Cooking, cooking

I love Thanksgiving, but I can't deny I find it stressful. It's so much work! This year we decided to invite some friends of ours (a family of five) and they asked if they could invite a friend, so that's six people besides our four. In our tiny little house, which still has flood-related debris all over everywhere, not to mention dust and cat hair.

Monday morning, home from my trip, I hit the ground running by making a long grocery list, sorting it on the computer, and printing it out. Somehow the jalapeno pepper didn't make it onto the list, but when Baby A and I were in the grocery store I fortunately remembered it. The jalapeno pepper is very important (see below). While at the store we also filled a bag for the local food drive. "Mom? Would this be good for poor people?" Baby A asked over and over, picking up various items.

Tuesday, we began the cooking odyssey by making cranberry sauce. My cranberry sauce contains onion, garlic, a jar of crystallized ginger, a chopped up lemon, and other interesting ingredients, including a jalapeno pepper (!). When I was chopping the onion finer and finer, tears running down my cheeks, the boys ran and got their swim goggles, which seemed to help. Maybe next time I'll remember to wear mine. Here is the sauce, starting to cook:

See the green stuff? But once the cranberries pop, everything gets dyed red and you can't tell how very very interesting the sauce is until you taste it.

I also made gravy (we ate some with leftover spaetzle for dinner) and put the turkey in the stock pot to brine.

Wednesday (today) things got more serious. Time to make side dishes. First, Uncle Bob's sweet potato casserole, which he always swore was not his. It's very yummy, with lemon juice and butter and egg yolks.

Next came spicy spinach dish, which is absurdly 1950ish and I really shouldn't make it anymore, I should make something healthy, but it's soooo yummy. Sour cream, cheddar cheese, and onion soup mix'll do that.

When the boys heard that there was onion in this dish, they ran for their swim goggles, but I showed them that it was DRY onion, no chopping required. So instead they played a game involving swim goggles and imaginary onions. Both of the side dishes went into the fridge unbaked. I'll bake them after the turkey comes out tomorrow.

After a quick lunch it was time to de-brine the turkey. Here's the brine:

And here's the pathetic looking turkey, lying in our fridge to "air dry."

I'm supposed to turn it over at 1:30 am, when I plan to be asleep, so I will turn it over right before I go to bed.

We took a break in the afternoon to go to the park, since it was lovely and warm (must have been 60 degrees or more).

Oh, that's not a very nice face, Boo. Let's try again.

Better.

We had dinner at Denny's, because we did not want to get any more dishes dirty. When we got home, the kids took a bath and I made the first pie.

All the websites and newspapers and magazines and whatnot say you should bake the pies on the DAY OF, not the day before, but we only have one oven. I think this pie will still be fine tomorrow night.

Tomorrow morning I will make the other pie (apple with streusel topping -- boos definitely want to help), and then we will make placecards and a centerpiece and set the table and clean and hopefully make another park run. The turkey goes into the oven at 1:30 pm (all pies must be done by then!). At some point we will make mashed potatoes and fruit salad and more gravy. Skipping the stuffing this year -- nobody likes it that much. Turkey should be out no later than 5 pm (it's a 10-pounder), then sweet potatoes and spinach dish go in, then they come out and the Pillsbury crescent rolls go in, and then we can eat. Around 6 pm I hope. Our guests are bringing pumpkin soup, so we can have that first, perhaps while the rolls are baking.

It's stressful, but I love it. And I especially love sharing it with my boys. I like to imagine them making my cranberry sauce long after I'm gone.