Our Menu:
Turkey
Stuffing
Gravy
Brussel sprouts
Sweet potatoes
Biscuits
Pumpkin cheesecake
Hot cider
So our shopping list looked something like:
- turkey
- stuffing
- gravy
- herbs and spices (rosemary, basil, thyme, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, ginger)
- salt
- fresh cranberries (2 bags)
- apples (3)
- pecans
- chestnuts
- brussel sprouts
- honey
- olive oil
- sweet potatoes
- brown sugar
- butter
- Pilsbury biscuits
- cream cheese
- canned pumpkin
- sugar
- vanilla
- graham cracker pie crust
- cider
tools:
- large casserole dish
- tinfoil
- gallon ziplock bags
- turkey rack (we made one out of a disposable tinfoil pan with wholes poked in)
- at least three other assorted pans
- cookie sheet
- two sauce pans
- cooling racks
- seran wrap
- meat thermometer
We can split the day into four different sections, starting with morning prep
STAGE ONE: dessert and side preparation (2 hours)
First came the pumpkin cheesecake. The recipe came from allrecipes.com. I added a full cup of pumpkin, and instead of layers used the plain cheesecake set aside in the beginning to create a marbled effect at the end. Because of the extra pumpkin it required about 20 minutes longer to cook.
While the pumpkin cheese cake was cooking I set about prepping the sides for easy cooking later.
The brussels sprouts needed to be picked off the stem, rinsed, the bottoms cut off, and halved. While these were drying I cut the sweet potatoes and placed them in a ziplock bag with a lot of brown sugar and 1/4 cup of butter. The dried brussels sprouts went in a bag as well with olive oil, honey, cranberries, and pecans. Both of those went in the fridge until later when the turkey was done.
At this time I made the stuffing as well, Trader Joe's pre-made stuffing base saved me some time. Mixed that with cranberries, apples, and cashews. Set aside to cool.
By the now the cheesecake is probably ready to come out and cool and it's on to the turkey!
This was my first turkey making experience, so I can't say I feel all that qualified to explain the proper way to prepare a turkey, but what I did was rub it with butter and an herb mixture of pepper, thyme, rosemary, salt, and basil. When it was cleaned and rubbed I filled it with some of the stuffing and put it in the oven on 350 for the next four plus hours.
STAGE TWO: turkey and clorox wipes (4 hours)
At the point I had to leave for a rehearsal and my lovely roommate Melissa took over the turkey cooking and cleaning process. When you live in a space with a table that only measures 3x3, five assorted chairs, and very minimal counter space, every inch matters. When I got back from rehearsal the kitchen was organized, disinfected, and much larger looking. Being the resident mess maker, I can't explain this phenomena short of magic.
STAGE THREE: side cooking (45 minutes)
When the turkey was done we took it out to cool, turned up the oven to 450 and started the rest of our meal. The sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts and remaining stuffing went in uncovered for about 40 minutes, while stirring occasionally. While these were cooking we made some chestnuts on the stovetop and heated up the cider and gravy.
Once the baked things were starting to brown, we took them out and put them on cooling racks, carved up the turkey, and served up our feast!
As a last minute side we made some Pilsbury rolls, but with the excitement of finally eating completely forgot about them! When someone remembered they were roughly the consistency of a hockey pucks.
STAGE FOUR: eating, clean up, dessert
Because we had more people than table space, we went around buffet style, some people sat on the floor or stood, but a good time was had by all!
Clean up went quickly thanks to everyone's help and our dishwasher.
For desert we brought out the pumpkin cheesecake with candles to celebrate our friend Angela's birthday as well as Thanksgiving.
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| Roommates! |
I'm grateful for so many things, but yesterday especially for our wonderful little apartment, my friends, and roommates! Wishing everyone a blessed thanksgiving!
