not too sweet either. Mmm-mmm! Got to get that recipe.
[waves to Hubris, tlg, & Terri - happy belated Turkey Day from California!]
I know Kincardine. I would have said it's 2 hours north-west of me - and I'm an hour west of Toronto. Hmm... Guess I drive slow.
Butter tarts are killer, definitely. Now I have to admit, not a Thanksgiving thing particularly, but nobody'd turn them down. I'm thinking I might make some for Christmas now...
“and I'm an hour west of Toronto. Hmm... Guess I drive slow.”
I did lead-foot it from Toronto. Got in on the train 'round midnight, got my rental car and FLEW from T-Town to Kincardine. Late at night, no one on the roads and plenty of Tim Hortons to fuel me. Took just under three hours as I spent time lost on one of the local roads.
Can't lie—found myself doin' 80-85 mph much of the empty-roaded way. Great roads. Smooth and sweet late at night.
Just like a butter tart.
>butter tart.
Butter tart, isn't that cockney rhyming slang for something, or is it just me?
Mrs Robinson
I agree about the time investment. I don't know where I got the energy for all that cooking and entertaining.
We used to have Thanksgiving at a hunting camp shack that had no electricity or running water. We did the whole feast! There was a propane stove so we could cook the pre-made side dishes and we weber-grilled the turkey. Dinner was by candle light in front of the wood stove.
Great times, but a whole load of work!
our bird was an 8 lb royal palm tom, which i shot myself. i used a .32 cal pennsylvania long rifle (flintlock) and nailed him through the neck at about 75 yds. he was hung for two days. then plucked and brined. i cut him in pieces for more even roasting, the parts were interspersed with an oyster/chestnut/cornbread dressing and various root veggies. the other meat dish was elk shanks ossu buco. wilted spinach salad, flakey dinner rolls. . .pumpkin pie. good friends and family. perfect day. except ASU got creamed. too bad. of course, they were playing over their heads for weeks. it was a great run and they went further than anyone expected them to go.
“Butter tart, isn't that cockney rhyming slang for something, or is it just me?”
Wink, wink! Nudge-nudge! Say no more, say no more! Know what I mean?
Far as I know, it's just a RICH, addictive Canadian pastry/mini-pie. Kind of like a pecan pie, minus the pecans. Oh lord—with a cup of good coffee...
Although there was a particularly attractive young lady P.A. on the set up there, who galavanted about in shorts and a tank top for whom the nickname “butter tart” would have been absolutely apt.
“Snort!”
I can feel myself getting fatter just by reading this thread!
Hello, LowerManhattanite, i remember commenting on Gilly's mac and cheese - i am of the roux based cheese sauce over boiled noodle school.
This year we tried a cranberry chutney - only had dried cranberries -chopped them with chopped oranges, red onions, brown sugar, mustard seed, powdered cloves... was very good!!
“This year we tried a cranberry chutney - only had dried cranberries -chopped them with chopped oranges, red onions, brown sugar, mustard seed, powdered cloves... was very good!!”
Sounds dee-licious, Kathryn!
Another page in the GNB Holiday Cookbook filled!
Bean pie? Beans as a dessert? And I thought Asians had a toehold on this one...I feel like a fool I had no idea (I just asked my huz and he said yeah you didn't know?)
finding a recipe online now.
LM,
Is it possible for you to airlift out
a version of this feast to my midwestern abode?
(just follow my neighbor's Christmas lights)
Could someone, anyone, provide a recipe for the "butter tarts of our neighbor to he North?
Great writing, as always gang.
LM, everyone, you've been cooking up a storm.
Pens on fire.
Flame on.
Happy holidays to everyone.
Damn, I'm so hungry!
Thank you all!
Can you please have some kind of contest or lottery next year and the winner gets to have dinner with the LM family? I will have to fly 1500 miles to get there if I win, but it will be worth it.
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