Thanksgiving Dinner
Nov. 23rd, 2006 11:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catsittingstillOkay, this may sound silly. But I worked hard on Thanksgiving Dinner and I want to brag on it a little.
I don't like turkey all that much, and I've heard way too many stories about people hurting their backs trying to get turkeys in and out of the oven, so I don't do turkey. Besides, there's just Kip and me, and what would two people *do* with a turkey, although I gather that when Mom and Dad were very poor they would buy a leftover turkey after Thanksgiving, roast it and cut it up and freeze it and live off it for the rest of the winter. But I have a tiny freezer and see above about liking turkey.
I made Rock Cornish Hens. They're small, helpless, tasty birds, and I can cook two of them in a pie dish and move them in and out of the oven with one hand. My brother Jake taught us to marinate chicken before grilling in garlic and (low sodium) soy sauce the last time he was visiting, so I did that, except I also put ginger and a little star anise in the soy sauce (to be fancy).
I also made honey lemon buns, which is just like honey lemon bread, except that I had the bread machine handle the first half (through the kneading after the first rising) then hijacked the dough (it isn't really hijacking; bread machines have a setting for this), oiled my hands, pinched off fistfulls and rolled them into buns and put them on a (well-greased) cookie sheet. That cookie sheet *used* to be non-stick, but I don't trust it anymore. I let them rise for 20 minutes on top of the stove while the oven pre-heated, then baked them. This created a bit of a traffic jam at the oven; I had to finish baking the buns (at 410 degrees F) before starting the Cornish Hens (at 450 degrees F). I had planned ahead (more or less) for the traffic jam, but somehow got the bread started half an hour later than I thought I would, so dinner was set back half an hour.
I also made pumpkin pie. I did this ahead of time, since it is supposed to cool for two hours or more before it is eaten. I made it according to the recipe on the can (2 eggs, 1 can condensed milk, 1 can pumpkin, 3/4 cup sugar (I ran out of white sugar so it wound up being 1/4 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar--the pie tasted about the same, but the texture was ever so slightly more moist) 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp ginger 1/4 tsp cloves) but I used a store-bought pie crust, because pie crust is supposed to be difficult. The pie didn't create any oven traffic jams, but cleaning up after it (the pumpkin custard *slops* when you stir it) may be why the buns were late.
I opened up a can of candied yams and put them in the oven with the cornish hens because I like candied yams but don't know how to make them myself.
I also made cabbage, but I didn't microwave it long enough, so very little of it got eaten.
Kip came in in the last 20 minutes and made stove-top stuffing, which he loves, and I don't.
Timing all this is a little like being an air-traffic controller. I actually sat down and wrote out a list ahead of time of what to do when.
The Rock Cornish hens were great. The honey-lemon buns were even better, like a mouthful of home. That's because I used Mom's recipe, which she adapted for bread machine later in life when she got a bread machine. It makes good bread, but somehow the buns are even better; I predict I will be making them again. I bet they would make good trip food; they don't lose moisture as fast as sliced bread does. The pie was...okay. It's not bad, it's just not quite right, probably because of the sugar swap. The yams were fine; 30 minutes in a 350 oven was just about right to heat them up. Cabbage, see above. The stove-top stuffing must have been okay because Kip went back for seconds.
I even have a picture:
Gosh it's a lot of work, though.
I don't like turkey all that much, and I've heard way too many stories about people hurting their backs trying to get turkeys in and out of the oven, so I don't do turkey. Besides, there's just Kip and me, and what would two people *do* with a turkey, although I gather that when Mom and Dad were very poor they would buy a leftover turkey after Thanksgiving, roast it and cut it up and freeze it and live off it for the rest of the winter. But I have a tiny freezer and see above about liking turkey.
I made Rock Cornish Hens. They're small, helpless, tasty birds, and I can cook two of them in a pie dish and move them in and out of the oven with one hand. My brother Jake taught us to marinate chicken before grilling in garlic and (low sodium) soy sauce the last time he was visiting, so I did that, except I also put ginger and a little star anise in the soy sauce (to be fancy).
I also made honey lemon buns, which is just like honey lemon bread, except that I had the bread machine handle the first half (through the kneading after the first rising) then hijacked the dough (it isn't really hijacking; bread machines have a setting for this), oiled my hands, pinched off fistfulls and rolled them into buns and put them on a (well-greased) cookie sheet. That cookie sheet *used* to be non-stick, but I don't trust it anymore. I let them rise for 20 minutes on top of the stove while the oven pre-heated, then baked them. This created a bit of a traffic jam at the oven; I had to finish baking the buns (at 410 degrees F) before starting the Cornish Hens (at 450 degrees F). I had planned ahead (more or less) for the traffic jam, but somehow got the bread started half an hour later than I thought I would, so dinner was set back half an hour.
I also made pumpkin pie. I did this ahead of time, since it is supposed to cool for two hours or more before it is eaten. I made it according to the recipe on the can (2 eggs, 1 can condensed milk, 1 can pumpkin, 3/4 cup sugar (I ran out of white sugar so it wound up being 1/4 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar--the pie tasted about the same, but the texture was ever so slightly more moist) 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp ginger 1/4 tsp cloves) but I used a store-bought pie crust, because pie crust is supposed to be difficult. The pie didn't create any oven traffic jams, but cleaning up after it (the pumpkin custard *slops* when you stir it) may be why the buns were late.
I opened up a can of candied yams and put them in the oven with the cornish hens because I like candied yams but don't know how to make them myself.
I also made cabbage, but I didn't microwave it long enough, so very little of it got eaten.
Kip came in in the last 20 minutes and made stove-top stuffing, which he loves, and I don't.
Timing all this is a little like being an air-traffic controller. I actually sat down and wrote out a list ahead of time of what to do when.
The Rock Cornish hens were great. The honey-lemon buns were even better, like a mouthful of home. That's because I used Mom's recipe, which she adapted for bread machine later in life when she got a bread machine. It makes good bread, but somehow the buns are even better; I predict I will be making them again. I bet they would make good trip food; they don't lose moisture as fast as sliced bread does. The pie was...okay. It's not bad, it's just not quite right, probably because of the sugar swap. The yams were fine; 30 minutes in a 350 oven was just about right to heat them up. Cabbage, see above. The stove-top stuffing must have been okay because Kip went back for seconds.
I even have a picture:
Gosh it's a lot of work, though.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-11-24 02:47 am (UTC)Great minds... I've been making feasts for 4 or 20 for thirty-four years. With extra courses and sometimes more complex recipes, that exactly what I do. The planning takes a little time (all working back from serving time), but it generally means less stress.
And yes, it IS a lot of work. But your meal sounds yummy and looks lovely.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-25 11:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-24 09:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-25 11:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-26 05:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-27 03:18 am (UTC)