Thanksgiving

For the first time in a few years we did not have any guests for Thanksgiving dinner. While we enjoy opening up our home and planning a full day of food festivities, this year was very nice and relaxed. We both fit in pre-feasting workouts (the husband managed his hours earlier while I slept in). 

While the turkey was roasting in the oven, we had light appetizers while we watched some football.

 San Daniele prosciutto, pepperjack, aged cheddar, Maytag blue cheese, kalamata olives and fig preserves.

 Crudites with spinach-ranch dip.

Shrimp cocktail

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 The turkey turned out nicely browned. I seasoned it with butter, fresh sage leaves, thyme, salt and pepper, and roasted it at 325F for three hours. The best trick was preheating the oven to 400F, and lowering the temperature once the turkey went in.

 Green Bean Casserole

The husband requested this dish. I included some sauteed gourmet mushroom mix to the standard recipe. Fattening, but so satisfying.

Cornbread stuffing with mushrooms, celery and onions.

Lightly saute the celery, onion and mushrooms in butter, then add two eggs, chicken broth and cornbread before baking. I baked this Wednesday night, and they easily reheated in the oven while the green bean casserole cooked.

 We made light mashed potatoes (substituted chicken broth for some of the butter and milk), and boosted the flavor of the turkey gravy by making a turkey stock with the turkey neck. I love gravy.

Pumpkin Pie

Baked the pumpkin pie on Wednesday night, which filled the air with the smell of the holidays. This year I used evaporated milk and eggs along with the pumpkin pie filling and pumpkin pie spices. This was a custard-like, creamy pie. We ate so much on Thanksgiving, my husband didn't have his pie until Black Friday breakfast.