Thanksgiving 2010

After making that complicated (and fantastic) Coq au Vin, Thanksgiving was a breeze.

We had a pretty small group and it was the first time (ever, I think) that we had no additional folks coming for dinner, so everyone was already in the house.

There were good things about that…and bad. The good was that we were really relaxed and dinner could be served at any time. The bad was that we were really relaxed and dinner could be served at any time. It was weird not to HAVE to get the turkey out of the oven by any specific time and not to HAVE to hurry with anything. I'm not sure that's good for me. I need a deadline.

The healthier ones of us liked the idea of eating later at dinner time, while others would have been happy to eat earlier…and then eat again later. (I’m not saying which group I fall into, but I do believe that turkey is often better the second time around.)

Here's one of our hors d’oeuvres. I had some young folks (of drinking age) put these VERY boozy Martini Puffs together. They were fun and the olives by themselves were pretty great too.

I also served some guacamole (made, winningly, by one of the above-mentioned young’uns) with some chips and veggies and my favorite sun-dried tomato tapenade mixed with sour cream.

I made this salad as a starter - Sliced Orange Salad with Sautéed Olives and Ricotta Salata. Here’s a picture before all the good stuff went in.

There was just one little wrinkle, which I totally didn’t realize until I was just looking at the pictures to put in this post. I FORGOT THE RICOTTA SALATA. I just completely forgot it. Dumb. The salad WAS fine the way it was, but the creamy ricotta would have been wonderful with the saltiness of the olives and the sweet tang of the oranges. I wonder what else I forgot.

My stuffing came out really well, because I finally remembered to soak my dried apricots in Grand Marnier. Then I threw the apricots AND the alcohol into the stuffing. Also I don’t recall ever using fresh thyme before. Really good.

The other things - Bourbon Sweet Potatoes, Cranberries, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy and Roasted Green Beans. I didn't forget the lady apples with the turkey.

Desserts: Pecan Pie , Pumpkin Chiffon Pie and Apple Pie.

The best part about Thanksgiving (aside from the leftovers) is...the champagne!!! Just kidding! The best part is friends, family...all that stuff. Without that, it's just dinner.