Chris Amirault

Here's my menu; beer with the main meal, not in courses but served family-style. After a shopping trip to the best beer place around, I tried my first candidate today: Bellhaven Scottish Ale. It grew on me, the malty, bready aromas and flavors giving way to a slight smokiness -- less smoke than I expected, in fact. I think I'd like a little more carbonation and/or alcohol, but it's a contender for sure.

This is the hot turkey sandwich portion of the evening at our place -- and it's for lightweights who didn't take full advantage during round one.

The damned thing really is smarter than me.

Did you use the syringe?

Much joy this morning. I used Borgstrom's approach more or less: I haven't figured out the timer part yet, so I just turned it on at 11p and they were holding steady at 7a. Excellent, though a bit less toothy than I'd like; I'll cut back on the water a bit. So do you set the timer to start at 6a? Or what? I haven't used the timer before.....

Huh. Even though it's a lot of work to cook Thanksgiving dinner, I guess I think that prioritizing the happiness and feeding of holiday guests is more important than a "that's how I roll" approach to scheduling.

I didn't have a syringe to inject and I didn't get very full distribution of the cure as a result. Did you guys do bone-in?

Yes, people need the "recline on the sofa with released belts" time.

I'm in the Jaymes gang: we start the meal proper at 3p. I used to aim for earlier but was a basket case from lack of sleep and too much punch before nooon.

Why kabocha instead?

My attempts to cure my own ham ended in failure. My attempts to find a quality, every day ham have been futile. Any suggestions for brands, purveyors, etcetera?

You are so, so lucky.....

It's the Islay single malt scotch of tea, that stuff. And I loves me some Islay single malt scotch.

The riesling idea is a good one for me, especially given my likely beer pairings and my dad's jones for it. Any recommendations?

We've had a bunch of eG Cook-Offs that hit the spot in winter, including these ten: gumbo chili Asian noodle soups chowder daube mafé posole pot-au-feu feijoada chicken and dumplings

Made a Jacko's End from Mayahuel: 1 oz Laird's BIB apple brandy 1 oz Minero mezcal ½ ounce Benedictine 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters Didn't have the pear slice for garnish. Didn't need it. This one's in the rotation. Oh my golly.

I had it in my mind to get beer only for our all-out, uber-traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but my better half is insisting on wine as well. She's very flexible about grapes, bubbles, you name it, but our price point is in the $15-20/btl range. I'm all ears. And what about you?

Has anyone tried the Smuttynose Scotch Ale?

Greg at Norbu Tea must be clairvoyant or something. While I was in Arizona, I grabbed some charcoal roasted Dong Ding Ooolong from Taiwan because I liked the smoky malt of it. Lo and behold, in my recent order from Norbu, I found a sample size of 2009 Winter Tie Guan Yin from Taiwan, which is also charcoal roasted. Deep copper color with rich woodsy and nutty aromas and flavors. I'm getting me more of that.

What Dave said -- happens all the time, especially by letting the protein cool in the braising liquid.

Do they keep that toothy bite in the fridge?

Not to mention professionals, who parcook many, if not most, of the items on your restaurant plate as a matter of course.

What happens when you toast 'em?

Yep, it does have a porridge setting -- but I haven't used it. Thanks for the proportions, Joe Blowe. I will have to try this out tonight/tomorrow. Very excited!

The bitten word foodblog has their survey of Thanksgiving menus from food magazines up, including this terrific food word cloud. Interesting to read and compare.... Meanwhile, I think we're closing in on our menu: Regent's Punch a wine for the stalwarts a beer selection (2? 3? not sure) ras al hanout spiced nuts curried root chips smoked roasted turkey with oranges and red onions pecan, pancetta, and dried cherry stuffing chunky cranberry and apple sauce with orange and ginger cucumber and vidalia onion pickles mashed potatoes butternut squash purée rutabaga and parsnip batons with browned butter and pimento dram carrots with ginger, garlic, and preserved lemon brussel sprouts with white pepper, bacon, and sage red cabbage slaw fennel, parsley, and parmigiano reggiano salad corn bread rolls parker house rolls Still working on desserts.