Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing all of the inmates here at the Asylum a very Happy Thanksgiving!  It's been an up and down year for me, but all-in-all I have much to be thankful for.  As is tradition, the husband and I will be hosting dinner and  I'll make way too much food, but it's always good to have leftovers.  

We shall have a "balanced meal" (LOL) of really good food.  
  • First up will be crudite and stuffed baby-portie mushrooms (hot turkey sausage cuz sis and mom don't do pork, good old fashioned bread stuffing).  Might do deviled eggs too, but probably not this year.  
  • Dinner begins with cream of wild mushroom soup.  I was going to get inventive and do something different this year, but the mushroom soup has apparently become legendary so it will be made!  I'll try and post a recipe for it.  
  • Dinner proper will be turkey (of course).  My first T-giving I had no clue how to cook a bird and I roasted it upside-down like a dork.  Well folks, the breast comes out super tender that way, so unless we're doing a fry bird, I still roast it the "wrong way".  I stuff the cavity with celery and onions and herbs (don't eat that).  Nothing special but it comes out yummers.  We always do another meat, which this year will be a pot roast.  This is the easiest thing to do when entertaining, and I cook the baby carrots in the liquid at the end and they are delish.  Perfect for a " comfort food" holiday!
  • Sides:  "Fuckin mashed potatoes" (a classic from a contentious holiday of years past when hubs really took his frustrations out on the poor taters ... they sure came out creamy!), wild rice (I absolutely adore wild rice and it's something I have always associated with this holiday), probably sweet potatoes too, the good old fashioned green beans, probably garlic beets my Mom will bring, carrots.  
  • Dessert will be a to die for pecan pie my sister makes once a year.  I can't believe it's time again!  And anyone who would pass this up (celiacs are excused) are just insane in my book!!  I might make some chocolate muffins but desserts aren't something I like a lot of leftovers of.  Mom usually brings baked apples.  I don't have an apple pie in me this year ... that will have to wait for Christmas this year I think.  We'll serve a quality vanilla ice cream, and Mom will hit the Bailey's (just kidding on Mom , grin).
So I hope you all enjoy your own feasts!  

Comments

bob said…
Happy Thanksgiving Evelyn. Thank you for your refreshing blog.
Your meal sounds wonderful. We'll have something similar - turkey, prime rib, sweet and mashed potatoes, cranberry relish, green beans and corn, rolls and pies: key lime, apple and pumpkin. Oh and tell mom to go girl when she starts for the Bailey's. I'll be joining her. I was thinking of adding a "fat bomb" or two but decided it won't be necessary.
MM said…
Happy Thanksgiving! Wow, you are quite the cook! We're going over to my parents' house so I don't have to do that much work, which is fine with me. :) However, I am making a green bean side with almonds and caramelized onions, and an evil key lime pie. }:-D Have a great day!
Lesley Scott said…
hey save me a side of "fuckin mashed potatoes" they definitely sound more tasty that the regular thing! as a newly-single person, I'm going to a communal Thanksgiving attended by other strays. I'm bringing a sweet potato & acorn squash casserole-thingy (with brown sugar!) as my contribution. It's actually a "secret" Weight Watchers recipe but I figure what people don't know won't hurt 'em. Happy Thanksgiving!
Galina L. said…
Happy Thanksgiving, Evelyn!
I just came back from Russia. I am cooking duck (Alton Brown way) with sauteed sauerkraut as a side dish and baked potatoes. We also will have mushrooms on our table - a salad with salted mushrooms and half-sour tomatoes.It is my own recipe, I brought ingredients from Moscow.
Anonymous said…
Please post that cream of wild mushroom soup recipe. Enjoy your Thanksgiving!
Subcalva said…
Try pouring some Bailey's on the vanilla ice cream. Truly delicious!
CarbSane said…
Only a few survived! They were especially fluffy this year. Mmmm that casserole sounds yummy. Glad you had a friendly group to share the holiday with!
CarbSane said…
Hi Galina, Welcome back to the USA! I made a duck one year which was a bit upsetting because there's not as much meat per size of the bird and we ended up a bit short.
CarbSane said…
Done! No picture yet, but it's not the presentation that counts anyway :D I'm convinced the chanterelles are the most important shroom in the soup.
CarbSane said…
Mmmmm -- Perhaps today I'll hit that :D
CarbSane said…
Thanks bob,and hope you had a good one!
CarbSane said…
Hope you had a great day MM. Yeah, as I survey the kitchen, I get a bit overwhelmed.
Galina L. said…
Thank you,I was glad to see American crowd again, people are more joyful and relaxed than in Russian crowd.
While approaching JFK airport, we could see with regret traces of Sandy's distraction.

Sure, one duck is enough for only 5 people max, better 3. However, I remember it was the standard celebration bird of my childhood and served for 8 - 10 people. May be ducks were bigger then because no one used to care about the fat content and it reached adult size before slaughtering, the one I bought for Thanksgiving was actually called "duckling" on the package.
Rad Warrier said…
A belated happy Thanksgiving, Evelyn!

I think food is at the centre stage of all our celebrations, be they religious or secular. I just forget that I am diabetic and indulge in the sensuous pleasure of eating, and eating more, during these celebrations :)

Our Canadian Thanksgiving was more than one month ago. Canadian and US Thanksgiving always reminds me of the Onam festival celebrated in my tiny homestate in the south western tip of India. Onam is also a family get together (and perhaps a harvest festival in the distant past) and food is of course at its centre stage. Of course, you won't find any animal food in the Onam feast, only the "vile" vegetables and the "poisonous" grains that have been the bane of human civilization ever since the new stone age that sadly replaced the paleolithic idyll in which our distant ancestors frolicked away their lives :)

Here are pictures of the typical Onam feast served on plantain leaves:

https://www.google.ca/search?q=onam+sadya&hl=en&tbo=u&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=_LOwULvCDOHM2AW-tYDwCg&sqi=2&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=1517&bih=741

Regards,
Rad
CarbSane said…
That looks lovely!

Yes, humans are the only animal I know of that eats for reasons other than purely hunger. It is a time honored tradition to feast in celebration. What's interesting is that in younger years -- when I feared the holidays -- it was truly counterproductive. How many of these people abstain from all the "bad" things at a meal like Thanksgiving only to secretly hit the McD's drive thru for inferior crap.

Unless one has real food sensitivities (and yes, some are real, but too many are definitely imagined at this point) there is no reason not to eat normally, even overdo it a bit on occasion.

Yesterday a friend of the hubs came over for leftovers. Poor guy had to work on Thanksgiving and there was no leftovers to be had at home. He's a Type 1. I have absolutely no guilt preparing him two meals with mashed potatoes in them. I just told him to make sure he takes his insulin (in appropriate dose). :D