So...whats for dinner?

auntienance

Carole, we frequently eat the buffet, especially if there's no restaurant within walking distance after a long day of driving. DH likes it because he gets my two drinks as well as his own lol. I love the popcorn.

The oven fried chicken was really good - the most successful I've tried. After marinating it in buttermilk and hot sauce, chicken is dredged in flour and panko breadcrumbs then briefly fried until light golden brown. Finished in the oven then. I added a few spices such as paprika, garlic powder and red pepper. It was very crisp and juicy. I'll definitely make it again.

Tonight is sloppy Joe's and oven fries.

ChiSandy

Going to Broadway Cellars for a light dinner and to pick up the wines we bought at last week's benefit tasting dinner. Bob is working late and will try to meet me there for dessert or drinks. I have a hankering for the seared ahi appetizer, or (if they have it tonight) pan-seared scallops. Getting really cold out, though--might opt for the meatloaf instead. (Breakfast was 1/2 can of corned beef hash with about a cupful of diced onions, orange & green bell peppers, and homegrown scallions).

Housekeeper left today to herd cats--I mean, gather up her family at O'Hare & Midway (they're flying in from Birmingham, Dallas & Atlanta); she and her husband (a retired chef) will be cooking all day tomorrow. Me, I have early-morning P.T. and then a mani-pedi. No way am I walking out of there in Fit-Flops, though--not in this weather. Not a fan of frostbite). Then, maybe more family tree research (a real bear with all the variant spellings, courtesy of Ellis Island); or grocery shopping. Had my hair trimmed, de-gray-rooted and de-frizzed late this aft.--I feel human again.

MinusTwo

Carole & Nance - Both oven fried chicken recipes sound good. So how long to you cook in the over at what temp?

Eric - I'm going to save the squash recipe to try later. Let us know if preparing ahead & leaving in the fridge works. Tell Sharon congrats on the 21 lbs. Wow. Your meal plan sounds like the only thing that really works for me. Very late breakfast/brunch and then very late lunch/early dinner/dunch. I find I can hold the weight steady on two meals a day and nothing after dark but a snack like popcorn.

Thought this quote was amusing for anyone trying to lose weight: "Losing weight is a misnomer. It always knows it's way back." My guilty pleasure at the Thanksgiving table will be rolls.

auntienance

Minus, my recipe calls for 30 to 40 minutes at 350°.

eric95us

DD is trying vegainism, so I've been practicing that. So far, I've found the spices are what works the magic on how things taste. I've reduced my meat consumption...but not eliminated it....so far my cholesterol went from 203 to around 145, so that has been one useful thing about the experiment.

Minus, I will let you know how the reheating works out. I decided to leave the rice slightly crunchy on the theory that it will soften as it sits on the refrigerator and during the baking. That same recipe recommended a caramelized onion recipe and suggested one. I did one that is the same basic steps as they listed, but adds a bit of red wine and some Dijon mustard, along with salt & pepper. My grandmother showed this recipe to me during the early 1980s....

I also have my sourdough warming up on the counter. Tomorrow I'm going to start some sourdough rolls. Since the sourdough doesn't need a lot of supervision, I'm also going to try my hand at a pumpkin pie with a homemade crust. DD gave the recipe to me the last time she was home and used the "big eyed, PLEASE, daddy" on me. How can I say no to that?

There will be the turkey, of course and garlic potatoes. I then need to figure out a couple more things--probably my mom's orange-pineapple-coconut-sour cream salad, a green bean casserole (everyone here likes that) and then maybe one more thing.

I'm making just enough so there will be minimal left overs, so it will be more like a "French style service (in)formal not quite full course meal".

Lacey12

Welcome Laughing Gull!

Carole, if you happen to make a wrong turn on your way to IN, and land in MA, I have some lovely plates that those pralines (did I mention thry are one of my favorite “foods" of all time?!) will look even more beautiful on....briefly!

Special K., I'm so glad your oral surgery has gone well and am impressed with your diligence with file organization and album development. Carry on!

Eric, that stuffed butternut squash looks wonderful.It would be a great dish to make when our vegans come here. I envy sharon and your new eating regimen, but DH would never cope without having dinner. I could manage that quite nicely. Sounds like it's working for both of you.

