I’ve spent the last week obsessing about Thanksgiving and sharing my journey as I tried a variety of dishes and honed my skills. This is my first year in charge of Thanksgiving, and I wanted to bring my A game.
My wife and I are flying back to our hometown tonight; Wednesday we’ll bake pies and Thursday we’ll do the remainder of the cooking. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to bring the pumpkin I had roasted and pureed in my carry-on, so I checked the TSA guidelines. If pumpkin puree counts as baby food, then I should be in the clear.
Here’s what we’ll be serving on Thursday:
- Roast turkey (from Ina Garten)
- cranberries and gravy
- Parmesan smashed potatoes (from Ina Garten)
- Candied sweet potatoes (family recipe that my mom is making)
- Challah stuffing (family recipe that my mother-in-law is making)
- Spinach and grilled fennel salad (my own recipe)
- Roasted green beans (from Once Upon A Chef)
- Cabbage, apples and onions (from The New York Times)
- Cornbread (my own recipe)
- Traditional pumpkin pie (from King Arthur Flour)
- Traditional pecan pie (from King Arthur Flour)
- Apple, pear and cranberry crumble (modified recipe from King Arthur Flour)
I think it’s interesting to note the variety of sources I’m using for my final dishes. My wife remembered watching, years ago, an episode of Ina Garten’s Food Network show where she roasted a turkey. Sure enough, that recipe was online. This is the one dish I haven’t tested yet, so we’ll see how it turns out. We have some family favorites, some recipes of my own creation and some other cooking blog recipes. It figures I’d be using KAF for all of my pie recipes. I’m an unabashed fan, and I trust them.
This past week has been a fun exercise in obsession. I might have overdone it a little, but it was reassuring to practice.
Happy Thanksgiving all, and I’ll see you on the other side!
