quote:

Originally posted by pianojuggler:
It's a Thanksgiving tradition! Like sticking olives on all of your fingers.

Just 3 of us, but I'm still cooking. We haven't had a real thanksgiving dinner in years, because most of us aren't big fans of roast turkey and stuffing. But this year, 2 of the 3 are, so I'm cooking turkey! Our nice grocery store is selling organic "mini turkeys" (12-15 lbs) so I ordered one of those, which I'm picking up in about an hour.

It should be fun--I haven't done a big cooking event in a long time... I think the last time I roasted a turkey was when we still lived in Arizona!

So: turkey, stuffing, deadly mashed potatoes, green beans, black olives (required, and they have to be the pitted ones from a can, not those fancy-schmancy kalamatas, no sirree), pecan pie, pumpkin pie.

Breakfast the next day (also ritualized): mimosas, cinnamon rolls, cheesy scrambled eggs, tortillas and OJ. Coffee goes without saying, because we're not animals.

I can't wait for all these lockdowns to be over!

I’m making Thanksgiving dinner, and the kids will pick it up from our front porch. Mr. AM flew to visit his Mom in assisted living in St. Louis (outdoor courtyard visit, masks, 6 feet apart) and isn’t past his 14 day quarantine since arrival home yet.

I’m playing around with the turkey this year. Samin Nosrat’s spatchcocked buttermilk brined turkey, recipe here.

My Dad’s stuffing, which is basically a Chinese sausage/oyster/water chestnut fried rice, yum.

Roasted brussels sprouts, gravy, pumpkin pie. That is plenty of food! Cranberry sauce is on its way from Cousin Gwen; hope it makes it in time!

Home on my own with a turkey breast. Will see the boys one at a time as they all have different work schedules.

I did make 2 batches of Cindy Sphinx's Bourbon Cranberry Sauce and jarred it up for friends and neighbors.

LS lives here. MS and boyfriend came up from NC and will be here through Sunday. OS and boyfriend will visit for the day. No extended family this year.

I'm not worried about Covid. Everyone works from home and takes precautions.

If the weather is good, we'll eat outside.

We used to have 18 people here every year. Ove the years as parents, or siblings pass on, a divorce, children leaving the nest, it will be just 3 of us at our huge dining room table.

My daughter in Milwaukee tested negative a few days ago after a scare in her workplace where 5 people have tested positive and are home in quarantine. She is supposed to be able to WFH for the foreseeable future but there was talk of having her go to the office to cover the customer service calls.

I hope they worked it our where she didn't have to go in. If she was able to stay home since taking her test, we are thinking about having her down for the day. What will probably happen is, she will drive 80 miles and do a window up drive through the driveway as we put some dinner in her trunk. Then she will drive 80 miles home and re-heat it.

Saddest Thanksgiving in my lifetime.

Just the two of us. First Thanksgiving with both of my kids remotely I think in their lifetimes.

I know Mary Anna usually makes a big effort to have her kids all together on Thanksgiving, too (but it doesn't always work out, because spouses and significant others also have families and obligations).

I won't be sad. But I will be regretful.

This was last year in Arizona. Everyone but one of my kids made it.

quote:

Originally posted by AdagioM:
I’m making Thanksgiving dinner, and the kids will pick it up from our front porch. Mr. AM flew to visit his Mom in assisted living in St. Louis (outdoor courtyard visit, masks, 6 feet apart) and isn’t past his 14 day quarantine since arrival home yet.

I’m playing around with the turkey this year. Samin Nosrat’s spatchcocked buttermilk brined turkey, recipe here.

My Dad’s stuffing, which is basically a Chinese sausage/oyster/water chestnut fried rice, yum.

Roasted brussels sprouts, gravy, pumpkin pie. That is plenty of food! Cranberry sauce is on its way from Cousin Gwen; hope it makes it in time!

Wow, sounds fabulous.

Please let us know how the turkey turns out. That recipe is intriguing.

For the first time, the kids are handling dinner.

This feels great.

We are thankful for:

The continued health of our immediate families
A beautiful remote and virtual wedding
More time outside
Routine and continued work and income
Our outdoor deck in the city
Gazing out over the water each day
The love and connection with people - even if only through a computer screen!

Just Martha, her daughter (who lives with us), and I . Substituting Cornish game hens for turkey. Dinner at 6 with other family gatherings on zoom.

Jf

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Anna:
He prefers dressing made from white bread,

Of course he does.

I’m cooking a turkey breast in the slow cooker. Damn thing still isn’t cooked through. All the recipes said 4 hours or less for boneless, but mine is really big and might have still been kind of cold in the middle when I started.

Just me, Susan and her sister (who is in the bubble). Small turkey. We had a zoom chat with the boys (and one girlfriend) after our dinner and before theirs. One is in mountain time zone and the other in Pacific.

Oh, and I'm not seeing how to shrink this thing. Often there is a "large" or "medium," or pixel dimensions. Anybody know an easy way to reduce the size?

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:

quote:

Originally posted by AdagioM:
I’m making Thanksgiving dinner, and the kids will pick it up from our front porch. Mr. AM flew to visit his Mom in assisted living in St. Louis (outdoor courtyard visit, masks, 6 feet apart) and isn’t past his 14 day quarantine since arrival home yet.

I’m playing around with the turkey this year. Samin Nosrat’s spatchcocked buttermilk brined turkey, recipe here.

My Dad’s stuffing, which is basically a Chinese sausage/oyster/water chestnut fried rice, yum.

Roasted brussels sprouts, gravy, pumpkin pie. That is plenty of food! Cranberry sauce is on its way from Cousin Gwen; hope it makes it in time!

Wow, sounds fabulous.

Please let us know how the turkey turns out. That recipe is intriguing.

The turkey was beautiful, *and* delicious! For the first 30 minutes in the oven, I could smell the buttermilk and was afraid of what it might do to the flavor, but when it was done, no trace of buttermilk flavor, just a lovely juicy turkey. My kids said it was the best turkey they’ve had, and they’re not particularly big turkey fans. Win!

My two sons and I shared another ZOOM-holiday. First, we'll catch up while having dinner - each something we are fond of, to be shared visually. (As we're all Ketoing, we couldn't have done most of the carb part of a traditional Thanksgiving anyhow. *Sigh*, we have such glorious memories of Thanksgiving feasts past,).

One son has announced his "keto-friendly" feast, in what we call "Gulliver" (scaled-down) style: A rock cornish hen stuffed with Ezekiel bread, green apples, walnuts and green onions. (Sadly, regular onions are so surprisingly high in carbs.) That, plus either raspberries or some erithritol-sweetened dessert.

I had herbed butter baked perch, Spring salad and raspberries. Other son made "mystery meat*" with garnishes (*ham). A "keto-friendly" desert. We all set our tables and used fancy dishes.

Afterwards, we watched a few Twilight Zone shows on Netflix family party mode. (We finally synched the play-back.)

It was really fun. Only drawback for me was a problem with newly recast front tooth (one of three that cracked during the dental lockdown period). Mere hours after leaving dentist's office, the temporary fell out, leaving me looking like a jackolantern - a real spike. The only advantage was that except for Zooming, it was mostly hidden behind a mask.