Minus, love the apt quote!

Our evening with neighbors was lovely...just eight immediate neighbors, two really interesting and delicious chilis....one vegan with lentals, and one with middle eastern spices with beef, pork and raisins; my many lettuced salad (Yikes! At least a third of it was romaine, but no one got sick as far as I know), and three delicious pies, a pumpkin, a dense chocolate, and a banana cream. Yum! I can post the chili recipes if anyone is interested.

We have started the house cleaning effort and will continue tomorrow. Dust galore....and oh the kitchen paper piles and the taggie making fabric and ribbon all over the dining room!! By Thursday AM all will look transformed and ready for our small holiday celebration. DH and DS have been collecting necessary items for the turkey frying inauguration...including a new fire extinguisher...which makes me relieved. The fact that our temps are forecasted to be in the twenties leaves me wondering how this might all work. DDIL's family in Florida cooked their turkey this way when she was growing up. We'll see how well the process transfers to the cold northeast!

I hope everyone has safe travels and an enjoyable Thanksgiving!

KatyK

Enjoyed an early Thanksgiving dinner last night with my family around a campfire in Canyonlands. I made six meals ahead of time and froze them in separate containers - roast chicken ( nope, not turkey), stuffing, butternut squash, mashed taters, broccoli casserole, gravy and cranberry sauce. We heated them up in camping van microwave. The company and setting made the dinner taste so good! This is something I’ve wanted to do for years so it was very special! And wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving

auntienance

Spent the day making six dozen dinner rolls and two gingerbread cakes with creme anglaise (for once I didn't curdle it .)

Tired of being on my feet all day so I think it's takeout pizza or trader Joe's pizza margherita. I might muster up a romaine-less salad.

Wishing you all a very happy thanksgiving!

MinusTwo

Katy - sounds wonderful. I miss camping, but in TX it's usually too hot & humid. Where are you? I hope to go to Bryce and Zion National Parks in 2019.

Dinner was left over quiche and coleslaw. I'm headed 1-1/2 hours north to eat with my BFF tomorrow. I was going to stay the night but turns out her daughter is bring her EX husband along with the grandson & plans to stay 4 day instead of none - both guest bedrooms full - and now her son is coming too. She's scrounging for extra beds at friends houses, so I'll just drive up for dinner. The two lane winding road portion of the drive has lots of deer so I hope to be home before full dark. Maybe she'll be there long enough for me to drive up again before she goes back to Dallas for Christmas.

Because of the distance, I'm taking easy things that don't need baking or much refrigeration. Appetizers - vegetable relish tray, crackers, Boursin cheese and Robert Rothchild's Chili Jam which will go over cream cheese. Also taking fresh baked yeast rolls and split top multi-grain dinner rolls (all from the bakery). Taking Meritage wine since I prefer red, and some Godiva dark chocolate ganache hearts for afters - with the wine or the coffee. I'll report on the rest of the dinner on Friday.

Happy Holidays to everyone.

SpecialK

katyk - yum!

auntie - yum!

minus - yum! Drive safely! I want to go to Bryce and Zion too!

lacey - thanks for rooting me on, lol! It is a pain but I am always so happy when the files are in order - I should start an organizing business, because nobody but me likes to do it!

eric - your comment about your DD's please daddy eyes - I know that one well... our DD is a pro! I am sure the sourdough rolls and pumpkin pie will be delish!

chisandy - I am also encountering the family tree last name spelling variants, it is driving me crazy! My DH's grandfather was the first American born generation, and records prior to that are sketchy, so... I feel your struggle.

Just got done with my cooking for our trek over to our friend's home - just have one more layer of the jello salad my DH has had every Thanksgiving. This is the first year without my MIL so I wanted to make it for him. Feeling ready and will be wearing elastic waist pants...

Beaverntx

SpecialK and Chisandy, one of the rules of thumb in family tree/genealogy research is that spelling does not count! In actuality, very few of the variations are due to Ellis Island and most of them are related to the recorder either mishearing the name or not knowing how to spell it. Others are due to what we would consider poor handwriting or the fact that spelling was not really stressed until probably the mid to late 19th century-- and that is likely related to the increasing availability of at least basic education. Genealogy is a major avocation for me, let me know if I can be of help (I don't charge and would feel free to say no if I didn't think I could be helpful, so this is NOT a solicitation.)

