So...whats for dinner?

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  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited November 2015

    Kayak - nice to have you join us.

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  • auntienance
    auntienance Member Posts: 4,216
    edited November 2015

    Well instead of pasta e fagioli (it was nearly 60 degrees today) I decided to make a lighter version of fettuccini alfredo. I did make the garlicky slaw and thawed some garlic knots.

    Today in addition to cleaning (yuck) I toasted the bread for dressing and made cranberry sauce. Tomorrow I'll make the butter rolls and the croutons for the caesar salad as well as the dressing.

    Carole, I hope the weather holds for your journey.

    Bedo, we take mashed potatoes seriously in our family. Only a few are chosen. It would be a compliment.

    Lacy, hope you survived Volantes!

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  • eric95us
    eric95us Member Posts: 2,845
    edited November 2015

    Hi Kayak. Does your screen name have anything to do with kayaking? I love Alice's Restaurant. That song never fails to make me smile.

    Chi, I was hoping your statement meant you were done with rads. That is great news.

    I haven't gotten to the dinner rolls yet. I may just make them late tomorrow and if they turn out well, reheat them on Thursday and if they don't buy some and feed mine to the birds. :-)

    Instead of rolls, I dusted, swept and mopped the floors and went back and dusted again. Now to put the chairs, sofa, televisions, refrigerators, freezers, etc...back.....I even got the ceiling fan blades......

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  • susan_02143
    susan_02143 Member Posts: 7,209
    edited November 2015

    I don't know how everyone knows that ChiSandy is finished with rads, but, if this is the case.... congratulations!!!! Rads are a long haul, and well worth celebrating. Takes some time to recover, but it is all better from here.

    *susan*

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  • Lacey12
    Lacey12 Member Posts: 2,951
    edited November 2015

    Note: I wrote this late last night and when I tapped "submit", I discovered our wifi was out for some reason. In-house tech guy was fast asleep, so I copied post and am re-submitting this AM.....thus my time references might seem confusing.
    ..................................................................
    Congrats, ChiSandy! I recall getting a little grad certificate and pin when my rads were completed. That was funny...but nice since I really liked all the techs and the doc who cared for me over what seemed like a long period of time. Celebrate!

    So inexplicably, NONE of the stores we trekked into late this afternoon were busy like we expected. The little neighborhood bakery up the road was the busiest and let me know that the bread basket I impulsively ordered (after seeing how beautifully it was braided and latticed, holding a set of rolls) would not be ready until Wednesday. Perfectly fine with us, since we can get it, the apple pie I ordered, and some sandwiches to have for tomorrow night's dinner along with the last of the soup. That will take care of dinner!


    Then we drove to Volantes, which was hardly busy, and the young owners (DS2's friends) who were dispatching the turkey orders, said they were in fear of what would happen on Wednesday since the crowds weren't there yet. The turkey is 14 lbs, and I forgot I ordered a side of brussels sprouts with pancetta, so that will pre-empt the roasted broccoli plan. Don't want to horrify DGF with too many crucifers! :) We leisurely selected some wines (skipping the other prepared items I was planning to cheat with, due to their grossly high prices...how do these young families afford to feed their families prepared meals from such stores?) and headed off to Trader's, where we immediately got a parking spot.


    The store was no busier than usual at 5PM. Then, astoundingly, Sudbury Farms (a local supermarket) was also markedly unbusy! So we finished our errands there, listening to the staff talking about the crush they expected tomorrow. Amazing luck!


    At home we saw the horrific traffic reports on the news and figured some of that accounted for the "normal store traffic". We were extremely happy to be tucked in our own house on what is described as the busiest driving day of the year here. We have been stuck in that Mass Pike "parking lot" in the past.


    So tonight, I cooked up the sausage, onions and mushrooms I will put in my stuffing. I love to add dried fruit, but DS2 who is the true stuffing fan really can't deal with that addition, so I acquiesced. Also made some pumpkin bread.


    Will try to do some sides (swt potato casserole, squash, etc) tomorrow and begin dealing with turkey lurkey. I really do not enjoy cooking turkeys! So I will probably do no brining, but will boil/simmer the giblets for gravy....hmmmm....roasting neck first, Susan....great idea! I did buy some store made gravy at Sudbury (half the price of Volantes) in case of emergency (!). Never did that before. Getting old...


    Or maybe I was feeling clairvoyant....


    On the way home while turning the steering wheel at a corner, I experienced a sharp pain at the front of my right shoulder. It radiated down my arm and then ached a bit all evening, paining in certain positions as I did my cooking. Arggghhh!! Not good timing. Iced it later and took some Ibuprofen, and now will try not to sleep on that side.


    Carole, glad your trip is going well. :)


    Susan, I get my Wyman's blues at Trader's. I love that you are making your Dad's favorite pie.


