Anyway, can I interest you in the meticulous details of my preparations, such as they are?
This is my Portfolio slash Thanksgiving Dossier:
On the left I have recipes for each menu item (do you SEE the one for the Pilgrim Hat Cookies? Adorable, and 3-year-old approved). On the right, is my Menu and...SCHEDULE.
Here's my grocery list, which I realize you can't read (and who really cares anyway):
*PAUSE FOR EFFECT*
I KNOW, right? You are getting a whiff of...FUSSINESS here, aren't you? I mean, that is an Excel spreadsheet...WITH LINKS! In fact, you may be asking yourself whether I am, in actuality, a closet TYPE A FUSSYPANTS!
Um, FALSE. It seems that I am only able to muster this level of organization for things about which I care deeply, e.g. food, shopping, meal planning, and TV. (Fun fact: I got this portfolio dealie at a work function YEARS ago and have never, ever used it for anything work-related. Guess that tells you where Being an Accountant ranks on my scale of Deep Caring).
So, basically, I am an enigma wrapped in several deep-seated issues, and also quite stingy with my very limited ration of Organized Behavior.
Wait, don't go, skimmers! Yeah, this is boring. WHAT OF IT? How about if I ALSO posted my menu, how would that make you feel?
Appetizers:
Shrimp Scampi dip w/ baguette
Pickle rollups
Pilgrim Hat Cookies
Turkey
Mashed potatoes/gravy
Stuffing
Cranberry marshmallow salad
Roasted asparagus
Rolls
Apple pie bars w/ ice cream
Coffee, pop, wine, POMEGRANATE MARTINIS (omg)
What's on YOUR menu? You can totally say "early bird special at Golden Corral", BTW. You don't even want to KNOW how many times I've rocked that sitch. Such is life when your family lives thousands of miles away.
42 comments:
Um, I was supposed to bring a salad and a vegetable to my sister-in-law's house but now I think I might just stay home and drink a pitcher of pomegranate martinis. And eat a vat of shrimp scampi dip. That sounds fantastic. Any chance you'd share the recipe?
I like the look of your menu. We are going to my grandma's for Thanksgiving day, so the menu will be pretty traditional. Mmm...pie.
I'm actually more excited about Friday, when my mom is making potato dumplings. Which sound gross but are actually totally delicious (and extremely Scandinavian).
WAIT. Where is the pumpkin pie on that menu? I.e., the only thing that makes Thanksgiving food really redeemable in my mind!
Cookies as appetizers? I am there! We serve Thanksgiving Dinner (this year it is just me and James) at the Lions half. Yes, I know, it's sad...my son is a diehard (and I do mean he's dying hard this year) Lions fan. Shrimp scampi is the best and I think your menu looks awesome. Our Menu (I think): Turkey, stuffing, mashed and sweet potatoes, and cranberries out of the can (i'm an addict). Cheese, summer sausage, crackers and peel and eat shrimp.
I want to know what pilgrim hat cookies are and if you have a trustworthy turkey recipe. We use a martha stewart one that requires lemons and onions and parsley and butter, and while I do love it, I wonder if there is another one out there of a different flavor but equally as tasty.
And I would totally, totally NOT be asking very many people this, especially the kind that boast gourmet kitchens, but I figured if you pride yourself on ghetto cooking AND have a tasty turkey recipe I might be able to trust that I can duplicate it and that it will taste pretty good in a non-snobbery way.
I am going to try and cook my first turkey - ever. Am. nervous.
But! My favorite thing to make is a cranberry pie. A. LOVES IT. It is easy and so freakin' yummy.
Oh, now I am excited.
Is it ridiculous that I am jealous you are hosting dinner and thus have a valid excuse to be Very Organized? I want a holiday dinner portfolio....
on my menu: going to my mother's house, she of the professional food-writing and restaurant-reviewing. in other words, AWWW YEEEAH.
The scampi dip recipe (which is DELICOUS, BTW) might be too long to put in a comment, but I have it as a PDF file, so just email me if you want it.
Pilgrim Hat Cookies are just PB cups dipped in frosting and stuck to the back of fudge stripe cookies with an orange chicklet as the "buckle".
As far as turkey goes, I've never roasted one before, actually.
BFF and Totally Trustworthy Cook Darla recommends Ina Garten's recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/perfect-roast-turkey-recipe4/index.html
Oh MY. We are hosting Christmas this year for the first time EVER OMG and I haven't even STARTED thinking about it. AUGHHHH.
Turkey, stuffing
mashed potatoes
Sweet pototoes - just a bunch of butter and brown sugar - best EVA!
Veggies (Broccoli?)
rolls
Cranberry sauce
My dear four year old who has as far as I know never had any Pumpkin pie in his life wants me to make Pumpkin pie so I am going to do that but I am planning a back up dessert as well just in a case the pie is a bust. Pilgrim Hat Cookies??? I have no idea. I usually do any Apple Crisp but I am tired of that so we shall see...
Appetizers? Umm it is just us so probably some chips, dip and carrot sticks!?!?