As to dinner, tonight we are having black bean soup made in the Instant Pot (that appliance name is something of a misnomer...) and cornbread with leftover birthday chocolate cake for dessert.

illimae

Hi all, we’re at the cabin this week with two friends, all I’ve done is make a salad, Friends and DH made jambalaya, beef and barely soup, chili and chicken noodle tonight.

Saw a bear on our property yesterday, very exciting, I was cautious and took this pic from the deck.

Another cool thing happened, while browsing the local thrift store, I found a recipe book from 1968. It was gifted to “Margaret from Betty and Ralph Allen” and contains clippings, hand written pages and recipe cards from various individuals. Such a fun find and only $1.00.

eric95us

I'm going to make a red lentil soup, get going on the pumpkin pie crust and work on the dinner rolls tonight. About 2/3 of the stuff we're making can be made the night before, so we can set out quite a meal without going too crazy tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the stuffing, turkey, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots and the baking of the rolls.

DD is going to add a bit of southwest flair and make some enchiladas.

Canyonlands. That's a place we will probably go to next year on the way to "up north" (Leadville, CO and various places in Idaho).

Minus, if you get to Zion and Bryce, make sure you get by Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument...unless you don't like heights. The main road is a steep, winding, two lane road that follows the spine of a ridge and there are no guard rails on either side to spoil the view.

Oh, today we hiked the half of the Goat Camp Trail in the White Tank Mountains west of Phoenix. It was a beautiful, but steep in places, walk.

GreenHarbor

illimae, I love cookbooks and happily leaf through them like a novel! Your thrift store cookbook looks like a wonderful find. Tomorrow, my husband and I are traveling an hour to my hometown, where we'll have dinner with friends that have become family. I'm just bringing a lemon angel pie (meringue crust, lemon filling, whipped cream topping). Besides being grateful for making it through a lumpectomy and radiation in one piece, I'm grateful for having “met" all of you. Wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving! ❤️

eric95us

Illimae, I, too, am always on the lookout for used cookbooks. Probably 75% of them are thrift store 25 cent items, garage sale "5 for a $1" or library give away items. I don't know why, but the cookbooks out here seem to be mostly unwanted.

I'm trying a pie crust out of one of the old cookbooks (an officers wives club cookbook from Camp Lejeune) that I got at a garage sale.

DodgersGirl

Illimae, what a great find! How much fun to go thru all the handwritten recipes. Recipe cards came from Current. I still have some of those, ready to write out recipes.

Love the wildlife photos.

Dinner tonight is Day-before-Thanksgiving ritual: delivery pizza.

Trying to downsize Thanksgiving meal this year. Too many people dealing with illness this year. Scaling down, placing emphasis on family Trying a roasted turkey breast instead of the typical 22-25 lb bird.

Hoping you all enjoy tomorrow. May there be good food and great friends/family.

SpecialK

Dodgersgirl - I recognized the recipe cards too! I went and looked at mine - here are some more from that collection, Lol

LaughingGull

illimae....that BEAR....wow. I am speechless. You dont sound like you are panicking....I would!

No cooking tonight for me, so nothing to report. Tomorrow will cook a couple of side dishes to bring to the neighbours. Cranberry relish, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows and broccoli casserole...nothing exciting. My parents are visiting from Europe and it will be their first Thanksgiving....they will flip out with the sweet potato casserole with marshmallows...I will try to post a pic of my mom's face when she sees that!

M0mmyof3

Sandy, I encountered the same issue when I was looking for my maternal grandmother's parents. They came through Ellis Island and with a little bit of luck, I found them. I knew they where they had come from and that they had met coming over on the same boat.

eric95us

Food coma............................................,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

MinusTwo

Yup Eric. I agree. But we ate shortly after noon so my food is almost settled.

