Thanksgiving, two weeks after the fact

I never got around to posting pictures of our modest Thanksgiving. Here it is, two weeks after the fact, and a reader was asking about it, so here goes.

The menu this year was simple: Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, green beans, wild rice stuffing, bread stuffing, biscuits, and dinner rolls.

Naturally much of this spread is made the day before. Here I'm working on "half-time spoon rolls." Letting the dough rise:

Second rising:

Baked and brushed with melted butter:

Bread stuffing starts with a loaf of fresh bread. Other ingredients: Homegrown sage, homemade turkey stock, homegrown onion, homemade butter. I'm sensing a theme here, aren't you?

The bread stuffing is for Don and Older Daughter. Oddly it's while making bread stuffing each year when I piercingly miss Younger Daughter the most. She used to love snitching uncooked bread stuffing.

Older Daughter doesn't like onions, but Don does, so I always divide the pan.

My particular indulgence (which no one else likes) is wild rice stuffing. It's my once-a-year treat.

Since I had so much homemade butter, I slathered it on the turkey before baking.

Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without a dog that just "happens" to park itself in the middle of the kitchen floor. Y'know, in case something falls.

After the turkey went into the oven, we had a chance to talk with Younger Daughter at her European duty station. It was late in the evening for her, and she had already had a "Friendsgiving" celebration earlier in the day.

Turkey, finished.

Older Daughter likes to make fancy folds in the napkins while setting the table.

At last we all sat down for our feast.

A few days after Thanksgiving, I finally got around to canning turkey stock. I had frozen random chicken and turkey carcasses for the last two or three years, so I pulled them all out of the freezer and chucked them in my biggest stock pot. I let them simmer all night long.

I added a splash of apple cider vinegar to help draw the nutrients out of the bones. By morning, it was a rick broth indeed.

I started straining the broth by putting everything through a colander over another stock pot.

Lots of meat bits left on the bone, so I separated some for Mr. Darcy.

Believe me, I went through those scraps with a fine-tooth comb. I didn't want him swallowing any bone shards.

I wasn't sure how many jars I'd need, so I washed a lot. My canner holds 18 pints at a time, so I washed not quite double that.

I started filling canning jars with hot turkey stock...

...but then realized there was just a bit too much fat in the stock. Instead, I put the stock outside to chill overnight to let the fat rise to the surface. The next morning, I skimmed it off.

Filling the jars.

First batch out of the canner. I always pressure-can my turkey stock for 75 minutes (pints), the same as I would for meat. That's because, even though the stock is liquid, there are lots of tiny meat bits in it. I don't want to take chances.

Second batch.

Beautiful golden stock, enough to last us a couple of years at least.

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was equally blessed.

Our Thanksgiving

We held our Thanksgiving on Wednesday, since I work on Thursdays. For the last few years, our celebration has been small, just the three of us (Don, myself, Older Daughter), though we spoke to Younger Daughter in the morning at her overseas duty station in Europe.

Older Daughter and I started cooking the day before since, of course, it would be foolish to try and cram all the dishes we wanted to make into one day.

For dessert, I made very easy pistachio pudding pies. These are light desserts, not too heavy after a large meal, and nice and refreshing.

Graham cracker crusts:

Mixing the filling:

And voilà: Dessert is done.

Next I turned my attention to stuffing. Don and Older Daughter like bread stuffing, so I started with that.

Oddly, it's while making bread stuffing that I always piercingly miss Younger Daughter, who used to love to snitch the uncooked mixture. I'm glad we were able to talk with her earlier in the day.

Older Daughter doesn't like onions in her stuffing while Don does, so I divide the batch and everyone's happy. To my way of thinking, Thanksgiving is a yearly indulgence in everyone's quirky tastes and preferences.

My personal once-a-year treat is wild rice stuffing. No one else cares for this lovely side dish, so I can add all the onions I want and no one complains.

On Wednesday, our feast day, I made a small batch of mashed potatoes for Older Daughter, since she still has that childish love of making mashed potato volcanoes with gravy lava...

...while she made a large batch of her famous scalloped potatoes, which are to-die-for good (no photo, sorry).

There are, apparently, a zillion-and-one fancy-dancy ways to prepare a turkey. While I'm sure they're all wonderful methods, I go the easy-peasey route: I rinse and dry the turkey, then slather on some shortening, and it's ready to bake. Honestly, it's the easiest thing ever.

