Innermost Thought

« On a lighter, and hopefully more juicier note.. | Main | Nullae Satisfactionis potiri non possum.... »

December 06, 2003

Let's Talk Turkey

The smells from the kitchen, cameraderie of the chefs, the loudness of talkers and the clanking of pots and pans. There's no doubt that places like The Plaza and Le Cirque have brilliant tasting meals but the spirit of the food; that aroma and flavor that comes from having someone who loves or cares about you cooking and preparing the meal can not be bought.

I cooked my first turkey and hosted my first Thanksgiving dinner for 5 friends that for the space of a long weekend became like a family. It was quite interesting. We five ended up hanging out together the entire weekend.

The dinner turned out quite nicely. I got to use 6 sets of my 12-setting china I bought in the spur of the moment a few weeks ago. When I bought this china I had no idea I would be hosting a dinner. I just wanted the setting- I thought it was really pretty and I normally find china settings too "fru-fru". I found the set at a house sale down the street. So without really needing it and half thinking it was ridiculous for me to be buying such a thing I wouldn't use for a long time, I plopped down $25 for 12 place settings, two serving bowls, the platter, creamer, sugarbowl and gravy boat. Within two weeks I had a reason to use them. And the were such a lovely addition to my table.

.

The meal turned out so well. With a little assurance from Butterball that the turkey did not need to be covered at all, I stuffed my turkey with aromatics like lemon, onion and taragon and slid slices of sausages without the casing between the skin and the meat of the turkey. The Butterball girl was a little disturbed that I didn't have a meat thermometer. What could I do? It was my first turkey. Anyway the pilgrims didn't use meat thermometers. Though a little concerned I plowed through and prayed for the best. The aromatics stuffing and sausage was my friend Jim's suggestion. He is a pretty brilliant cook so I knew he wouldn't steer me wrong. For some reason I felt that asking my mom might not be the best course. The turkey turned out to be flavorful, savory, juicy, and cooked through . So in the end I had a meal of Vegetable Appetizers, spinach rollups, turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (you can take the girl out of the trailer....), candied yams (via Mama Duke), rolls, homemade cranberry sauce, various wines, iced tea, pumpkin pie, apple crisp, French pecan pie (an overwhelming favorite of my guests), ice cream, coffee, Bailey's, and a few Hershey's kisses for after dinner sweets. It was a meal of which to be proud.

In the end, I was surprised at how easy cooking this meal turned out to be. There really wasn't any of the trauma promised by numerous holiday TV specials and horror fables told by friends. Then my Dad explained it to me. Once you've cooked tamales, everything else is easy.

He's right.

So I had a really great Thanksgiving. I think my guests did too. We hung out talking, singing and playing guitar and watching some bizarre thing about cavemen until 2:00 in the morning.

Posted by mermu at December 6, 2003 02:04 AM

Comments

Posted by: Margaret at December 23, 2003 01:11 AM

Posted by: Theresa at December 19, 2003 01:03 PM

Posted by: Jfer at December 7, 2003 08:01 PM

Posted by: Elizabeth (cuz) at December 7, 2003 03:59 PM

Post a comment