Dinner at my BFF's was traditional but of course every family does things a little different. I wasn't raised in the South, but it must be tradition here because both my BFF and my next door neighbor both put finely chopped hard boiled eggs in their dressing (stuffing). Today was BFF's traditional crumbled combination of homemade biscuits and cornbread. But of course there had to be two pans because BFF's daughter is vegetarian - no eggs & no chicken broth. Turkey for the non-vegetarians. The oldest uncle made green beans with hunks of hog jowl. This family has a tradition of fresh cut up fruit - no juice, no jello. Mashed AND sweet potatoes. I took yeast rolls and multigrain sweet rolls. Everyone wanted the multigrain. My Dad would have eaten a dozen yeast rolls. And homemade pecan/chocolate pie.

I'm grateful for all of you and the recipes and meals you share every day. And the pieces of your lives. Thanks.

ChiSandy

At the Fireside Inn, started with shrimp cocktail and "cranberry brie bites" (little pastry shells filled with brie atop cranberry coulis). One friend had the prime rib, but the rest of us had the trad turkey dinner: turkey (duh), gravy, stuffing, mashed white and sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Of course, I took most of mine home--how can it be Thanksgiving w/o leftover turkey the next day? Dessert was pecan pie with whipped cream. At home, a couple of cookies about 2 hrs. ago.

CeliaC

Simple Thanksgiving for us this year. DH is recovering from diverticulitis that began on Sunday morning, 11/11. A nice restaurant near the Cancer Support Community office was offering a free buffet to Cancer Survivors, with the basics (exactly what DH needed). Mashed potatoes, dressing, roast turkey, roast ham, gravy, cranberry/orange sauce (really good!) buttered corn, green beans, rolls & butter + pies (pumpkin, apple & cherry). Good basic food, although I skipped both vegs & he only had green beans. Missed my roasted brussels, carrots & sweet potatoes. DH liked his apple pie & my pumpkin pie + ample amounts of Reddi Whip (We always had this at family gatherings of old - Anyone remember squirting it directly into their mouth?) was delish. Unfortunately, no leftovers.

Lacey12

When DS2 decided to fry our turkey this year (they were gifted with a turkey fryer from DDIL2’s parents) he wasn’t planning on doing it in 2 degree wind chill. But that they did, after building a hilarious makeshift barrier all around the fryer to prevent the wind from continually blowing out the flames. Documentation below. I was happy to observe from the kitchen window, and deliver some apps to keep them energized to get through the process. There’s good reason people fry turkeys in the South!

Unfortunately, the meat thermometer didn’t work, so by the time we found another one that did, the bird was a tad overdone. So we might need to try it again next year for a more perfect result. DH ended up looking like he had been skiing atop Killington all day, sporting a very red chapped face after his extended effort tending to the fryer. The better news is that my oven was totally free for all the sides to be cooked and/or warmed.

It was a sumptuous meal with much appreciation for being together sharing life’s joys and challenges. By the end of the evening, the turkey carcass was busy simmering amid the veggies for bone broth. I bet some of you are doing this way more quickly in your Instant Pots! Enjoy the weekend, everyone.

auntienance

I must remind you Lacey, that you TOO have an instant pot lol!

carolehalston

Enjoyed your photos, Lacey. Thanks for sharing. We had a fried turkey, too, at niece Robin's family Thanksgiving dinner. John, her dh, cooked it. Robin cooked a smoked turkey on her charcoal grill. Oddly (to me) they both cooked their birds on Wednesday night, sliced the meat and stored it in broth for warming up on Thanksgiving day. Er, afternoon. DH's sister (mother of Robin) started the tradition years ago of serving dinner at 4 pm.

Not a turkey fan in any event, I took one small piece of each turkey and was under-wowed. There were three dressings or stuffings, whatever your vocabulary preference. One described as traditional. Looked like bread, celery and onions to me. Since the onion pieces were clearly visible, I skipped it. The second was a bread dressing with sausage. Looked good and tasted good. Third was an oyster dressing cooked according to "grandma's recipe" in a cookbook, grandma being dh's sister. Truth be known, dh and I realize that this oyster dressing is nothing like New Orleans oyster dressing but we've kept our mouths shut these many years. This year's dressing, assembled by nephew Justin, a delightful college student at Butler, turned out soupy. Needless to say, I skipped it.

Oysters release a lot of moisture and I think I heard Justin say he put extra oysters into the dressing.

Other foods were mashed potatoes, sweet potato dish topped with mashmallows and served in a traditional bowl now passed on to Robin, green beans with massive amounts of bacon, cranberry relish, delicious salad with mixture of greens including romaine. I took a spoonful of most dishes and had a platterful. Green beans, sausage dressing and green salad tasted good.