Meanwhile, Older Daughter made a split batch of biscuits and dinner rolls. The biscuits she cut and put aside until after the turkey came out of the oven...

...while the dough for the dinner rolls spent time rising next to the wood stove.

I fetched the turkey platter, which is normally stored in a plastic bag under our bed. Many years ago while preparing Thanksgiving dinner, I lamented that I didn't have a wooden turkey platter like my mother's. Don inquired as to what the turkey platter was like. I sketched out an idea, he disappeared into the shop and emerged two hours later with a solid maple platter. What a blessing it is to have a woodworking husband!

Don did the annual ritual of sharpening knives. The reason for this stems from a time we had our beloved pastor (David "Spike" Shine) join us for Thanksgiving. He offered to carve the turkey, since he was quite good at it. To our everlasting embarrassment, every knife he tried was dull. Don hastily sharpened a knife, and Spike was finally able to carve the bird. Since then, every year without fail, Don gives a bunch of knives a good sharpening on Thanksgiving. (Rest in peace, Spike. We still miss you.)

We had planned to eat around 2 pm, but as it turns out, the turkey was finished about an hour before that.

While the turkey "rested" ...

...we bustled about getting all the last-minute stuff done: Baking the biscuits and rolls, reheating the stuffing and mashed potatoes, making the gravy, etc.

During all this bustle, of course, Mr. Darcy had planted himself inconveniently in the middle of the kitchen floor – practically wrapped around the table leg – and stayed there. Smart dog.

At the last minute, Older Daughter decided to make some deviled eggs for her and Don (a dish that makes me gag), which she does very well.

She also folded the napkins fancy and set the table.

Don carved the turkey while we set some of the side dishes on the table.

It was a feast worth waiting for. And the nice part about an early dinner is everything was washed and cleaned up by 3 pm, giving us time for farm chores and walking the dog before dark, and then a relaxing evening when we could pick at leftovers or have a piece of pie at leisure.

A blessed and bountiful Thanksgiving to everyone!

A quiet Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers!

Since I work on Thursdays, we had our feast yesterday (Wednesday). We started by writing down a menu so we'd know what to make in advance vs. what to make the day of the feast. (We later dropped mashed potatoes and just had Older Daughter's fabulous scalloped potatoes.)

Preparations started on Tuesday, notably the dinner rolls, the stuffings, and desert (strawberry trifle).

Bread stuffing ingredients:

I'm not crazy about bread stuffing, but Don and Older Daughter like it. However Older Daughter doesn't like onions, so what I do is divide the pan into the "onion" side and the "no onion" side. Works beautifully.

My weakness is wild rice stuffing. Since no one else cares for it, I can add all the onions I want. Bliss.

I concentrated on pulling together all the component ingredients for strawberry trifle (defrosting the strawberries, making the cream filling, crushing the graham crackers) while Older Daughter made dinner rolls (here the dough is rising).

I also pulled a bunch of potatoes out of storage.

Yesterday, the day of our feast, started with prepping the bird that's been living in our freezer for three years, and our refrigerator for the past week.

I don't do much by way of fancy prep work on the turkey. After rinsing and patting dry, I merely rub the skin with shortening and put it in the oven (basting it periodically while cooking, of course.

Because we did so much prep work the day before, our Thanksgiving Day was actually rather leisurely. Here's the trifle assembly station...

...and the finished product.

Older Daughter made green beans in oyster sauce and scalloped potatoes, then started setting the table. She likes to fold the napkins in elegant shapes on Thanksgiving. While she was working on this, she suddenly stopped and realized she was making four place settings, not three. Even after all these years, it's hard not to miss Younger Daughter at such times.

While the turkey was baking, Don sharpened knives. It's become something of a family tradition to sharpen the knives for Thanksgiving. The reason for this stems from a time we had our beloved pastor (David "Spike" Shine) join us for Thanksgiving. He offered to carve the turkey, since he was quite good at it. To our everlasting embarrassment, every knife he tried was dull. Don hastily sharpened a knife, and Spike was finally able to carve the bird. Since then, every year without fail, Don gives a bunch of knives a good sharpening on Thanksgiving. (Rest in peace, Spike. We still miss you.)

The bird came out looking very nice.

While Don carved (with sharp knives!), I made gravy.

At last we all sat down to eat, a feast worth waiting for.

Besides the gratitude for our family, our health, and our food, we're also grateful we were able to stay home. Consider this video of holiday traffic, and you'll understand why.

A blessed, abundant, and safe Thanksgiving, dear readers!