    Fun to hear about all the cooking efforts.


    I am terrible at mashed potatoes, Bedo, so will be relying on Betty Crocker flakes. No one will be the wiser about such fraudulence at our table since I hardly ever served them except for T-giv!


    Happy Thanksgiving all!
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  • Kayak2
    Kayak2 Member Posts: 8,561
    edited November 2015

    Eric, yes I love to kayak on the local lakes..... soooo relaxing, and an extra special treat when one sees an eagle, blue heron or an otter playfully swimming around. By the way, love your jasmine rice chicken salad and will probably make it again this weekend.

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  • auntienance
    auntienance Member Posts: 4,216
    edited November 2015

    Lacey, dry brining is the way to go. No muss no fuss.

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  • eric95us
    eric95us Member Posts: 2,845
    edited November 2015

    Sharon is on the right.

    image

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  • Redheaded1
    Redheaded1 Member Posts: 1,600
    edited November 2015

    how long and at what temp do I cook dressing? Outside the bird of course....

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  • Redheaded1
    Redheaded1 Member Posts: 1,600
    edited November 2015

    Traditional bread and sage dressing


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  • auntienance
    auntienance Member Posts: 4,216
    edited November 2015

    I cook mine in the slow cooker.

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  • bedo
    bedo Member Posts: 1,866
    edited November 2015

    I don't know Red :O I had to ask the produce man what kind of potatoes to buy to make mashed potatoes. Maybe someone else can help.

    Kayak I love kayaking. We in RI are kayaking fools.

    I think that Alice's Restaurant was in the Berkshires, I had a friend who was there during that time

    I'm glad you posted in the thread

    I suddenly got a bad cold last night and may just drop off the ingredients for mashed potatoes, as no one wants my germs, I'm sure.

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited November 2015

    red - I usually bake mine outside the bird for about 20 mins covered at 350-ish, then uncover and go another 15 mins or so.  I like moderately soft stuffing, if you like yours more dry you could leave it covered.  When I mix the stock in I keep adding until I think it might be slightly too wet, so use that as a guide.  How did the busy day stew work out?

    I have roasted two extra turkey breasts, roasted sweet potatoes and then tossed with pineapple, brown sugar and maple syrup - will put pecans on tomorrow.  Made the jello salad (DH's childhood fave), and cranberry sauce, and prepped a couple of new dishes - roasted Brussel sprouts with butternut squash in a Dijon dressing, and roasted  acorn squash chunks with smoked paprika to go over field greens with pepita brittle and a lemon vinaigrette.  I am drying bread for cornbread with sausage dressing, and wheat bread and brioche for regular dressing.  Will make a pumpkin cheesecake with gingersnap and pecan crust and a bourbon chocolate tart later tonight, along with au gratin potatoes and scalloped corn.  Tomorrow is mashed potatoes (I use Yukon golds) and the big turkey/gravy, green beans, and an apple pie.  Our friends are bringing a ham and wine.

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  • Redheaded1
    Redheaded1 Member Posts: 1,600
    edited November 2015

    The busy day stew was yu mmy. The wind picked up and it was cold out and I came home and house was warm and smelling good and all I had to do was put it in a bowl and eat......(for 3 days)........

    After reading Y'alls plans, I will keep still about how I feel about fixing Thanksgiving. When 88 is no longer with me I wil just have a frozen pizza.....

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  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited November 2015

    Redhead - hang on. As another BCO member said, our "figureheads" are watching even if we change traditions. All of my elders are gone & my son lives far away & always works on holidays. One year I met him in Virginia and he made reservations for an "inn" where George Washington had stayed. Sometimes I spend the holiday w/friends or cook for people w/no where else to go. This year I've chosen to cook a pork loin just for myself. I did that one birthday long ago when I was alone and have good memories. I may not have all the courses, but I don't skimp on a holiday. Tomorrow I'll at least add a veggie and find a good book to read while I'm eating.

    Special - if the sprouts w/squash & Dijion turn out good, please share the recipe. What is DH's jello choice? My Mother's favorite "party jello" was raspberry w/frozen raspberries, crushed pineapple & pecan nuts. For everyday that became strawberry w/frozen strawberries & sliced bananas. My aunt served lime w/cottage cheese & crushed pineapple. We had lots of jello salads.

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  • auntienance
    auntienance Member Posts: 4,216
    edited November 2015

    That's quite an impressive spread Special! How many are you feeding? I like the sound of that salad.

    I sometimes make a cranberry jello salad with celery, pineapple and nuts that goes way back in our family. I forgot to get pineapple so it looks like I won't be making it this year. I refuse to make any more trips to the store before next week.

    Red, I hear you. If it were just me, things would probably be quite different.

