As you are all aware, Thanksgiving is fast approaching. As many of us will be traveling to be with our families, there will be some who must stay behind and act as host: I am one of these people. Yes, my wife and I will be hosting Thanksgiving for the 11th year. I am estimating that around 20 of her family (all of my family is hundreds of miles away) will be descending upon our humble home and for the next 8 hours, chaos will reign supreme.Now, I am not saying that I dislike hosting Thanksgiving, in fact I enjoy it. I look upon it as a challenge in logistics and a test of my cooking skills. The only part I have a problem with is when people start to come into MY kitchen and get in the way. Other than that, I actually have fun. My responsibility is the turkey, whipped potatoes, one side dish (I try to come up with a new side dish to try each year and this year it is going to be a spinach and artichoke casserole), and two pies. I say my responsibility, because I want my wife to be able to spend as much time with her family as possible, so I do all the cooking and baking (except for one pie that my wife bakes).
Why am I telling you all this, besides having the opportunity to post a new article? Well, over the next several days, I will be sharing some of the recipes I will be using and I'll also tell you how I go about preparing the guest of honor...the turkey. Now, to start things off, let me give you my actual Thanksgiving Shopping List (as of this writing) for this year...
Turkey
Potatoes...10 lbs.
Granny Smith Apples...2.5 lbs.
Pumpkin...
Jellied Cranberries...2 cans
Olives...2 cans
Stuffing Mix...3 boxes
Vegetable Broth...3 boxes
Cream Cheese
Heavy Cream
Buttermilk
Smoked Gouda...1 lb
Fresh Parsley
Grated Parmesan
Brie...1 lb.
day-old French bread...1 loaf
Chicken Stock
Lemon Juice
Artichoke Hearts...3 (8 1/2-ounce) cans
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Spinach...2 1/2 pounds
Yellow Onions
Garlic...1 bulb
Dry White Wine...1/4 cup (optional)
Oranges...2-3
Celery
Carrots
Lime Juice
Brandy
Mom can't wait to see your recipe for the spinach-artichoke casserole!
ReplyDeleteA family Thanksgiving at your house sounds great! Our families are far away, so it'll just be us'ns.
Hi, Koko!
How nice of you to do all the cooking so your wife can enjoy spending time with her family! You are super! I do miss family at Thanksgiving. It's usually just me and my husband so we go out to eat at Hometown Buffet. Neither of us cook anyway.
ReplyDeleteWe always have Thanksgiving at our house. This year Mom and Dad are driving over to Sanibel and leaving us alone - we're going to do some house trashing to get even.
ReplyDeleteSniffie and the Florida Furkids
Alas it will just be me, Puma, and MolleyPop this Thanksgiving. None of the kids can make it and my hubby will be on the road.
ReplyDeleteI know that sounds really sad but some times I really don't miss all of the cooking!!:-)))
Lux: I'll trade you. 20+ people in our house is a tight fit. I'll probably get the casserole ready for Thursday:)
ReplyDeleteMeow, Lux
Karen Zemek, author of "My Funny Dad, Harry" : That sounds like a fun time and no dishes to clean:-)
Furkidsmom: Sounds like you guys are going to have fun, Koko will try to stop by with some catnip and ....Turkey!!
Shinade: That's too bad. I know what it's like to be working on holidays; I just tried to think of it as another day. Hopefully you, Puma, and MolleyPop can have a special dinner. I agree with the cooking, I will be at it for most of the day. However, I don't mind the cooking so much; it's the clean-up I don't like.
I'm looking forward to seeing your recipes. Our Thanksgiving will be just hubby and I as our family is all in other states so I'll live the big family event through you! And, I'll be glad I don't have to clean up after them all!
ReplyDeleteBeadedTail: Thank you, I hope you enjoy them. My mom and dad will be spending their Thanksgiving alone in California. They usually have a small ham and a few other things. I'll be sure and write something about how the day goes...if I get everything cleaned up that is:)
ReplyDelete