Posts Tagged ‘Thanksgiving’
how g and t do Thanksgiving … for two!
t says: So, after last year’s expertly-orchestrated Thanksgiving cook-a-thon, g and I were ready to dominate T-day again this year … until it turned out that we weren’t going to be able to spend the holiday with our families. On one hand, it stunk that we weren’t going to see our parents on Thanksgiving (but we’ll see them soon thereafter). On the other, it presented another challenge: what would we do if we were cooking on our own? Apparently, it looks like this:
T-day dinner at home … g & t style … with mood lighting …
So, I need to set the record straight and say that I had absolutely nothing to do with any of the dinner preparations. g was all over the table-setting, the cooking, the plating, everything (I guess she figured it’d be too easy if both of us worked on it?). All I did was decant some wine and provide some entertainment while she chopped, sauteed, roasted, etc. Normally, I don’t like being sidelined, but g was on a mission, so who am I to object to an effort-free meal? Plus – I had to focus my thoughts on the wine: a 2008 Ayoub pinot noir from Oregon, which was perhaps the most elegant OR pinot I’ve ever had. I sent a a tasting note to be tweeted, but I am confident that he won’t be able to squeeze the entirety of it in one tweet, so here it is:
2008 Ayoub Pinot Noir (Oregon). Nose of anise and black cherry pie (and later a bit of cocoa). On the palate, simple up front with red fruit and a bit of characteristic OR earth, followed by a very lengthy 60+ second finish of evolving red fruits (strawberry to raspberry to cherry), hints of cedar, and an undertone of loam. Smooth as silk and containing impressive elegance and restraint/balance – it’s a fairly lightweight pinot that just keeps going and going, drawing you in with each passing second. It’s most like ‘the girl next door’: dressed in pajamas and lacking make-up, she is not astoundingly pretty up front, but then as you get to know her, you find out that she is a professional violinist, is writing a novel, loves doing the moonwalk, and can often be found in her kitchen baking pies while effortlessly mumbling answers to Jeopardy clues on the television in the background. The longer she’s around, the more your discover, and the more you’re hooked – it’s seduction in a very complex-brainy-dorky sort of way.”
So yes, g and I enjoyed the pinot. We also had a great French sauvignon blanc, but its description didn’t warrant such a verbose tasting note, so I’ll skip it. As for the food … well, g went all-out:
Centerpiece: Turkey (duh!); New-for-our-T-day: Sweet-potato-and-chorizo hash, craisin-sausage stuffing, summery succotash; Nostalgia: Cream-of-celery gravy, Brown-n-serve rolls, and ‘Can’-berry sauce
- mixed berry pie and ice cream … both bought (i.e. not homemade), but so delicious we didn’t care … (and check out the design on the silverware!)
All I can say is that every bit of food turned out wonderfully; g has proven that she can single-handedly conquer Thanksgiving. The only drawback is that now we have approximately 10 meals worth of leftovers (the smallest turkey our grocer had was 14 lbs), so it’s going to be a long haul … fortunately, it was so good that I can’t wait to be hungry again!
cm gives up the family cranberries
t says: I made cm an offer he couldn’t refuse. Here is his family’s cranberry sauce recipe from our recent Thanksgiving get-together. But now we owe him g’s mom’s lasagna recipe …
Separately, rumor has it that a is a cranberry sauce connooissieur with a secret recipe of his own … guess I’ll have to evaluate it at our upcoming holiday party? It’s on like Donkey Kong.
Ingredients:
__ 12 oz bag of cranberries
__ 1/3 c H20 (we had apple cider so used instead and used less sugar)
__ 2/3 c sugar (most recipes will call for 1-2 cups)
__ zest and juice of one orange
__ 2 cinnamon sticks
__ splash of orange liqueur
Directions:
0) Combine berries, water, sugar in a pot and bring to a boil.
1) Add zest/juice/cinnamon and simmer until all cranberries have popped. You can simmer as long as you want – the longer you boil the thicker it will get.
2) Splash the liqueur in a few minutes before it is done.
cm says: Also sometimes i throw in random other stuff like vanilla to mellow it out a bit (or the apple cider as noted above).
how g and t do Thanksgiving
t says: g and I normally cook up a storm for Thanksgiving at my parents’ house. This year was a little different, as we did a lot of cooking at her mom’s house. While I just hate to toot my own horn, I have to say that the food turned out pretty darn good. g’s mom and family took care of the classics (mashed tatoes, sweet taters, dressing/stuffing, lasagna), while g and I took on the remainder (forcing everyone to enjoy new-to-our-Thanksgiving additions of cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and fennel salad) and coordinated the cooking schedule. What does that mean to “coordinate a cooking schedule”. Let’s just say that I run a tight ship – a dictatorship (buzinga!). See what I mean:
the master schedule ... color coded slots for ovens (pink and blue) and stovetop (orange)
We finished approximately 15 mins behind schedule due to some unforeseen baking pan mishaps (one pan was too wide for the oven so it had to wait until I could free up another pan from another use). And another hiccup included using extra virgin olive oil for high heat roasting (i.e. it smoked a LOT). Our only real folly of the evening was forgetting to put g’s special sauce on the table (a gouchuchang-based sauce that’s sweet and spicy … just like g … i’m sooo funny).
Oh – and a special shout-out to honorary family members k and cm who brought their homemade cranberry sauce (not to be confused with Ocean Spray’s can-berry sauce [g interjects: i’m so funny!]). g’s mom hopes that their recipe gets posted on adsz so she may use it in the future. We made the case that this is unnecessary just so long as k and cm come to every Thanksgiving from here on out. Be that as it may, we’ll also have to see if cm can divulge his secret family recipe.
k and cm also get a second special shout-out for the stroke of genius that occurred at their recent Thanksgiving gathering. Somewhere along the line, one of their guests was looking for a vessel for the gravy for cm’s turkey. Not having a gravy boat on hand, it was suggested that a pitcher be used for the purpose. This was genius. With a large enough pour-ready vessel, we didn’t have to get up to refill the gravy boat 17 times throughout the dinner. g and I stole this idea and, inspired by Apple’s brilliant strategy, served our gravy in a brand-new, colorful, aesthetically-appealing pitcher of our own.
the all-new most technologically advanced gravy boat ever: a pitcher ... sure, the technology's been around for a while, but I'll still claim it's "new" and "never before seen" ...
lc felt that perhaps the pitcher had too small a base and was easy to tip over, having demonstrated its propensity to tilt on a number of occasions. As a result, we took another strategy from Apple by learning from their dealings with the iPhone “death grip” fiasco: we told everyone that they simply had to be careful when setting it down, as clearly its instability is not a fault of the product’s design, rather, something that we should just adapt to. Duh!
So three cheers for Turkey Day 2011! Hip-hip-hooray! Hip-hip-hooray! Hip-hip-hooray!
after dinner sneeze 