revealing volvovski family secrets11 / 30 / 11

i bet you think this is going to be juicy. it is. if you like thanksgiving dinner.

it’s a family tradition to plan the thanksgiving dinner menu via video chat the week before thanksgiving. why you ask? why not? video chat is awesome. and makes everything far more entertaining. fun fact – no one in my family but me is good at positioning their camera. you’re supposed to look at the people you’re talking to. use me as your example for the future:

more importantly than the video chat itself is the menu that results from said conference. as those who know my family may imagine, volvovski family thanksgiving isn’t your typical canned cranberry sauce and gravy (in fact, my mom has an irrational hatred of gravy and only allows it on the table if it was made by boyfriends of the family, she was not challenged this year). the volvovski family thanksgiving has to have something weird, a twist on tradition, and an inappropraite amount of complexity to ensure stress for at least 4 days before the holiday for all those involved with cooking. here is an assessment of this year’s menu (stand out recipes will be repeated in future installations of thanksgiving):

apperitifs dark and stormy and classic wisconsin old fashioneds (no recipe needed since jason is so good at making them). rating – 4/5.

appetizers homemade smokehouse almonds: toss whole almonds in olive oil; bake until toasty; add paprika, smoked paprika and Aleppo or New Mexico chili powder, to taste. rating – 2/5
thin wheels of cucumber, topped with thin rounds of goat cheese, drizzled with walnut oil and minced chives. rating – 5/5
olives. classic. rating – 4/5

salads roasted beet salad. people who don’t like beets haven’t eaten them since they were kids and are so dead wrong. rating – 4/5. spinach salad. this was popular at the dinner table, but i personally did not like the hazelnuts in the texture of the salad. rating 1/5.

turkey this recipe can’t be found on the internet. this is my mom’s homemade vegetable broth to brine the turkey in. i don’t know what’s in it, but hopefully she will divulge the russian secrets to me one day. rating 5/5.

stuffing cornbread and fall vegetables stuffing. although this looked great on paper, i wasn’t as impressed as i thought i would be. the ratio of cornbread to vegetable is way too high. i would cut the cornbread in 1/2 or double the vegetables (i’m good at math, this would give you the same result). rating 3/5.

potatoes marscarpone and leek mashed potatoes. this one has been on the thanksgiving menu for several years now. it’s so good and fatty. rating 5/5. sweet potato fries with aioli. we kind of messed up the fries by heating and then re-heating, but the sauce was amazing and i put it on everything. rating 4/5.

vegetables carrots and brussel sprouts. nothing too fancy. simple and delicious. rating 4/5.

cranberry sauce add oranges and walnuts. good on everything. do not mix with the aioli. rating 4/5.

dessert apple-almond tart. i’m always in charge of dessert, since i was 6. my advice on this one – skip the apricot glaze. use almonds with husks. other than that, absolutely perfect. rating 5/5. unfortunately, my classic pumpkin cheesecake got bumped from the mix due to too much food. oh well, there’s next time.

overall success. on friday we went for a very long walk. and this is why thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

You may also like:

5 Comments

Leave a Reply