I set the alarm for 9AM this morning.   I tried to get as close to 8 hours of sleep as possible.  My arms are sore from carrying around all the grocery bags yesterday.  My back is definitely not feeling the rainbow because I lifted that bucket with the turkey and brine in it.  It’s all good though, because the day had started and I was ready to go.

I’m very happy and thankful for everything turning out so well.  Hmmm… except for one of the hors d’oeuvres.  The mini venison burgers.  I used pie crust as the burger buns and wanted the top bun to have a little color.  So in the last few minutes I turned the oven to broil and intended to only do it for 1 minute.  Did I get some color!  Of course I got busy with doing other things and burnt them.  I was very upset, but got over it. People just took of the top and ate the burger and the bottom bun.

Here are some pictures of the preparations and roasting of the turkey.

Some more pictures of me making the Maple-Glazed Yams with Pecan Topping.  Boy, they were a hit! Not too sweet but just right with a bit of a crunch.  Definitely going to make it again.  I’m going to give you the recipe in a later blog post along with all the others.

Finally, here are pictures of all of the dishes I prepared that day.  Check out the center piece!  I even made that myself.    I went with stuffing out of a box and it turned out perfect.  I kept things simple, adding nothing fancy to the stuffing.  I used canned green beans for my green bean casserole.  The hummus spread I used on the cucumber stacks were also store bought.    I decided that for the simpler dishes I used canned, prepackaged, and boxed ingredients.  Over the years I’ve learned to showcase my cooking skills in preparing dishes one cannot easily buy at the store and have it taste or look as exceptional as when it is homemade.  As for the rest, I’m not ashamed to take a short cut here or there.  Let’s be real! And yes, seldom do I burn food, but it happens.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! If you would like to share any of your stories please feel free to email them to me @ asamatteroffood@gmail.com.

Here we are the night before Thanksgiving day.  My turkey is thawed and I have my menu planned out.

The menu is as follows:

• Wolfgang Puck’s Brined Roast Turkey with Pan Gravy
• Traditional Mashed Potatoes (simply put – boiled potatoes, half and half, butter, and salt and pepper)
• Green Bean Casserole with French Onions
• Plain Green Beans
• Maple-Glazed Yams with Pecan Topping
• Cornbread Stuffing
• Turkey Stuffing
• Crispy Grilled Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

I am going all out, as usual, and have added some yummy hors d’oeuvres to my menu.

Hors d’oeuvres on the menu:

• Mini Venison Burgers
• Bacon Deviled Eggs
• Tomato-Artichoke with Feta and Goat Cheese Bagel Chips
• Lil’ Polskas in a Blanket
• Petite Cucumber Sandwiches with Garlic N’ Chives Cheese Spread
• Red Pepper and Spicy Chipotle Hummus Cucumber Stacks

***  I will post recipes in a later post for those who are interested.

I am going to have 8 people for our formal sit-down dinner.  It sounds like I’ll be having a lot of food, but I thought that with the wide selection on the hors d’oeuvres I’ll be able to accommodate everyone’s pallette.  Plus I am expecting friends to trickle in after they have gone to their previous engagements and am sure they will want to snack as the night goes on.

Here are some pictures I want to share with you of the food preparations.

Prepping the Turkey

Cleaning the turkey:

Placing the turkey in brine:

Like most people, I don’t have a very big refrigerator.  All the space is needed and will be taken up by all the other foods I will prepare ahead of time tonight.  So I had to come up with a clever solution.  I bought a brand new bucket.  At first I counted on it being cold as it has been, however today it has been beautiful here.  The temperature has been in the 70’s.  So after some careful thinking I came up with this solution.  Lined my bucket with 3 new bags.  Poured the brine in.  I used a large glass bowl and my old pizza stone to weigh down the turkey then tied up the bags.  Next I lifted the entire bucket with its contents and placed it in a large storage tub.  (Since it wasn’t going to be that cold, I couldn’t let the bucket stand on its own.  I had to basically build my own cooler.)  I filled it with ice and let the turkey brine on my deck overnight.

I used 2 pots to make the brine and had to chill the bigger pot, using cold water and ice in the sink, to get it down to room temperature.  My house is smelling pretty “briney”.  It’s not a bad smell, just very strong.

Preparing the Beurre Manie:

• 2 ounces butter mixed with 2 ounces of flour until it forms a soft dough
• After adding the flour to the butter, first rub the flour into the butter
• Mix together the butter, garlic, chopped rosemary, and sage to make a Beurre Manie (compound butter)

Apples and Onions with Sage and Rosemary Stuffing:

• 3 apples, quartered and cored
• 2 onions, peeled and quartered
• 3 rosemary sprigs
• 4 sage sprigs

Preparing Some Hors D’Oeuvres

Garlic N’ Chives Cheese Spread:

Bacon Deviled Eggs:

I started my day yesterday at 9:30AM.  I went out and bought all the ingredients and supplies needed.  Then I came home and started to prepare all of this.  I’m hoping tomorrow everything is going to go well and it’s just a matter of roasting the turkey and assembling the side dishes and the hors d’oeuvres.  I’m soooo tired and must go to bed now.  It’s 1:30AM on Thanksgiving!  Happy Thanksgiving!!!  For now….Good night!