Sunday, November 20, 2011

Thanksgiving mealplanning!

When I was a little girl, I used to dream about making Thanksgiving dinner for my whole family. Not the potluck kind, the kind where I do everything myself and wow everyone with my culinary skills and my ability to keep it all together.

Most little girls dream of fairy tales and weddings. I dreamed of stemware and poultry.

Last year, I did a pre-Thanksgiving dinner for my parents, who were in town the weekend prior. Emily and Kirby were still living in Del Rio, and Emily's friend Ann was in town as well. 

Last year's spread: Brined fresh turkey, sage and apple stuffing, gravy, cranberry orange sauce, sweet potato casserole, whiskey glazed carrots, mixed mashed potatoes

Emily was just starting to show with Lily in this photo. On actual Thanksgiving, it was just the four of us, and we had a much smaller turkey dinner. It was nice, and I had a blast arranging all the recipes. But it wasn't the same, since most of our family wasn't there.

But THIS year, we've convinced my mom and Mikey, Art's parents, Charlie, my Aunt Cathy and my Grandma Jean to all come down for the actual turkey day! And, believe it or not, they're all DRIVING the 24 hours from Dayton to Del Rio. Better them than me!

My brothers and their respective girlfriends, Dawn and Jamie, are currently on sibling probation for their absence. I will forgive them on Christmas. I think.

Anyway, here's what I've got on docket for this week, Thanksgiving recipes included. Links up where available!

Sunday:
Monday:
Tuesday:
  • dinner out at one of the two non-chain restaurants in Del Rio (there's a third, but it's inedible)
Wednesday:
  • Thanksgiving prep:
    • Brine the turkey. I am extremely picky about my turkeys. I refuse to buy a frozen one, which means I can't get my turkey in Del Rio. The past two years we have ordered a free-range turkey from Whole Foods and driven the 6 hours round-trip to San Antonio to get it. Worth it!
    • Make mashed potatoes and refrigerate (recipe: potatoes, cream cheese, salt, pepper.)
    • Make stuffed mushroom stuffing and refrigerate separate from reserved mushroom caps for tomorrow's appetizer
    • Make Roasted butternut squash soup and refrigerate
  • Breakfast: Pumpkin Pie Smoothies
  • Dinner: Braised chicken (Side note: This is from my old blog, and I wrote it just a few days after Art proposed. Ah, memories.)
Thursday:
 I hope you all have a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving!

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