Thanksgiving (American) 2024

[Maison Rustique]

Sorry I did not take any photos.

Aside from a bit of family drama at the very beginning, our dinner at Lidia's was fantastic. There was entirely too much food. First course was served family style: Caesar salad; a walnut, celery and cheese salad ( I lucked out and got the leftovers); mushroom arancini, beef and pickled veggie toasts; tuna on toast; salami; mortadella ; and bread with a hummus and avocado-something and olive oil. All were wonderful.

As if that wasn't enough, servers showed up with huge pans of pasts---a rigatoni in Bolognese and butternut squash ravioli in a sage brown butter sauce. The ravioli had a touch of cinnamon and something else slightly sweet in them. Delicious!

By the time my short rib arrived, I took one bite and left it to get packed up. It is fabulous and I can't wait to have it for supper tonight. Pete had manicotti that looked wonderful, Heidi also had the short rib, my sister Kathy had pork loin that was stuffed with bourbon-soaked prunes and Aaron had salmon that looked lovely.

They brought 2 trays of desserts--pumpkin cheesecake, various biscotti, tiramisu and candied orange peel. I had a couple of bites of tiramisu, but honestly at this point I was on overload.

We had a couple of bottles of a very nice red wine (Montepulciano of some sort, though I didn't pay that much attention) and a wonderful time was had by all.

And we all went home with lots of doggie bags and some turkey breast that Heidi had cooked, so we all get turkey sandwiches, too.

[Tropicalsenior]

15 minutes ago, Maison Rustique said:

dinner at Lidia's was fantastic.

I'm so glad that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. After the year that you had you deserve it.

[Shelby]

I always channel @Kim Shook when we cut up the turkey--I roasted these and made some wonderful broth.  Tons in the freezer for later and made gravy out of the rest.

 

 

It was a really nice day yesterday.  No rushing.  Just putzing around the kitchen in my comfy clothes.  Made cranberry Mandarin orange salad the day before.  Why I do this is a mystery.  I only eat a few bites and Ronnie hates it.  But it has to be on the table or it's not Thanksgiving lol.  I'll take a few more bites, move it around the fridge and then throw it out in a few days.

 

 

Deviled eggs and blue cheese stuffed olives

 

 

Green bean casserole

 

 

Trying to reduce carbs a bit I did cauliflower mashed potatoes which actually are pretty good.  I refused to compromise on the gravy though and made it with flour.  Just a bit.  So good.

 

SV'd the turkey breast--it was so big I decided not to roast a quarter along with it.  This was the biggest turkey I've ever seen.  Anyway SV at 142.5 F for 6 hours.  Perfect.

 

 

 

I made a pecan pie for dessert.  I don't make these often but it turned out good!

 

 

I hope everyone had a great day and will enjoy the rest of the long weekend!

 

Edited yesterday at 03:01 PM by Shelby (log)

[C. sapidus]

Lovely meal, @Shelby. You can send any excess cranberry Mandarin salad our way.

 

Thanksgiving leftovers made by a visiting friend who had lived in Alaska: Halibut cheeks with onion, cream, and lemon. Beautifully done, very tender.

 

 

Friend had also been a baker, so Mrs. C requested one of my favorite desserts: carrot cake with cream cheese icing

 

[Smithy]

These two photos don't show the splendor of the fully loaded table, but it groaned with good food. I brought potatoes dauphinois in my largest Le Creuset gratin pan. Other guests brought an excellent cranberry dish that to me had just the right balance of sweet and tart; a very interesting and tasty Russian salad of roasted beets, sauerkraut, capers, kalamata olives and some herbs all tossed with olive oil. The hosts provided 2 wonderfully roasted chickens, gravy; roasted sweet potatoes, and an excellent green bean dish made with bacon and a very nice vinaigrette dressing; bread. The whole shebang began with appetizers: chicken liver pate, cheeses, olives, dilled asparagus; crab dip, and crackers and potato chips. We finished with pecan pie, pumpkin pie; apple pie; and krumkake made by one of the guests and accompanied by whipped cream and raspberries. Plenty of wine with dinner, and choices of other drinks afterward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Somehow we were all taking photos at the same time, so the plates hadn't been loaded up yet and half the seats are empty in these photos! This is a mere taste of an excellent evening.