Your menu sounds WAY cooler then mine :)
I think you could have gone to the store and back in the time it took to create that list!
We're hosting for the first time ever, and let me say...it's good to be married to a chef. And to have friends that also love to cook and help out. Even better? It's orphan Thanksgiving, so it's friends only. Am also obsessed with the menu planning and arranging and am more than happy to have an excuse to share.
A regular ole Turkey, a fried turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, homemade rolls, greenbean casserole, brussel sprout & cauliflower gratin, salad, corn souffle, jello mold, 2 kinds of canned cranberry, 2 kinds of homemade cranberry (one sweet, one jalapeno!), apple pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate pecan pie, cranberry trifle, homemade ice cream, homemade whipped cream, homemade wine, homemade beer. And lots and lots of gin.
Want to come over?
OMG! My recipes and schedule are in an orange three ring binder, but I do the same thing! We are totally besties for life.
Here is my menu, which I established last year, and JD is very attached to and I MAY NOT deviate one iota from:
Appetizers
Shrimp Cocktail
Crudites with Blue Cheese and Ranch
Cheddar Cheese Cubes and crackers
Meal
Turkey
Ham
Sausage and Wild mushroom stuffing
Mashed potatoes/gravy
Corn and Wild Rice Casserole
Jack Daniels Glazed Carrots
Cold Balsamic Green Beans
Homemade Cranberrry Sauce
Dessert
Storebought Pie (I don't bake pie)
Pumpkin Dip with Gingersnaps.
And please to email me the scampi dip. My seafood loving family will go appropriately bonkers for it.
Wait, back up please. What exactly is a pickle rollup? Inquiring minds need to know.
Ok, I don't share this with just ANYONE but since my kids are OLD now, I don't get to show up at kid events and cause envy among the supermoms. So here you go. You can totally make cornucopias on top of (store bought even) cupcakes. You need Bugles snacks and Runts candies. The Bugles are the cornucopias and the Runts are little fruits/vegetables/I don't remember. Stick 'em in the frosting. Arrange artfully. Graciously accept ooohing and aaahing.
You're welcome.
This probably speaks to my own deep-seated issues, but I was totally disappointed I couldn't read the grocery list.
Pomegranate Martinis?? Really? Really? And you had to put it all in caps like an extra twist of the dagger in my already bleeding heart? BITCH! :)
Your menu sounds awesome and I love all the organization. I thought my mom was the only one with a detailed prep schedule.
We don't know what we're doing yet. Maybe going to his aunt and uncle's (who always have some weird dishes) but I'm not sure I want to be a big sack of potatoes at someone else's house.
I saw that Sonic is open on Thanksgiving. Maybe Bryan will make a run. :)
Not only was I not bored, I clicked REPEATEDLY on the photos hoping they'd enlarge so I could read all the details.
How does that make me feel?
HUNGRY.
*ahem*
It's just us for tday this year, so our menu is small due to that AND the fact that I'm 38 weeks pregnant.
A small turkey breast
mashed potatoes and gravy
green bean casserole
cranberry salad
crescent rolls
We're heading to Golden Corral, baby. Yep...I talked my mom out of cooking because I wanted to run the 5K Turkey Trot and felt bad that I wouldn't be there to help her. Is that bad? I don't get into the cooking, anyway. Our family is SO small. It hardly seems worth the whole huge effort. I would rather just hand out together and do something fun!
On the up side, after we eat, we are taking the kids to the ICE! exhibit at the Gaylord in Grapevine, so that should be fun! And cold. Heh.
You can take the coffee and pop off the menu--who are we kidding?? Super excited!
Also, what are apple pie bars? Like ice cream bars? Or like brownies?
Someone Being Me- Pickle rollups are some type of deli meat (we use ham or dried beef), spread with cream cheese and rolled around a pickle, then sliced into little rolls. Sort of like a tortilla rollup. Except with PICKLES! Win.
Apple pie bars are just like apple pie, except made in a bar pan and drizzled with glaze.
tessie- that recipe actually resembles the one I already use. I think there must be a thing about lemons, onions and turkey that works so well. In the Martha version, you actually create a butter/lemon zest/thyme mix and stuff it in between the skin and the meat of the turkey. Extra yummy.
1. You're cooking that...all by yourself? Do you have FIFTEEN ARMS? I am hard put to get the basic five (turkey, potatoes, green beans, cranberries and stuffing) and a pie, and that's if I do the pie the night before.
I stand in awe.
2. I especially stand in awe of the pilgrim hat cookies, although I was relieved to read that these are actually constructed of prebaked items. (see also: pathetic, misshapen Christmas cookie attempts)
3. I always IMAGINE writing my grocery lists organized by store section. While I'm guessing (hoping?) you don't do this for routine store visits, still: cool. Although I would STILL remember that I need bananas when I'm in the pharmacy aisle and have to go all the way back.
