wow.
i pulled off the biggest thanksgiving dinner yet, and didnt have many leftovers! nor did i at any point in the day freak out. although, i realized today just how tipsy i was, thanks to jay making the famous cranberry curant cocktails.
mmm.
so giada's olive, chestnut, and italian sausage stuffing was good, but unfortunately turned out more like a meatloaf stuffed inside the free-range turkey. the flavor was very good, and when i sliced the turkey, it was indeed like "food porn" (it looked that good.) but, truthfully, i prefer the old fashioned bread stuffing. or even boxed stuffing. which i also made in case the special stuff was inedible. it was edible, but took an extra hour to finish cooking.
i dont know how the stuffed squash turned out. i used fresh spinach instead of frozen, and one of the squash caps came off while roasting, so that one dried out. i filled up on all the side dishes, so i never tasted it. but a few people did eat it.
i made the cheesy corn casserole again, which almost always turns out more souffle-like. not so much this year, which was good, but it still aint no cheesy corn stuffing, which i must break down and find the recipe for.
the green bean casserole is a staple, and went fast, of course. after all, we do live in Ohio. the two cranberry sauces were delicious, and i can't say which i liked better -the cranberry orange conserve or the blue cranberry sauce. they each had distinct flavors, and both were delicious. i much prefer homemade cranberry sauce over the canned jelly i grew up with.
The frisee, carrot, and goat cheese salad with pinot noir vinaigrette was good. i highly recommend the 2002 Wood Pepper Grove Pinot, both as a drinking wine and as a vinaigrette. (i savored a glass while cooking) i skipped the pistachio-crusting on the cheese mainly because i didnt want to take the time. it was good just the same. i also skipped the baby beets, but only because i didnt have time to boil them for an hour.
the banana and sweet potato puree was adequate, but a little dry for my taste. perhaps adding some more butter to the mix would've helped. but, the flavor was good, and that's what counts.
the bacon wrapped breadsticks were FANTASTIC once we timed it right. the first batch were a bit too browned. and then someone said "hey, i'll bet they'd be good with mayo" -- and that made all the difference.
the apple-butter pumpkin pie was good, but missing the brown sugar (ack!) which made it less sweet (which was ok)... but should've been spread over 2 crusts instead of one. the extra depth kept it from firming up as well, and thus, it was not as appetizing.
best of the night was the pumpkin layer cake, which, of course, i also messed up by leaving in just a little too long. but, the frosting more than made up for it, and i even had enough to frost the entire outside of the cake. i left off the pecans and put some in a cup next to the cake in case anybody wanted to add their own.
all in all, everything turned out well. even the ill-timed turkey.
thanks to mr. and mrs. p., mr and mrs. t., mr. g, mr. k, mr. z and ms. n for making a good party great.
