Monday is Canadian Thanksgiving, so I decided to do the weekend right by taking tomorrow off. Nothing like a 4 day weekend to break up the long stretch between Labour Day and the Xmas holidays.
Plans are to head to the St. Lawrence Market in the morning to pick up the turkey which I ordered from Whitehouse Meats a few days ago. I have been talking about brining a turkey for years, and have decided that this is the year that I will talk the talk and walk the walk. My friend Niki sells merchandise for a company that has brining bags, so there is no longer a need for me to come up with a sterile 20 gallon pail of any form in which to submerge my fowl.
Thus the plan for this weekend's blogging will be to work my way through the menu, sharing with you any interesting recipes I make and experiences like brining my first turkey. All the while pulling from my pantry, freezer or buying only fresh.
The menu for Sunday dinner is as follows
(Fine Print for Kerryn and Rob et al: The following menu is provided for information purposes only and is not guaranteed to be current, accurate or complete. The menu displayed herein is subject to change without notice and I disclaim responsibility to update this information, nor do I accept any responsibility for any loss or damage that results from any recipes contained in this blog or accessed through other sites to which this site is linked. He he he......sorry hard to leave the office behind some days.....)
Maple Brined Turkey
Roasted Carrots and Parsnips (which T-Rex says is a "tradition" which I think just means he likes them)
Roasted/Braised Brussel Sprouts (depends on oven room) with Bacon
Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes
Cinnamon Butter Mashed Sweet Potatoes (ask me about Rachel's Roadhouse in PA one time)
Gingered Cranberry Sauce (which I have in my freezer!)
My Mom's Most Excellent Sausage Meat Stuffing (now THAT is a tradition)
Cranberry Cashew Bread Stuffing (I admit coming from Whitehouse)
Gravy of Love (a special gravy that T-Rex and I make together the special ingredient in which is love)
Hopefully that feeds 12. In terms of appetizers, I have had a side of smoked salmon in the freezer which I will defrost and do very simply on a platter, sprinkled with fresh dill, capers, red onion and a simple mustard vinaigrette. Delish. Kerryn is bringing some kind of goat cheese olive thing. Parents are bringing the pumpkin pie.
You bought a turkey ? I thought you weren't going to buy anything else so that you could use up all the food you already have ? :-)
ReplyDeleteCome on...it's Thanksgiving. That is like Easter without ham. And it is a fresh turkey so it follows the rules AND will lead me to posts on what to do with left-over turkey!
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