Giving Thanks
Thanksgiving history isn't lost on me -- it is a harvest festival that has been celebrated in North America for hundreds of years, but the cynic in me can't help but think of the North American aboriginals that got there thanks the hard way at the hands of the European settlers. Wonder how they view Thanksgiving. Anyway, I'm not about to start another tirade on political and social injustices. For my wife, it's a tradition that brings back memories of family -- and so this year, I decided to take on the task of bringing some tradition to the table for supper.
I've never roasted a turkey before, and since we're only a family of four, my wife asked that I do something smaller. So I got a chicken. Something smaller. I've never roasted one of those before either, so I called on my friend, Google, and found the instructions at Canadian Living to create a classic roast turkey -- which I applied to my chicken -- with some slight modifications, as I'm not too good at following instructions. It didn't turn out too bad. The chicken was good.
I wanted to make stuffing as well, and found a recipe by Miriam Rubin in the November issue of Prevention magazine. I made this one from scratch, being a little carefree with the measurements, and substituting almond slivers in place of chopped hazelnuts. I started last night on this one, with six slices of whole wheat bread in the oven. I let it sit overnight to get nice and brittle for when I needed it today. I followed the instructions precisely, but unfortunately, it was in the oven too long. It got burnt a bit, and the pan still needs to be cleaned, since there's a nice layer of burnt bread on it. It was tasty however. The apricot and cherries was a nice touch.
You couldn't have a Thanksgiving dinner without mash potatoes -- but who wants the traditional mash potatoes? I read a recipe somewhere, then lost it, so I made it up from memory. It called for a combination of sweet potatoes and butternut squash, along with some onions, garam masala
and curry powder. It was a pain in the ... hand ... peeling and chopping the potatoes and squash. The use of the knife gave me instant callouses, and even tore the skin on my index finger. The entire concoction was cooked in a frying pan on the stove. It didn't take long for everything to go soft and become mush. Easy mash potatoes, and the tastiest part of the meal.
Lastly, was the gravy ... and it was gross. I followed instructions and liquid remains of the cooked chicken, adding flour and spices. Still, there was too much fat left in it. It was floating at the top of the gravy. Gross. Never doing that again!
I'm about to go down to the kitchen and get the pumpkin pie into the oven. We picked one up on Saturday in Vineland, after we had finished at the Ball's Falls Thanksgiving Festival. Since I didn't make the pie, I expect it will be excellent!
I've never roasted a turkey before, and since we're only a family of four, my wife asked that I do something smaller. So I got a chicken. Something smaller. I've never roasted one of those before either, so I called on my friend, Google, and found the instructions at Canadian Living to create a classic roast turkey -- which I applied to my chicken -- with some slight modifications, as I'm not too good at following instructions. It didn't turn out too bad. The chicken was good.
I wanted to make stuffing as well, and found a recipe by Miriam Rubin in the November issue of Prevention magazine. I made this one from scratch, being a little carefree with the measurements, and substituting almond slivers in place of chopped hazelnuts. I started last night on this one, with six slices of whole wheat bread in the oven. I let it sit overnight to get nice and brittle for when I needed it today. I followed the instructions precisely, but unfortunately, it was in the oven too long. It got burnt a bit, and the pan still needs to be cleaned, since there's a nice layer of burnt bread on it. It was tasty however. The apricot and cherries was a nice touch.
You couldn't have a Thanksgiving dinner without mash potatoes -- but who wants the traditional mash potatoes? I read a recipe somewhere, then lost it, so I made it up from memory. It called for a combination of sweet potatoes and butternut squash, along with some onions, garam masala
and curry powder. It was a pain in the ... hand ... peeling and chopping the potatoes and squash. The use of the knife gave me instant callouses, and even tore the skin on my index finger. The entire concoction was cooked in a frying pan on the stove. It didn't take long for everything to go soft and become mush. Easy mash potatoes, and the tastiest part of the meal.Lastly, was the gravy ... and it was gross. I followed instructions and liquid remains of the cooked chicken, adding flour and spices. Still, there was too much fat left in it. It was floating at the top of the gravy. Gross. Never doing that again!
I'm about to go down to the kitchen and get the pumpkin pie into the oven. We picked one up on Saturday in Vineland, after we had finished at the Ball's Falls Thanksgiving Festival. Since I didn't make the pie, I expect it will be excellent!
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