4. How on earth could ANY of this be BORING? I think there should be a grocery list MEME, that's what I think.
If you could read the schedule, you'd see that a lot of this I can make the day before (I'm off Wednesday). I can do the Scampi dip, cookies, pickle rollups, cranberry salad, and make the dough/filling for the bars all on Wednesday.
I made those Pilgrim Hats a few years ago and they were awesome! (I had a HELL of a time finding the chocolate cookies, though.)
I love how detailed and organized you are. LOVE IT.
My aunt always hosts Thanksgiving, and we are having the usual: turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, veggie tray, pickles, olives and Jello.
Going to the in-laws who live RIGHT IN FRONT of us for Thanksgiving lunch. They do the traditional turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pie, pie, more pie spread. Which is convenient, because then we can just waddle on home and sleep for the rest of the day/weekend.
Everything sounds awesome - well except for food with marshmallows.
SD and I made the pilgrim hat cookies last year! They are way fun and she had a blast doing them!
I'm hosting too. 11 PEOPLE! ACK. Not only do I not have a spread sheet or a three ring binder or EVEN A LIST, I just had a frightening realization.
OH CRAP I NOW NEED APPETIZERS.
Pickle roll ups, here I come!
Also, I would like to add that I echo Swistle's statement. Also I have come back repeatedly to see what everyone else commented.
Also, I need this cranberry marshmallow salad recipe. A'thankkkkk ya.
1. I also ration my organization for Special Events.
2. My sister used to work at the Golden Corral (my dad called it the Yellow Fence)... is that a midwest chain? I did't know there were more outside of every seedy town in SD...
3. I wish I was cooking and hosting Thanksgiving... even just once. Living so "close" (same state as his, within a day's drive of mine) to our families leaves us scrabbling from place to place for every holiday. We never get to just cook a meal and invite any orphaned friends over. (See also: all menu items, traditions, etc ALREADY DECIDED.)
4. If I lived closer to you, I'd be heavily dropping hints for an invite. And I'm TOTALLY bringing pickle roll-ups to David's side this year- I think I'm the only one that will come within 10 feet of a pickle, but fuck 'em.
I'm getting all warm and fuzzy here. . . I have a completely messy house, but planning big meals is my THING. Granted, I don't usually have a folio just for the occasion, but a l-ot of discussion goes into these things.
Thanksgiving is one of our big meals, but there are very few people in my family, so it doesn't amount to a lot of actual food.
We always have
Turkey (duh) with a bourbon-y glaze
Green beans with garlic and onions (from epicurious)
Sweet potatoes in a bacon vinagrette(as good as it sounds)
Cauliflower and cheese (childhood favorite)
Pecan pie--although this year hubs is lobbying for an apple pie of his own creation tht incorporates bourbon (are you sensing a theme here?)
Those pom martinis sound awesome--I might have to give em a whirl.
I'm hosting the family (all four of us) for Thanksmas (we combine the two holidays). My menu as it stands now:
- Roast leg of lamb with rosemary potatoes
- Crock-pot lasagna made with brown rice noodles and lean ground beef (for my sister-in-law)
- Steamed brussels sprouts
- Salad
- Pecan pie
I'm hosting dinner for 13 (again).
My sister is bringing heavy appetizers to be served around noon (as lunch). I buy myself a bottle of Asti every year to consume BY MYSELF while I cook... I figure if I'm hosting, I can drink to make it less stressful! :)
Our dinner menu includes:
turkey
green bean casserole
corn casserole
mom's yummy veggies with cheese sauce
mashed potatoes and gravy
stuffing
rolls and butter
fruit salad
chocolate pie and whipped cream
pumpkin pie bars and vanilla ice cream
beer, wine, coffee and whatever else everyone else brings
7 months pregnant and going to my mothers. No cooking, but lots of eating. Hooray!
Oh, wait, I think we are in charge of the green bean casserole because we insisted on having it, white trash that we are. Damn. That means I need to go to the grocery store.
I'm disturbed that people eat shrimp on Thanksgiving. Is this a thing? I didn't know it was a thing. I think of shrimp as summer food, so I'm a little freaked out. Or...wait. Is it still hot down there? That might explain the shrimp.
We call 'em pickle wraps in our family. There are years when I've hit THREE Thanksgivings in a single day (divorced parents!) and I ALWAYS manage to put away a half a tray of pickle wraps at the last stop, even if my stomach and my pants protest.
I love me some pickle wraps.. We use ham. I eat so very much my feet swell. {ham/pickle=sodium overload}
Love the menu: I am having only 12 over.
Apps: guaccamole home made + home made salsa = hot chili dip. (what can I say, my family likes it spicy)
Main Course: turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, rolls, fresh green beans almondine, california blend with cheese.
dessert: easy pumpkin cookies and pumpkin pie dessert cups in phyllo dough cups. easy too.
We generally bloat then no one eats dessert after I spend all that damn time making them.
I'm having martini's and pommegranite is one of them! YEAH US we are thoughtful fun types.
I'm still stuck at cranberry marshmallow salad. Mmm.
We had a huge Thanksgiving, food everywhere. I think I ate my body weight in turkey & potatoes.
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