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  • susan_02143
    susan_02143 Member Posts: 7,209
    edited November 2015

    My body is beaten. Bottom of my feet are peeling [lovely new side effect] and I am whipped! But, the turkey is ready for the smoker, mushrooms are marinating, creamed onions are ready to re-heat, and all the stuffing components are ready to combine before going into the oven. Blueberry pie is done. Pumpkin pie has about 25 more minutes in the oven. Linens are washed. Stocks for gravy are ready for some roux action. Tomorrow, I will assemble the stuffing, throw the corn into the oven with just a bit of butter and salt, and get those creamed onions ready to serve. Then we peel and boil the potatoes for mashed potatoes, and trim up the green beans for steaming. We will use the new spiralizer to prepare the apples which go into the oven as we sit down for dinner. Good thing I love this holiday!

    I wish all of you the best Thanksgiving, with the energy that give you joy and happiness. For those of you gathering with others, I hope that each one of these people fills an important place in your life, and that the ones that don't, do not annoy you completely. Enjoy!

    *susan*

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited November 2015

    minus - I will be glad to share the recipe if it turns out well!  Jello story to follow.

    red - glad the stew worked and sustained you!

    auntie - we actually Skyped my MIL tonight about the jello - I had a question about its origin, and the weird addition of mayo on the side - but she could not remember where she got the recipe.  It goes back to their days in Miami when the kids were small, so over 50 years ago.  I suspected that because the original recipe calls for grapefruit.  It is a layered salad with raspberry jello and whole berry cranberry sauce as the "red layer", lemon jello with cream cheese, crushed pineapple and salted pecans for the "yellow" layer, and lime jello with grapefruit as the "green" layer.  There was no lime jello at the store the other day - I am betting because of the very lime jello salad minus mentioned above - so I was left with the only green being a mixed melon layer and nobody likes the grapefruit in it so I subbed mandarin oranges.  This is the weirdest jello salad I have ever seen, but it is tradition, so I make it!  A number of friends who have come for Thanksgiving have really enjoyed it and always ask if I am making it again this year.  I will have 13 people - me, DH and DD, a work friend of DD's who needs to stay local to work early the next morning, and 9 of our friends (a whole family) who are getting home from a cruise tomorrow morning.  They are bringing 3 grandchildren, so I get to experience a holiday with little ones - I am excited!  It will be a while before I have any of my own so I am "renting" theirs, lol!  I laughed when I read about refusal to make another grocery store trip - I just got back form my last one about 5 mins ago!

    susan - sorry about your feeties!  Is hand and foot a SE of what you're on? I hope you can relax tomorrow after your remaining prep and enjoy, your menu sounds fab as always!  I have to hear about the spiralizer!  I hope you have a wonderful day!

    I am thankful for all of you, not just tomorrow, but the other 364 as well!!!


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  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited November 2015

    And me. I am so grateful to have 'met' every one of you. And always enjoy the posts. You all are at the top of my thankful list this year.

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  • Moonflwr912
    Moonflwr912 Member Posts: 6,856
    edited November 2015

    i to o am thankful for all of you on this board!

    Chisandy, congrats on the RADS completion!

    Susan I hope you get the time to enjoy your cooking you worked do hard.

    Special you too! That sounds like my normal Thanksgiving day.

    Eric you worked hard prepping too!

    Minus let us know how things go.

    Carole. If it isn't always the way things go. I'm heading the wrong way when you're headed up this way. LOL. Well at least IL. LOL

    Bedo I hope you feel better.

    Nance, keep cooking.

    It's going to be weird for me this year, just DH and I. I decided on Wed that i would cook.. So I braved the crowds and went looking for a turkey. A bit late i know. I figured I'd end up with a 20 lb one because all the little o es would be gone. I had a frozen turkey breast in my basket when I found the cooler of fresh ones. I looked and one looked tiny. YES! Score- a 10 lb bird- fresh so no thawing. I I'll spatchcock it so it will cook faster anyway. Also just a bit of dressing to make. Mashed potatos for 2 doesn't take long. Also have sweet pot tato to toss n the oven.then jus small salad.

    Much love and Happy Thanksgiving to all the wonderful cooks here.

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  • eric95us
    eric95us Member Posts: 2,845
    edited November 2015

    I just lost the post...Grrrrr...

    I wish the feet weren't peeling, Susan. That's got to be annoying. Relax a bit tomorrow..please...

    Kayak, I'm glad you like the jasmine rice-chicken "salad". If DD had her way, we'd have that at least once a week. She loves the stuff.

    This year's Thanksgiving is a bit better executed than last year's meal. Last year, I had to take my mom to the hospital the afternoon before Thanksgiving. This year she's fine. I've made a pumpkin pie, the cream cheese-sour cream-lemon juice pie, and (unfortunately) I'm still testing the sourdough roll recipe. It's nearly 12:15pm and I've got another hour to 30 minutes to go. Fortunately the turkey doesn't have to go into the oven until 9 or 9:30, so I can sleep in a bit.