Dessert buffet was variety of pies with real whipped cream, a trifle made with pumpkin bread pieces and little red seeds (can't think of name) and whipped cream. Great-niece Alexis made the trifle using a recipe in a magazine. It was pretty and tasted good. She even baked the pumpkin bread. There was a plate of my home-made pralines which were largely ignored.

A nephew brought a variety of wines. I welcomed him with a hug! We arrived about noon and left at 8:30 to go back to the motel. The occasion was pleasant enough and there's always the reassuring thought, Another year before Thanksgiving comes again. It was fun visiting with Robin's four children, two of whom are in college, one in the Naval Academy.

Now we are at a nephew's house south of Chicago and will go to two ice hockey games today, one practice session for Catalina, aged six, and a later tournament game for Monty 5th who is nine.

From here we will go to Holland, MI, to visit dh's cousin and his wife, whom we enjoy very much.

Eventually we will go home, where I am happiest!

Magari

Hello, all -

Sorry I've been absent for quite a while. Belated best wishes to Minus; so glad to hear your sister's celebration was truly that. Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgivings.

I had my FINAL Herceptin/Perjeta infusion on Monday, and surgery to have my port removed on Tuesday! So had much to be grateful for this year.

Cookingwise, I made Irish brown (soda) bread last week, and pulled Irish stew from the freezer to go with it. We had a quiet dinner of pan seared flat iron steaks with ultra crispy roasted potatoes on Thursday, and did "Friendsgiving" on Friday afternoon at a girlfriend's house. The other participants are not really into cooking, so I brought my usual: spatchcocked turkey, gravy, cranberry/apple sauce with orange zest, and 2 kinds of bread dressing - one with sausage, sage and celery, the other with sherry-soaked prunes, apples and chestnuts. The latter was also supposed to have sausage as well and would have been better with it, but I was trying to accommodate those who object.

We now have wonderful leftovers that should last a few days. Including excellent pumpkin and apple pies ordered from our neighborhood bakery.

After nearly a week of terrible air quality, we finally got a couple of days of steady rain and it is bright and clear again. We got a break yesterday afternoon which allowed us to take a walk, and should be able to do so again today.

eric95us

Getting the port removed...that's good news Magari. Sharon (wife) hated the port almost as much as the post mastectomy drains and was thrilled when *that THING* was gone.

I'm guessing the rains there helped both the fire containment as well as the air quality. Now, hopefully the rains will be slow and gentle so as to not cause flash flooding and landslides. It is good that the fires are contained. That was nasty. Day after day of that level of work in those conditions, is hard on their health. Hopefully they can get some recovery time before they are needed again....somewhere in my stuff is "the T-shirt". :-)

Lacey, I fried our turkey. Fortunately it was in the 60F degree range, with no wind, when I did mine. It turned out pretty well at 3-1/4 minutes per pound and, like you said, it keeps the oven open for all the other stuff. I made good use of the extra oven, but only needed the 4 "burners" on the inside stove. All of us were pleased with the vegan foods (along with the turkey and turkey gravy) we prepared--especially DD, who is experimenting with vegan eating. I put the recipes in my notebook and I gave her copies for when she doesn't have to share a kitchen (and the storage space) with three other girls.

As for more recent cooking, I canned the broth from the turkey carcass. There are 13 twelve ounce jars cooling on the counter which will get added to the 36 jars of broth from the carcasses I'd stored in the freezer. This should almost be enough for the next year.

Louise57

Good to hear you make broth, eric. I do, too, and live from it during rough gut days. Does yours usually gel?

ChiSandy

Leftover something-other-than-turkey tonight, for the first time in days. My one Thanksgiving entree spawned three more meals: Friday lunch, Sat. dinner, and a turkey sandwich on sourdough (with leftover gravy & cranberry sauce). Friday night we went out to Artango, an Argentinian steakhouse in Lincoln Square. We started with grilled langoustines and turkey empanadas with chimichurri sauce. Main course was a "sharing flight" of steaks: sirloin, NY strip and cap-of-ribeye. No dessert--we were too stuffed. So tonight I had the leftovers.