YA READY FOR YOUR TURKEY DINNER?

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yeah it was cool there. kinda hard to take it all in at first.

i'm gonna do the turkey/chutney/stuffing from here:

http://www.avalonwine.com/East-Indian-Thanksgiving-Recipes.php

The time approaches.

goin to an Italian restaurant, can skip the bird hurrah

Going to have Billy Joel sing in your ear...

holy toledo i forgot all about going to my cousin's house. lil' rufus. awwww. miss that little guy. that was place insane.

we are staying home this year and having friends over. sooooo, including us it will be 18 people i think.

I think something like 22 at mine.

(family, in my case)

five of us, including an in-law priest.

And none of you like stuffing?

Depends on the basting.

(kinda digging the no family aspect don't tell anyone. and everyone coming makes music so maybe we can have a jam session. ilxor herb alpert will be there and i should maybe have him bring his electric sitar. nothing says thanksgiving like the electric sitar.)

going to inlaws - doing a potluck thanksgiving. 7 of us total which is a fine and manageable number.

My usual thing for me -- friend's family house on the coast in San Pedro with a killer view out to Santa Catalina.

going to the desert, bout a dozen of us or so, gonna make a sweet potato casserole and it's gonna rule

our challenge is our friend rob. gluten/dairy/egg free. well, not that much of a challenge. he's a meat eater. we are making potatoes sans butter. and stuffing the turkey with apples. stuffing will be separate. a couple of vegetarians are coming too. we are giving them raw swiss chard to eat. just kidding! there will be plenty of veggie action.

had tofurkey two years ago- it was pretty good!

this year my BIL is smoking a duck for me and my dad. can't wait.

http://dailypicksandflicks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Smoking-duck.jpg

Family scattered all over the place this year between Muscle Shoals and my sister's place in central MS. We'll be going down there and eating at a nice lakeside resort instead of doing a home-cooked thing.

- family decided we are having steak for thanksgiving
- I don't really care either way but it's still kinda lol to me, idk why

when i opened this thread and saw ned had revived it instead of homo ii i got kinda sad.

:-/

homo ii is however partying in Vegas with her sis this week and might be distracted.

FUCKIN UP THE ROTATION NED

this year i am thankful for nothing, but i will nonetheless eat like the privileged white american male i am

i am always thankful for everything. oh man you have no idea. every day. even the horrible ones. i'm even thankful for jess's half-hearted misanthropy. it always reminds me to never repeat the mistakes of the 90's.

the bf and i are getting a takeout thanksgiving dinner for 2 from gelson's (the local posh supermarket). turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables, cranberry sauce, yam souffle, dinner rolls. we did this a few years ago and it was really nice.

I've always wanted to this, our posh supermarket always has yum sounding menus

my parents at 2:30, ks parents at 5:00. i will eat turkey at round one and eat scotch at round 2.

leftover turkey in remaining scotch at round 3

don't wanna know what happens 'round midnight

gravy shots a go-go

partner & her sister arriving on train tonight. Another friend is joining us tomorrow and we're roasting a duck. Saturday they leave and I play board games and eat hot dogs w/ high school friends all day.

I made three pumpkin pies today, two of which will see duty at my sister's house tomorrow. My wife and I will begin eating the other one tonight.

pumpkin pie is the thing I'm most looking forward to

The fear of god and the love of pumpkin pie are the beginnings of wisdom, so they say.

Thanksgiving prep DONE

can I makethe buttermilk biscuit dough the night before or will they turn out weird?

also: how should I roast these brussels sprouts

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I'm hosting a gathering of 5 tomorrow. There will be pumpkin pie, but I'm looking forward to my sister's pumpkin cheesecake.

in re: brussels sprouts.

look up braising in your reference cookbook. basically, you halve them, saute them for a bit in a pan that you can also put a lid on and pop into the oven. enameled cast iron dutch ovens seem to be the popular thing these days. i have a cast iron fry pan with a good lid that works fine.

anyway, after you've sauted them, add a minimal amount of liquid (a quarter cup maybe), such as white wine. you can also add some crushed herbs, like rosemary. put the lid on and pop them into a medium hot oven for ten or twelve minutes. take 'em out and drizzle a tad bit of balsamic vinegar on them if you like.

i'm not sure about making the buttermilk biscuit dough ahead, but if I tried it, i'd for sure refrigerate the dough right away.

oh, and deglaze the pan, too.

I usually just roast brussels in EVOO in the oven with no saute prep, but now I want to try Aimless's version.

A friend just posted this "Brussels sprouts with bacon, chicken broth, fresh thyme, white pepper and sea salt." but I don't know the process. Will eat them tomorrow. I'm bringing wine, no cooking involved.

NYT quiddities and all that, but this is a nice Tksgiving essay: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/22/opinion/on-being-not-dead.html?_r=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QMuLU7oi14

duck in progress

Waiting a bit. When all you have to make is a salad, hey.

Having seen pics of Ned's salads, I suspect today's will be an exemplary demonstration of the art.