Thanksgiving postlude

I'm live blogging from a nail salon somewhere in Silicon Valley where Bunny and her cousin are getting mani/pedis + flowery rhinestone designs on their toes courtesy of their grandma. Did I mention I am on my laptop? What is wrong with this picture? Apparently my middle name is "Chopped Liver."

Speaking of chopped liver, it's amazing that a meal that took days to prepare took about 18 minutes to whack down. J. said he's never seen a family eat so fast. The kids were stuffed full of hors d'oeuvres so they took two bites of turkey, licked the butter off their rolls and scampered away to play.

pre-dinner/football nosh

more cheese please! (plumeria lei from Tata)

My sis and I had to high-five each other for a job well-done.  Everything was yum, especially the turkey. I'm a dry-brine convert now. The herby/garlicky salt-rub permeated all the way through and made the turkey so moist and juicy. Everyone raved about it.

just out of the oven, taking a well-deserved rest

I make my gravy directly in the roasting pan. I deglaze the yummy bits with white wine and add turkey stock, drippings, and milk. Best of all, the pan is "cleaned" while the gravy is being made.

The oyster pie was under seasoned. It needed salt and some hot sauce to give it more zing. It also could have cooked for about 10-15 minutes more (I had to re-bake it). Now I know for next time. We also nixed the biscuits in favor of no-knead rolls in the holiday issue of of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food.  They were beautiful and spongy, but not as tender as a kneaded roll. I would make them again, but I would sneak in some kneading next time.

stuffing, oyster pie, mashed/baked sweet potatoes

the rolls. come to mama!

Our roasted bird wasn't the only turkey at Thanksgiving. Guess whose grabby little fingers were all over my (once) beeyooteeful pies. Hmmm. My crumb topping didn't have holes poked in it when the cherry pie came out of the oven. Wonder how that happened?

As if one ruined pie wasn't bad enough...

the little stinker had to commando-raid this pie, too. Sigh!!

Lunch today will be turkey jook with cilantro and mustardy soy sauce drizzled over it and turkey sandwiches.  What are you doing with your leftovers?

Comments

[kristen]

I made oyster pie using a combination of your recipe and Martha Stewart's. I didn't use that much butter maybe 2tbs. In total I used a cup of liquid -- mostly oyster liquor brought up to a cup with whipping cream/ non-fat milk. I also added about a teaspoon of tabasco and a teaspoon of worcestshire sauce. Plus a bit of pepper. My husband baked it, but I think around 30 minutes. It came out well. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

[PunditMom]

It still looks delicious. And liv-blogging from the nail salon! Count me in!

[QSMama / Lea]

My brother and sister-in-law hosted (an amazing) Thanksgiving dinner, so our fridge isn't too full of leftovers, just a few cups of leftover sweet potato souffle. To make it, I peeled six pounds of dug-the-day-before North Carolina Beauregard sweet potatoes and made a souffle that was classic, but not very sweet. I let the potatoes shine through.

Anyway, there's a bit of that sitting next to a package of Trader Joe's gorgonzola ravioli. I think I'll thin the souffle with cream or whole milk, throw in some sage and white pepper, and make a sauce for the ravioli. With some chopped walnuts on top, it should be righteous, right?

- L

[bitemycookie]

i think the pie job is the prettiest thing on the menu. so funny.

[pamela]

Happy turkey day. Hope that you had more leftovers than we did. I always want to have turkey for days, but the kids eat it all.

[Deborah Dowd]

We ended up with a lot less leftovers than I would have hoped, and oddly enough the desserts went begging because everyne was stuffed! Glad you had a great Thanksgiving.

[Beth B.]

I would have raided that pie also. It looks yummy....

[Daisy]

Yum. No one ate our rolls, so we're leaving them out next year. We had plenty of other, more interesting food to consume and enjoy.