Thanksgiving dinner party for small group tonight. Good stuff…though I got full WAY too quick. Just one plate…and a fairly small plate at that. Of course some dessert as well. But still; one plate is rather weak.
I took a stab at doing some real cooking for the first time in a while. Scott and I volunteered to take care of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy. So, I scrounged up some recipes and did my best. Didn’t follow any of the recipes to a T…especially the mashed potatoes, which morphed into a double-recipe-inspired concoction.
The turkey was a South Beach Roast Turkey with Herbs. Brined that bad boy and everything. Variations included cooking it in a bag and not being able to track down some fresh sage for the herb bundle inside. Think I couldn’t find the ancho pepper as well.
Mashed potatoes started with this recipe from NapaStyle for Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes. As it turned out, I couldn’t track down garlic paste, let alone roasted garlic paste. So, having purchased lots of butter and cream already, I tracked down another recipe to make use of those. I found this one at cdkitchen.com for Creamy Whipped Potatoes.
After it was a bit too late, I realized I didn’t have the cream cheese it called for. So, I began to improvise, taking a little direction from them both and basically made it up as Scott mashed. Ended up pretty garlic-y, but tasty. I enjoyed them. Went pretty well with the herb-y turkey.
Gravy came the closest to the recipe. Nabbed it from ReluctantGourmet.com for basic Turkey Gravy. Sadly, I didn’t take on the challenge of their Thanksgiving Turkey Gravy recipe. It was a bit too complicated. Homemade turkey stock??? Not gonna happen. The basic one seemed hard enough at first glance, though it ended up being pretty simple.
I think the food turned out ok. I got some good feedback. Most importantly, I keep reminding myself (since, of course, I’m not living my life to earn the approval and affirmation of others), is that I enjoyed both the work and the result. And I look forward to the leftovers.
2 replies on ““Turkey, poe-tay-toes, etc…” or “Thanksgiving with small group””
Ha! Sounds inventive! A chef, photographer, traveler…anything else up those sleeves? Impressive. Well, tell Scooter I said congrats – I was on the phone with Dave when he called to tell the news…Im so happy for both of them. When is the big day? And Iggy’s? Yeah – its weird living alone after having company for so long. I like it (of course I was leaving parents, not my best friend) except when I have to zip up a dress, or fasten the clasp on a bracelet, or (as I found out Sunday night) when I need someone to rub my back … muscle contraction due to a flag football game that made me feel like I was having a heart attack-its nice to know how extremely far away I am from actual physical fitness. Though I am proud to say that I kicked major tail, impressed the guys with my amazing football skills, proved my ‘toughness’ once again (apparantly I wasnt paying attention when I read Captivating – embracing femininity and all) and I caught a sweet touchdown pass. Hmmm…maybe that is why Im single. Too bad they dont have those crazy schools that teach girls how to act like girls ;-) I could use a few lessons. Anyhow – have a great break – shoot for more than one plate next time!
The food was very good and I’m impressed as I’m a very follow the recipe kind of cook. Have a great Thanksgiving and enjoy the snow!