Puff Daddy
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- Dec 9, 2007
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What will you be doing for your Thanksgiving dinner? Traditional, or something different? We usually do the standard Americana meal of roast turkey with plain-Jane stuffing, gravy, white rolls, cranberry sauce, canned yams with marshmallow topping, etc..
I really hate that crap! :lol: We always did it because it was cheap and easy, the kids would eat it, and it's kind of what everyone expected. I mean, it's not bad, it tastes alright though it's awfully coffee-shop.... I think I've finally had it though and am in the mood for a revolt (not that the old stand-by isn't revolting enough...).
Four or five years ago the wife and I were kind of at wits end and we declined all invitations and offered none, letting everyone know that we would not be serving or attending (our kids were all just grown and out of the house). We got in the car early Thanksgiving morning and drove for two hours up the mountain to Lake Tahoe, listening to NPR all the way and laughing at the programming, which was different NPR hosts and guests recounting crazy holiday meal encounters. It was a fine ride. We went to some hotel/casino (Harrah's, I think) that has a huge buffet high up on the top floor with amazing views of the snow covered lake region. The food was fine, but the journey and the act was superb. We just wanted to create a non traditional memory, a time when we should have been in a crowded roomful of family but instead snuck off alone, just the two of us. I will always remember it.
I don't intend a lot more of those. We actually get along jut fine with all of our family, so it wasn't an escape from that, but from the norm and the expected, I think. Now we once again have little ones at home (raising our two granddaughters) and we have no intentions of robbing them of experiencing the traditional holiday standards, but I do believe I'll begin some new traditions by refusing the old gloppy standard fare and introducing some fine winter harvest foods into what can still be seen as a traditional Thanksgiving meal.
I'm making my final notes and preparing to go do the meal shopping (I'm the cook in the family, used to do it for a living long time ago). I think the following are going to be on the menu for sure, but still mulling it over a bit.
-Roast Turkey rubbed with sea salt, fresh garlic, olive oil, cracked peppercorns and orange peel. The bird will be stuffed with sausage cornbread stuffing.
-Roasted Brussel Sprouts :cheers: These are fantastic, just cut in half lengthwise, toss in olive oil, sea salt and black pepper, 1/2 an hour in a 400 degree oven.
-Steamed Garnet Yams, mashed with Chipotle chiles.
-Acorn squash, halved and roasted.
-A fresh rosemary baguette served sliced and topped with chevre'.
-Homemade Cranberry relish (using fresh whole berries and lots of orange peel).
Not sure about desert yet.......
I really hate that crap! :lol: We always did it because it was cheap and easy, the kids would eat it, and it's kind of what everyone expected. I mean, it's not bad, it tastes alright though it's awfully coffee-shop.... I think I've finally had it though and am in the mood for a revolt (not that the old stand-by isn't revolting enough...).
Four or five years ago the wife and I were kind of at wits end and we declined all invitations and offered none, letting everyone know that we would not be serving or attending (our kids were all just grown and out of the house). We got in the car early Thanksgiving morning and drove for two hours up the mountain to Lake Tahoe, listening to NPR all the way and laughing at the programming, which was different NPR hosts and guests recounting crazy holiday meal encounters. It was a fine ride. We went to some hotel/casino (Harrah's, I think) that has a huge buffet high up on the top floor with amazing views of the snow covered lake region. The food was fine, but the journey and the act was superb. We just wanted to create a non traditional memory, a time when we should have been in a crowded roomful of family but instead snuck off alone, just the two of us. I will always remember it.
I don't intend a lot more of those. We actually get along jut fine with all of our family, so it wasn't an escape from that, but from the norm and the expected, I think. Now we once again have little ones at home (raising our two granddaughters) and we have no intentions of robbing them of experiencing the traditional holiday standards, but I do believe I'll begin some new traditions by refusing the old gloppy standard fare and introducing some fine winter harvest foods into what can still be seen as a traditional Thanksgiving meal.
I'm making my final notes and preparing to go do the meal shopping (I'm the cook in the family, used to do it for a living long time ago). I think the following are going to be on the menu for sure, but still mulling it over a bit.
-Roast Turkey rubbed with sea salt, fresh garlic, olive oil, cracked peppercorns and orange peel. The bird will be stuffed with sausage cornbread stuffing.
-Roasted Brussel Sprouts :cheers: These are fantastic, just cut in half lengthwise, toss in olive oil, sea salt and black pepper, 1/2 an hour in a 400 degree oven.
-Steamed Garnet Yams, mashed with Chipotle chiles.
-Acorn squash, halved and roasted.
-A fresh rosemary baguette served sliced and topped with chevre'.
-Homemade Cranberry relish (using fresh whole berries and lots of orange peel).
Not sure about desert yet.......
