Thanksgiving is almost here!

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Oh my, what a lovely holiday.  This is one day that is all about the food.  No gifts to buy, just the company of family and friends.  In my family, there are expectations for this day.  They expect the same bird recipe with stuffing or dressing and mushroom gravy and the meal has to end with chocolate pecan pie and classic pecan pie.  The sides are important but not as critical as the turkey, so I can get a little creative. This concept was tested one year when we spent T-Day at the Outer Banks.  The beach was awesome, but the turkey was just OK.  We ordered a turkey and my immediate family let me know that is not what they look forward to.  I guess this is where tradition steps in and takes hold. I am good with that.  This way the main dish has been tested and approved, so be it. 

Thanksgiving food is for Thanksgiving day and it is worth the wait.  We fix a large meal and eat till we are ready to pop, have leftovers for several days afterward and and then we are done until next year.  We have whole roasted turkey, stuffing, cranberries and pecan pie once a year.  So we are in agreement that Thanksgiving is for being thankful and copious amounts of our favorite delicious food.  Oh yeah, and family and friends, they are the icing on the cake!

Thanksgiving 2010 Memoirs

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 Over the river and through the woods . . . actually it is Central Park!

Why memoirs?  These are notes to remind me of my 2010 T-Day experience.  You know-What went right and what went wrong!  Organization is key to get everything done.  A few helping hands is really, really nice.  Cooking techniques and recipes are something I am always working on.  I am a chronic meddler so I always have to change something up or bring a new, untried recipe to the table. (I can hear the groans as I write!)  I almost brought two this year, but then I thought am I seriously nuts.  Stay with what works!  My family looks forward to what is served on T-Day and that anticipation should not be messed with.  This is the only time of the year we have a whole roasted turkey, cornbread dressing, mushroom gravy, cranberry sauce and my Granny's homemade rolls.  If it works and they love it - don't mess with it.

I did not go over the top making too many dishes this year.  No soup for a first course or prepared appetizers.  All the dishes were made ahead of time including the Brussels sprouts.  This year was more relaxing than most.

Cranberry Chutney - 2 versions

Tweet Cranberry sauce and Thanksgiving.  I don't think you can have one without the other.

 Cranberry Chutney flavored with apple, orange and spices

This year I wanted to shake things up a bit because that is just what I do.  I always change up something. I don't really follow recipes so I get to cook how I am feeling which is nice and luckily no one complains!   Most dishes that I fix at Thanksgiving are fundamentally the same.  A brined bird, cornbread stuffing with sage, mushroom gravy, sweet potatoes with marshmellows on top (I think this dish is nasty sweet and I will not eat it but it is one of the first things finished!), homemade rolls, and a few veggie side dishes like brussels sprouts, creamed spinach or green beans. Oh yeah, and chocolate pecan pie=total and complete YUM.  There are flavor variations every year that differ.  Pecans or sausage in the cornbread dressing, mushroom gravy with sage or thyme, pecan pie flavored with vanilla or rum and this year the sweet potatoes are getting a do over (those Marshmellows might have to go!)

This year the cranberry sauce is going to be replaced with cranberry chutney.  I am not really sure how one is different from the other because one of these recipes is similar to cranberry sauce I have been making for years.  Maybe I have been making chutney all along. 

I have made two kinds. One is on the sweet, orange flavored type (a lot like the classic sauce I have been making for years) and one is more savory.  The savory one contains celery and onions but is still sweet and tangy.  The orange flavored one is my favorite, I think.  I reserve the right to change my mind!  It contains chopped fruit, orange liquor and spices.  They both sat in the refrigerator for a couple of days and the flavors improved quite a bit.  The savory one did not taste that great the day after I made it and I almost threw it away.  I am glad I didn't.  It still has crunchy celery after several days which I didn't expect and it taste fabulous.  It seems you taste the flavors separately when you taste either one of these recipes right after you make them.  After they have been in the frig for a couple of days the flavors just seem to come together as one.