Thanksgiving preparations

Today was a busy day!  The dishwasher earned its keep,  it is currently on its 5th load today.  Actually, last night was, too.   I made turkey broth and pie dough, each now resting in the fridge awaiting use tomorrow.  I made a batch of corn bread for stuffing, but it failed to rise.  I attributed that to using powdered buttermilk.  I made cranberry sauce with apricot and candied ginger.  I can just taste the turkey sandwiches!

This morning, I arose early and after breakfast, made another batch of corn bread.  Again, it failed to rise, this time I attributed it to the baking powder since I used real buttermilk.  Hmmm.  I decided I can live without corn bread in my stuffing.  Lucky chickens!  I know they will enjoy it. While I did this, Dan and Mom worked on the dining room, moving some things around to make more room.  As usual, Dan worked his magic and created country decor from old wooden boxes and pickle crocks.

Moving on, I decided since the oven was hot, I’d roast the squash for tommorow, and reheat it as I would mashed potatoes, with milk/cream and butter.  Mmmmm, butter. While I did this, Dan decided we needed ice cream to go with the pie, so he whipped up a batch of creamy vanilla and a batch of blackberry lime –wow.  We are going to have some good eatin’ tomorrow!

While the ice cream churned, we all made a foray to the back 40′ to visit the hens then gather some curly willow, moss and bittersweet for decorations.  Dan, who gets the artistic gene from his Mom, put the table decor together.  Mom created a nice pot of moss for the drinks table.

Then, time to harvest the veggies, hooray!  Despite early snow and a wet cool summer, we are eating fresh veggies for Thanksgiving Dinner.  Dan modeled the Brussels Sprout light saber, mace, and walking stick.  The thing was HUGE, and loaded with sprouts.  No, I will not have to use both plants.  I hope they are tasty, I’ll be cooking them with an assortment of carrots, seen above, in several shades.

Meanwhile, the turkey has been sitting in cider brine for 18+/- hours.  This afternoon, we removed the turkey and began the draining process — it now sits uncovered in the fridge to drain and for the skin to dry out a bit for roasting tomorrow, making a nice crispy skinned bird.

While Mom cleaned the Swiss Chard, I made the stuffing, and then dinner, a souffle using the eggs whites left from Dan’s ice cream.  Now we are all plopped in chairs recuperating from a busy day.  Happy Thanksgiving to all.

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