The blog has been on hiatus for over a year but I’m here today to tell you about Thanksgiving.
Sure there is a lot I could be catching you up on in life in general, like trips, and work, and the fact that Theo is almost 5 and now goes to school, or my idea to resurrect Things I Made Today into a 2.0 version that is a decent departure from what it is today. All that in good time (read: not today), because first, Thanksgiving. The only thing apparently capable of making me dust off the old dSLR camera (other than my bathroom) these days.
First, to catch you all up, I’ve been documenting Thanksgiving for the last eight years (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018) with the intent of capturing what we cooked and how much we liked it. The goal is to not repeat the same recipes twice, a rule to which we adhere probably 80% of the time, and requires us to hold an annual video conference to plan the menu. Which, I have to admit, we did very well at this year. And so to get to it…
Aperitifs
We kicked things off correctly, with this Earl Grey-Bourbon Punch cocktail, which was perfectly balanced and wonderfully wintery with the rosemary. Rating: 5/5 would have again.
Bread
New category this year is bread, put forward by my sister Jenny who has taken up a hobby of making new breads every week. I loved the milky texture of this Braided Pesto Bread — it was very tasty without being heavy. Rating: 5/5.
Salad
We had two competitors this year. First, a Squash and Radicchio Salad with a thick, nutty dressing that looked beautiful and stood up well even thought it was arranged earlier in the day. Rating: 4/5.
Second was a Chopped Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette, Feta, and Dill and I very much appreciated the crunchy, fresh flavor of this one. Admittedly not the most Thanksgiving appropriate (snap peas in November, I know) but a good contrast with the salad above. Note we skipped the radicchio in this one as to not overwhelm the bitter flavor in both salads. Rating: 4/5.
Turkey
This is the same old usual wet brine that my mom has done for ages and is great, but uninteresting to write about.
Cranberry Sauce
This Gingered Cranberry and Fig Chutney was controversial. I personally loved it but there were some (my mother) who considered it to be too hazelnutty. My personal rating: 5/5.
Gravy
We tried too hard this year with this Cider-Sage Gravy. The original recipe was far too acidic so we ended up adding more fat and it was fine but unnecessary, and I think something more simple is really better here. Rating 2/5.
Stuffing
The stuffing this year was a miss — we went with this Tomato and Cheddar Bread Pudding and honestly it just tasted like an unexciting strata you’d have for breakfast. We also made the mistake of cutting the bread too big, so this was just forgettable on all accounts. Rating: 1/5.
Vegetables
We made a decision not to do mashed potatoes this year but instead make this Crispy Accordion Potatoes recipe but then this caused too much controversy so we ended up bringing mashed potatoes back anyways. The crispy potatoes were kind of a meh for me, so giving it a rating of 2/5.
The original reason for nixing the mashed potatoes was that we made this Root Vegetable Mash with Braised Shallots, which Jason and I had made a few weeks ago and completely fell in love with. My rating: 5/5.
Another Ottenlenghi recipe making our list this year was Brussels Sprouts with Black Garlic, which has become my go to recipe for Brussels sprouts. We make this on an almost weekly basis at home, but I admit that it somehow got lost in the Thanksgiving shuffle and got drowned out by other recipes. I’ll still give it its individual rating of 5/5.
Last but not least for vegetables was this Blistered Green Beans with Tomato-Almond Pesto, a dish that was way better than any of its individual parts. The sauce with the roasted tomatoes mixed with paprika had an incredible smoky, almost umami flavor that made me scrape the bottom of the bowl for more. Rating 5/5.
Dessert
We couldn’t decide on what to cut so we had three desserts, which as expected was far too much and we’re still trying to finish them up days later.
The winner from all three was this Cranberry Sage Pie. The pie was just so full of both cranberry and sage and nothing else, it was pure and delicious and I couldn’t stop eating it that evening or for breakfast the following morning. Rating 5/5.
The oddball pie was a Sweet Beet Pie from Sister Pie cookbook. If you’re trying to understand what a beet pie would taste like, imagine sweet potato pie but with the earthier flavor of beets. I personally found this one to be delicious, but not everyone was as enchanted. Rating: 4/5.
And last was this Ricotta-Rosemary Cake which called for figs but we made with raspberries. Had this cake been the only thing on the menu I would have loved it, I’m sure, but it was totally underwhelming compared to the other two pies. Rating: 3/5.
And as always, a timelapse.
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