    I've been thinking about the past Thanksgivings that evoke strong memories.

    1983 was a non-event...Mickey died just after midnight that morning and I just didn't feel like eating.

    1979 was interesting as it was the first time I "came home for the holiday". I'd been away at college for the past 5 months and when I walked in, I clearly remember thinking about how low the dinner table seemed to be to the floor. It's a very weird memory...but that's my strongest memory of that Thanksgiving..

    2012 Thanksgiving found me deployed to New York for Hurricane Sandy.


    Thank you, everyone on here for letting me be part of the thread..... :-)

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  • eric95us
    eric95us Member Posts: 2,845
    edited November 2015

    image

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  • auntienance
    auntienance Member Posts: 4,216
    edited November 2015

    Vey pretty Eric! I made seven dozen butter rolls yesterday, four dozen of which we'll take to SIL's today. The caesar salad dressing turned out too lemony for my taste, but it will have to do. This was an Ina Garten recipe and like most things of hers, called for too much salt. Fortunately, I cut it in half otherwise it would have been way too salty as well. Should have stuck with Julia's, my old standby.

    Chi, I will add my congrats to you for finishing rads. Now that's something to be thankful for.

    For all of you cooking today, I know your kitchens smell wonderful.

    It means so much to me and I am grateful to have this space and all of you to talk with about food and "stuff". It makes me smile when any of us manage to actually meet in person. So, Happy Thanksgiving my friends, I'm very thankful for all of you.

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  • Lacey12
    Lacey12 Member Posts: 2,951
    edited November 2015

    Another disappearing post!

    Have a beautiful day everyone. Grateful for all of you!
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  • bedo
    bedo Member Posts: 1,866
    edited November 2015

    ( Standing up at the table )

    I am thankful for all the friends who have supported me from when I was first diagnosed until up and after today.


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  • ChiSandy
    ChiSandy Member Posts: 12,133
    edited November 2015

    Had leftover pizza for brunch (slept in), since dinner won’t be till 7pm. Being a Brooklyn-born-&-bred kid, I never did develop a preference for Chicago-style deep-dish or stuffed (except as an entree unto itself), despite having lived in Chicago nearly twice as long as in NYC. I will always consider NYC street-corner thin-crust puffy-collar cheese or anchovy by-the-slice (folded) as the essence of pizza. Fortunately, Jimmy’s N.Y. Pizza Cafe delivers to my neighborhood. (The pizzaiolo is Korean, but trained at DiFara on Ave. J--and he also makes the best beignets I’ve had outside NOLA). May have a little Caesar salad, just in case there aren’t enough green veggies at dinner.

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  • eric95us
    eric95us Member Posts: 2,845
    edited November 2015

    I'm fighting a food coma. Another Thanksgiving is in the books. The left overs a all put away, the dishes and counters are cleaned up and the turkey bones are simmering.

    DD made a salad with ground beef and crunched taco shells in it and a bean dip for "chips and dip". Both of those were "demolished". She also picked up a tablecloth and napkins for the table setting.....the kid has good taste... :-)

    Susan...I hope you got a chance to relax a bit....


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  • Redheaded1
    Redheaded1 Member Posts: 1,600
    edited November 2015

    pIZZA, MCDONALDS, FROZEN TV DINNER..........next YEAR... NOT JOKING.

    Everything was perfect, hit the table on time ---not one thank you, not one "this tastes good".....nothing.....

    Can you spell dysfunctional.........

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  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited November 2015

    Red - Sorry not even one person said thanks. How about next year - out to dinner? That way you don't even have to clean up the pizza or McD's trash.

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  • susan_02143
    susan_02143 Member Posts: 7,209
    edited November 2015

    Red, Oh that is unacceptable to not receive even one thank you! However, congratulations on your perfection, especially the timing. We were 20 minutes late "hitting" the table. And as to your last question, dysfunctional is a word that autocorrect attacks almost every time I try to type it.So no, can't spell. :-)

    eric, tablecloths and linens are a wonderful advancement. We use them everyday, the cloth kind for both aesthetic and eco reasons. I think your DD is turning out really well!

    Minus, how was your festive tenderloin dinner?

    Our dinner went well. I was totally exhausted by 6pm when people finally started to head home. The kid's pies were spectacular! I only had a sliver of the blueberry. No late night snack as I fast for the PET scan. I hope that I didn't eat too late in the day. I was in bed by 10. The Kid and husband headed North to see his family and upon arrival, my kid sat on the "sitting" room couch and fell asleep for two hours! Today, I do need to eat a high fat-high protein meal 3-5 hrs before the scan. I will probably do their primary suggestion of fried eggs. Not even sure I want the bacon. I think they just include it to make this diet more palatable.

    *susan*

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