Not a 30 Minute Meal

We celebrated Thanksgiving here in the new house, and it was a successful day in every way. We had 12 for dinner, 8 adults and 4 kids*. After much crabby arguments patient discussion between Mister Jones and I, he we decided that a "paced" meal would be better than just throwing down the turkey and 27 side orders all at once. We both recall the feeling of putting sooo much work into things all to be over in just a few greedy minutes. I thought it might be a little precious, but it really worked. Here was our menu, with links, even!

Fireside: sesame sticks, banana chips, cheese (pepper goat cheese, smoked gouda), crackers, peppadews**, and Parmesan Stuffed Dates Wrapped in Bacon , which, to my surprise, were only half-finished. Whattsammata, people, something wrong with sweet+salty+smoky?

First Course: Slow Cooked Onion Salad Lovely, if somewhat labor intensive to prepare, with a fabulous dressing. Not good as leftover, though. Not likely to repeat for Thanksgiving, but could work at a potluck, or with a simpler supper.

Soup: Carrot with Toasted Almond Soup Nice. I made this Tuesday night with carrots from Wilson (We're Too Snooty for Peppadews) Farms. This recipe is idiot-proof, providing you use good quality carrots, butter, and shallots. I literally ran out of room in the pot, so I fudged the amounts of cider, stock, and water. Mr. Jones pureed it with our ridiculously loud blender at 11:30pm, amazingly NOT waking up the entire household.

Appetizer: Citrus Marinated Shrimp Cocktail Easy, somewhat different, and light. We made a vodka-free version for the kids. I liked it!

OK, so then we magically*** put the rest of the food on the table. A beautiful, perfectly cooked, mahogany skinned, turkey. Herbed Bread stuffing. Spiced Cranberry Sauce. Mashed Potatoes and Leeks with Thyme. Make-ahead gravy.

And, the surprise (but really, not a surprise to me) hit of the day: Mashed Yams in Orange Cups. I almost didn't go for it, succumbing ahead of time to the imagined peer pressure against marshmallows in any form on The Holy New England Thanksgiving Table. Screw it, I thought, after reading the reviews. Were they a pain in the ass? Yes. Did I burn my little fingers opening up the freshly microwaved (yes, you read that correctly) yams. Did I feel just a little, um, ODD, putting marshmallows in my vegetables? Yes. Was it fussy, cutting the oranges just so, freezing them to firm up the sides, then scooping in the little dolly portions, decorating with marshmallows and pecans... Yes. I served them round, and to my complete surprise, it was Mister Enthusiasm himself, my husband, who positively _blurted out_ after one bite, "these are really delicious!" Quite successful, and really made for a lot of laughs and conversation. (Note: I didn't use eggs, as the idea of making ahead of time and not cooking the eggs until the next day creeped me out. And I added brandy, and cardamom.)

So it was a fantastic meal, which took HOURS to complete, which is only fitting since it took DAYS to execute. We capped it off with coffee (natch) and Mother Jones pumpkin pie****, along with SisInLaws fabulous brownies and raspberry chocolate cookies.

I'm glad I had the time on hand to put into it, but damn, that was a boatload of work. I'm enormously pleased, though!


-----Annoying Notations-----
* This is what the children ate: cheese & crackers, grapes, carrot sticks, canteloupe, apple cider, piece of shrimp (amongst the 4 of them) and .5 oz of turkey (ditto). Oh, and dessert, with seconds.

** You know that fear you have, when you're working from an elaborate plan, that you might actually forget to serve something? This was our "forgotten item". Made slightly more annoying by the fact that it took 3 different attempts to find them. Note to Wilson Farms: Peppadews are delish, and classy enough even for the likes of Lexington. Note to Belmont Shaws: see Note to Wilson Farms.

*** A double oven, is a wondrous thing. To think I almost went with a single!

****She is the best mother in law, the antidote to every mother in law joke ever told. She made an entire 2nd pie, for day after thanksgiving breakfast, shared by all the females in the house: yours truly, Beanette, Granny Jones, and Mother Jones herself.