The Turkey Was Good

Beautiful biscuit 

I have been remiss about regular blog updates. Could it be the holiday season? Could it be that I've been attending births which require 12 hour shifts overnight? Yes. It could be these things.

The major successes of the day:

I found tiny little white pumpkins at the farmer's market which became the little piece de la resistance ... check out the place setting (with obliging guest's hands) in the photo below. Note the new dinnerware (gasp, I almost typed the word dishes! how gauche!) and the harvesty cloth napkins!

I do love a proper biscuit and the Cook's recipe is one of the best I've ever tried. Photo attached of one of those babies as well above.

The turkey was good! Thanksgiving was a lot of fun overall. I think being the hostess really gives you the feeling of it as an event rather than simply an overly large meal. I roasted my first ever turkey, trussing and all. I have never wrestled a turkey into place before. Let me tell you, cooking is not for wimps. Just try rotating a 12 pound bird at a temperature of around 175 degrees. The promise of crispy skin by the folks at Cooks was somewhat wasted since no one in my little group was a big skin eater. I think next time, less rotating.

This was my first year with giblet gravy. A little scary working with giblets, but let me tell you, after handling placentas you can handle a lot of scary stuff. That's all I will say about that. However, I learned something new -- I was proud to find the bag with the giblets and neck in the turkey. Then my recipe for the gravy mentioned including the heart and I thought, well, my turkey company does not seem to include that as it was not in the giblet bag. So I proceeded without and all was fine. And then guest Nick began to carve the turkey and found another little bag that got cooked with everything else, hiding in the neck cavity, with a well cooked heart inside. Hmph! Who would think to look there? Talk about having your heart in your throat. However, my guests were forgiving of the mistake, and we moved on.

The pumpkin pie was interesting. Not as firm as I would have liked, but the extra spiciness of the Cooks, yes again the Cook's recipe, was very pleasant. The jello salad simply never materialized. After you've stuffed twenty five pieces of celery with cream cheese and olives, you just start to lose your steam around preserving complicated albeit cherished traditions.

A guest brought over "Supersize Me" for us to watch while digesting after the meal. This was an amusing if not entirely appropriate choice. Watching a movie about how Americans consume enormous amounts of unhealthy food feels a little funny when you've just stuffed yourself silly. However, it was nice to revisit my previous obsession with documentaries. I can't say it was a deeply profound or insightful film, but you know, it was one of those things that people are talking about so you can connect over it.

So yes, overall a successful day. Next year I think I'd like to try the high roast turkey or the spice rubbed turkey. Wait, did I just volunteer to do this again?