[rotuts]

@C. sapidus

 

I have not had halibut cheeks , they  look delicious.

 

I have had carrot cake , and love it when done right.

 

That C.C. looks perfect .  and C.C. has to have C.C.Icing.   

[C. sapidus]

More Thanksgiving leftovers: Turkey, mashed potato-stuffing-gravy, and bro's delicious cranberry relish. The sullen mound on the right is my creamy braised Brussels sprouts that, uh, got extra-Maillarded 'cuz I forgot to turn off the simmer for an hour.

 

 

Baker friend's buttery shortbread with macadamias and cranberries. Yum

 

[JAZ]

As usual, I got a photo of one of the appetizers, and then completely forgot about taking pictures until after dinner. So, deviled eggs with fried capers (some with shards of country ham as well):

 

 

Maybe next year I'll do better.

[Dave the Cook]

1 hour ago, JAZ said:

As usual, I got a photo of one of the appetizers, and then completely forgot about taking pictures until after dinner.

 

Luckily, my daughter was taking photos. Here's a gratuitous shot of my grandson, snarfing his first-ever deviled egg:

 

 

In addition  to the fried caper/deviled egg app, we had what were quickly dubbed "alligator balls," but were actually a version of chicken nuggets sold under the TGIFriday name. (How they came to be in our freezer is another story.) They came with some sort of hideous BBQ sauce. We subbed our Valentina-Honey-chipotle dipping sauce:

 

 

In the background, a depleted cocktail glass. During the appetizer round, Pegu Clubs and Martinis were shaken or stirred upon request.

 

Also on the table were (not a great shot, but it's what we've got; clockwise from top): sausage stuffing, creamed spinach with parmesan topping, country ham, smoked duck, roast potatoes. Oregon pinot noir and Australian rosé at top. Not pictured: Biscuits and brioche slider rolls, Gruyere, hot-honey mustard and apple-cranberry chutney, all so peeps could make little sandwiches from the ham and duck.

 

 

For dessert, coffee and pumpkin-swirl cheesecake with gingersnap crust:

 

 

and (not pictured) apple crumble.

[JAZ]

2 hours ago, Dave the Cook said:

and (not pictured) apple crumble.

 

Actually, I did take a picture of the apple crumble when it came out of the oven. So now that's everything.

 

[Shelby]

24 minutes ago, JAZ said:

 

Actually, I did take a picture of the apple crumble when it came out of the oven. So now that's everything.

 

It's SO hard to remember to take a picture when you feel like you're under the gun to get things on the table.  You're crumble looks delicious!

[rotuts]

Back in the Day ,

 

the Bonus the day after was Stuffing 

 

cornbread//sausage//apples//pecans//dried cranberries//butter

 

w a poached egg on top.

[Maison Rustique]

@Smithy, That salad of beets, sauerkraut, capers, olives, etc. sounds intriguing. I need to do some Googling to see if I can find something similar.

[Smithy]

28 minutes ago, Maison Rustique said:

@Smithy, That salad of beets, sauerkraut, capers, olives, etc. sounds intriguing. I need to do some Googling to see if I can find something similar.

 

It was very good, and very (to me) unusual. The Russian woman who brought it seemed to suggest it was a common dish when she lived in Russia.

[gulfporter]

1 hour ago, Maison Rustique said:

@Smithy, That salad of beets, sauerkraut, capers, olives, etc. sounds intriguing. I need to do some Googling to see if I can find something similar.

 

50 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

It was very good, and very (to me) unusual. The Russian woman who brought it seemed to suggest it was a common dish when she lived in Russia.

 

When I moved to Virginia in 1971 I was surprised that in Southside Virginia, a cold sauerkraut salad was always on the Thanksgiving menu.  It was simple, with a sweet and sour dressing and finely diced red bell pepper and celery.   I also learned that in the African American communities, macaroni and cheese was de rigueur.   

 

On our ethnic (Lithuanian) table in northeast Pennsylvania there was always my Uncle's homemade fresh kielbasa )not smoked).  And our stuffing was ground beef and ground pork combined with crushed saltine crackers for most of my youth.  Then my Aunt decided we'd be a little more Americanized and we switched over to a typical bread stuffing.  

 

I enjoy hearing about local TDay food traditions.