Thanksgiving 2013 - The Feast

Top left: The turkey we bought was unfrozen but Dale determined it was still somewhat so in the center. We let it thaw just a bit longer.
Top center: Dale made cranberry sauce. The recipe on the bag calls for adding 1 cup of sugar. Too much. Last year Dale put in a quarter cup. Too little. This year he added half a cup. Just right!
Top right: Turkey basted with red wine. 
Middle left: Dale boiled the giblets and diced some of them to add to the gravy.
Middle center: The backyard on Thanksgiving Day.
Middle right: Checking the turkey's temperature.
Bottom left: Appetizers of pickled herring and gouda cheese. 
Bottom center: The table is set.
Bottom right: Pumpkin pie and coffee for dessert.

Note: I made a fruit salad with whipping cream and two cans of fruit cocktail just like  Grandma Alice used to make. She added bananas to hers so I did too. Mom made the gravy and also brought sweet potatoes. It ALL turned out very well!

New Year's Eve 2012

Dale and I put together a grazing tray for New Year's Eve.  We set out shrimp, herring, apples, grapes, carrots, broccoli, brie with fig jelly, and crackers.  We drank champagne along with it and managed to get quite full.  For dessert we finished up a pumpkin roulade that we had originally brought to Noel's for her annual holiday fete. I mistakenly referred to it as a Buche de Noel.  I included her response with the above photo.

Pickled Herring

Saturday evening Golden Hour tonight. Dale made steak and brussels sprouts. For an appetizer he picked up some pickled herring. I grew up with pickled herring. We mostly had it around the holidays and I absolutely loved it. So did my Dad.

The following is from The Deluxe Food Lover's Companion:

herring: This huge family of saltwater fish has over a hundred varieties. The popular herring swims in gigantic schools and can be found in the cold waters of the North Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In the United States, two of the most popular members of this family are the American shad, and the alewife, both of which are anadromous, meaning that they migrate from their saltwater habitat to spawn in fresh water. Herring are generally small (ranging between 1/4 and 1 pound) and silvery. The major exception to that rule is the American shad, which averages 3 to 6 pounds and is prized for its eggs - the delicacy known as shad roe. Young herring are frequently labeled and sold as sardines.... Pickled herring have been marinated in vinegar and spices before being bottle in either a sour-cream sauce or a wine sauce. The term can also refer to herring that have been dry-salted before being cured in brine.