Thanksgiving 2009

Dave and I hosted Thanksgiving this year. Between a trip to NY last month for my cousin Patrick's wedding, another one next month to close on the Brooklyn house, and then Christmas in MN, I was in no mood to get on a plane--with the girls. Plus, Thanksgiving has typically been a driving holiday, with my Aunt Missy and Uncle Jim hosting us in Connecticut more often than not over the past 16 years. When I found myself complaining to Missy that we would be lonely on the holiday, that we would really miss being part of their thanksgiving, she gave me sage advice (as always): make it your own. Start with some good recipes and build from there. This is, of course, not a problem for Dave and I, and I must say the results were delicious. In fact, our guest Amy voted it her best Thanksgiving meal to date.

Here's the menu:

Peterson Farms Roasted Turkey with Giblet Gravy
Dried-Fruit Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes two-ways
Sweet Potato casserole with hazelnut topping
Green Beans with Toasted Garlic and Almonds
Pan Carmelized Brussels Sprouts with Applewood smoked bacon, lemon, and brown butter
Gingered Cranberry sauce
Parker House Rolls

Bourbon Vanilla Pumpkin Tart with Whipped Cream
Gingerbread Cookies with Vanilla Ice Cream

Because Dave is Mr. Artisenal, and because I recently read Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which has an entire chapter on Turkey husbandry and the superiority of heritage breeds, Dave ordered the turkey from Peterson Farms in Minnesota, through our local organic meat purveyor, Herb's. After much research, he brined it overnight in a recipe of his own making, which he calls "part Alice Waters, part Alton Brown"; roasted it with a fairly basic butter baste, and made stock from the giblets as a base for the gravy. Allow me to remark that there is nothing hotter than a man who knows his way around a turkey, and will not only carve it, but cook it, for Thanksgiving.

As for the sides. We recently read this funny pair of articles in the NY Times facing off a food editor who believes Turkey is King with another who is all about the sides. While we did not ultimately choose any of their recipes, we did get inspired by the multitude of gorgeous side dishes. For a bit of tradition, I made one of my mom's favorite stuffing recipes, from Bon Appetit circa 1997, and got the simple cranberry relish from Sunset Magazine ("The magazine of living in the west": I'm soooo susceptible, and rarely need more of an excuse to buy a new magazine at the grocery check-out). The potatoes- all three dishes- came with the Desautels-Steins (Justin and Dave have been making things "two ways." Actually, they recently made chicken two ways, two ways. While it's simple math it doesn't seem quite right, so let me clarify: four different chicken dishes over the course of two dinners.) The brussels sprouts came from NY Magazine, where the picture (and the ingredient list) had us both drooling, and the green beans are Dave's classic, from the Gourmet cookbook, though the link above seems very very close. Same with the parker house rolls, a light yeast roll that Dave made from scratch.

We have no buffet, and not a lot of room in the kitchen, so we all served our own plates from pans on the stove and platters on the washer-dryer, leaving me to capture the spread really only on my plate...with a little toddler interference. But yum, right?



For some reason I'm always making desserts from Cooking Light, and our Thanksgiving treats were no exception. I don't know if this is some kind of balance thing (I'll have seconds; at least it's "light") or if it's simply that this is the only cooking magazine I read and therefore it is my primary exposure to dessert recipes. The filling for the pumpkin tart was divine (though the crust soggy- I didn't have a spring form pan, so who's to say if it's the recipe or the equipment?) and the cookies, which Clio and Dakota helped make last weekend, never quite got iced, but have been gobbled up.




Missy gave me one other helpful piece of advice: to think about what we really wanted from the holiday and do away with traditions that didn't make us happy. This came in part in response to my complaints about all my good china being in storage. As I thought about it, I realized that a pretty table IS important to me, but a formal one is not. So I used what I had on hand, including a mix of casual dishes with finer stemware (and silly vintage glasses for the kids), rough linen napkins which I tied with some vintage grossgrain ribbon from the craft drawer, and finer linen placemats which I did not bother to iron (nor will I ever: who cares?), and put together a pretty little centerpiece from a $10 grocery store bouquet.


In trying to engage Clio in a little craft project, I also ended up tracing some leaf-shaped cookie cutters on old, faded construction paper; I was planning to decorate some printed menus, but instead used the pink leaves as place cards.



The clean room and pretty table made me unspeakably happy; it signals a special event for me when the toys are all put away and the table sparkles--in fact, it was always my job to set the table for big events growing up, and I never tired of polishing silver or sorting through napkin rings to find a complete set.

More importantly though, I love that we spent the day cooking together and taking turns running after the girls. That we got to host our friends Justin, Amy, Dakota, and baby Noah, without whom Boulder might be a very lonely place. That Dave and I wrapped the night watching 30 Rock in front of the computer. And that the dishes were done and everybody in bed before 10.

I'm also pleased that Dave and I took on the tradition of a delicious Turkey dinner. While Amy and Justin debated whose family produced a worse Thanksgiving meal, I realized Dave and I could never have such a conversation: our mothers (and families) are excellent cooks, and Thanksgiving--turkey AND sides--is no joke, in either household.

Finally, i love that Justin suggested--and nearly succeeded in capturing--a Peterson family portrait. The only two photos that I'm aware of with all four of us are in the hospital after Eleri was born and in Chicago when Dave's parents came to babysit the gilrl while we went to a wedding.


These, while a bit unruly, are also merrier.






Happy Thanksgiving!