Thanksgiving 2024 - Sweet Potatoes, Fruit Salad, and Dinner On the Table

 Thursday,  November 28, 2024

I got the sweet potatoes ready while the turkey was in the oven. I halved the recipe on the can.  

Ingredients: 1 29 oz can of sweet potatoes; 1 egg; 1/4 cup milk; 3/4 cups brown sugar; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract;  1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. 

Directions: Heat oven to 375 degrees; spray 9x9 in baking pan with Pam; mix ingredients in large bowl; add marshmallows on top. just before baking; bake 30-35 minutes and then take out of oven and let rest for 10 minutes

Mom arrived around 2:00 and Dale got the marshmallows on the sweet potatoes while I entertained her.  He got the sweet potatoes in the oven by 2:10 so they could be out by 2:45 and rest for 10 minutes. 

At 2:30 I got the fruit salad together. Easy to make. Two cans of mixed fruit with whipped cream. Dale got gravy ready using the giblets I cut up. He also got the stuffing ready.

Dinner was on the table by about 3:10 and it was delicious.

Dale seems to think I do a great job carving the turkey. I feel like I'm hacking away with an ax to the carcass but I guess I do okay since there's barely any meat on it when I'm finished. There's gotta be a youTube video out there that shows the most efficient and perfect way to cut it up. Maybe I'll look for that sometime. 

Mom brought over a pumpkin pie that some friends from church had made. She said they usually make about 100 pies every year to sell to people for Thanksgiving. It was delicious and one of the better pumpkin pies I've ever had. That's sayin' something cuz I LOVE pumpkin pie. 

She also brought over some port wine. Dale didn't think he'd ever had any before. I poured some for us after the pie. Mom and Dale didn't like it. They said the alcohol level was too hight (turned out it was 20%) and they just didn't like the taste. I thought it was fine but what do I know. 

Can't believe another Thanksgiving has come and gone.

Thanksgiving 2024 - The Turkey Part 2

 Thursday, November 28, 2024

At 11:30 Dale buttered the underside of the turkey. We flipped it over to the other side and moved it to the baking pan and buttered the other side. It sat until noon when Dale put it in the oven at 400 degrees. 

                                                             

Dale put the giblets in water and got them on the oven at medium heat (5.0) at 12:23. He realized he should have gotten them on a little earlier so he turned it up to 7.5.

At 12:30 Dale basted the turkey with white wine and turned the oven down to 350.  He then basted it at intervals of about 20 minutes. 

Just before1:30 we turned the turkey over. 

And basted it again. 

And put it back in the oven. 

When the turkey was back in the oven I went to work on chopping up the giblets. 

I diced it all up. The liver was pretty soft but the heart and gizzard were pretty tough. 

All ready for when Dale makes the gravy. 

Dale took the turkey out right around 2:00 and tented it. We let it rest for an hour. 

Thanksgiving 2022

Thursday, November 24, 2022

Dale made the cranberry sauce at around 9:30 a.m. It's the item that makes the most sense to make ahead of dinner since it can just sit in the fridge. 

We follow the Nigella Lawson turkey recipe from her book Feast. It's on page. 

Dale gave the turkey a bath around 11:30. 

We pulled out the giblets and saved them for making the gravy. 

Post bath.

I dried the turkey off.

Between cleaning and food prep I'd check in on the parade once in a while. 

And sip on my Bloody Mary. 

Turkey was in the roaster just a little before 1:00.

Dale buttered it...

...and had it in the oven by 1:06. For the first half hour the oven was set at 4:00.

After the turkey was in the oven Dale had the giblets ready to boil then simmer. 

The turkey got basted with white wine after its first half hour in the oven. The oven temp was turned down to 350 and the turkey's next hour of baking. 

I got started on the sweet potato casserole at 1:50. The recipe I used is the same one I used last time. I drained the yams a little better this go-round. It turned out pretty well overall. Although I halved the recipe I didn't do so with all ingredients. Next time I'd recommend trying to be more precise overall. That said it still turned out pretty well.  

The turkey after an hour and a half in the oven...

...which is when we flipped it over. It went back in for another half hour. Upon removal we tented it with aluminum foil and let it rest for an hour before I cut it. I did the cutting which is my usual duty. I generally do a hack job but it all ends up okay. At some point I should look up the official way to do it. 

When the sweet potatoes were done we put them in the oven warmer until we were ready to serve up Dale's awesome Brussels sprouts. The Stove-Top stuffing was made right at the very end. Getting everything in serving dishes and on the table was quite busy but pain-free. 

Mom and Noel came over around 3 p.m. For hors d'oeuvres we had olives, pickled herring, crackers, and wasabi peas. Dinner was on the table at 4:37 p.m!

Mom brought an apple pie her friend Joanne made for her and Noel brought over a pumpkin pie from Mrs. Kowalski's. 

I had meant to make fruit salad but got distracted the last hour of prep. For next time I think the only things a might add would be corn and maybe dinner rolls. However, that said, what we had was more than enough. 

Thanksgiving 2014 - A Time to Baste and a Time to Rest

Thanksgiving 2014 - Athena Intrigued

Thanksgiving 2014 - Buttering Up the Turkey

Top left: Adding butter
Top right: Pat down
Bottom left: Adding more butter
Bottom right: Athena looks at the scene with a great deal of interest

Thanksgiving 2014 - Waiting

Done with its thawing, the turkey is about to go back in the fridge.

Thanksgiving Morning 2014 - Bad Dog!

Dale was up early to take out the turkey. It was still slightly frozen when we bought it. He also took out a stick of butter to give it a butter rub down once it's more thawed. He came out to the living room to read for a bit but heard Athena jump up and get something. He at first though she got the turkey but found she was eating the stick of butter (wrapper and all) when he burst into the kitchen. Athena has NEVER jumped on the counter and made a food grab before. Naughty dog!