Happy Thanksgiving - How are you Celebrating?

[kjbrill]

I concur, both C/P and Sarah Perry's responses have struck a cord, in my mind defining what Thanksgiving is all about. Due to several circumstances we also did not have the big gang of years past, but now in our seventies we do not expect to, nor are we prepared to.

The turkey breast roll I mentioned in my opening still has my vote outstanding. It was different all right, but I am trying to determine whether the result tasted like turkey or more like a pork loin. You may ask how turkey can taste like pork, but in this case to me it did. Not bad, just not turkey.

The cheese cake however was something else. My wife is venturing into trying any recipe she thinks looks interesting, some winners, some losers. This particular cheese cake's defining taste was due to being laced with pure Vermont Maple Syrup as the sweetener. Oh man - delicious. Again, not your classical cheese cake taste. but may become one.

I wish to thank everyone who responded with a look at their holiday.

And again, Happy Thanksgiving

[Traveler87]

Originally Posted by CarpathianPeasant

You're welcome! And, I do indeed do exactly that. Same for Christmas. I get me something like a nice turkey frozen dinner, a pumpkin pie and whipped topping, sometimes some cranberries and munch away thinking about being thankful, what the holiday is all about and people who are no longer bodily around.

There are community dinners all around, including six floors down in community room of the apartment building underfoot. As long as I can find the makings of a Thanksgiving dinner without actually doing the makings, those are not for me. Many years ago I went to one -- just one -- of the big y'all come community dinners put on every year by Arthur Beerman in the Dayton Convention Cemter. Thousands of people went to them. The food was plenty good enough. The air force band was there. I'm sure the hosts tried and it was a lovely idea; but, I didn't like it.

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving, and here's to hoping your Christmas is just as good!

[Crew Chief]

Hope it was a good Thanksgiving for you all. Between 13 hours of deliveries to my Michigan-based retailer, Wife & I spent a few very peasant hours with friends (who did some awesome cooking) and their relatives.

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by motorman

^^Thank you both, CarpathianPeasant & Sarah Perry, for two testimonials of Thanksgiving which, in some synchronistic way, entered print one right after another. Very strange and very touching, each. For this onlooker, it was almost like being exposed to the combined effects of "The Little Match Girl" and "A Christmas Carol" read back-to-back. I still don't know how to react to such mysterious things as this...

My attitudes have changed as I've gotten older and simply have been forced to adjust to changed family circumstances. Gradually my observance of holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas has become less focused on external, physical things and more on reflection on intangible or spiritual things--the meaning behind the holiday, if you will. I don't say that to sound righteous, for me it's just been a natural evolution.

If you want to talk mysterious, the basic point of the sermon I heard yesterday could just have well have come from a Buddhist or humanist perspective as from a Christian one. It was about the things we gain when we lose something.

[CarpathianPeasant]

Let me also add a footnote here.

My way is surely not for everyone, and to a certain extent it is even contrary to this particular holiday which by definition is supposed to be a community feast amid which there is the thought of giving thanks for it. Especially if there are children around, the community aspect is important as it's telling the kid we give thanks individually but also as a whole entity.

If "a community" (like a church) brings a dinner to my door, I certainly am not going to turn it down -- bring two or three if you like and I'll eat it all in spirit with you. And, if I had one or two family members with whom to attend a community dinner, that would make a difference, too. I'm just not in the mood for strangers at the time, regardless of how appropriate.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

Here is wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Curious as to how you are celebrating the day.

Here in the Brill household I was all for going and buying a prepared dinner at Kroger, saving all the muss and fuss.

But the wife and oldest daughter decided otherwise so they have been preparing all week. The wife wanted something different with the turkey so she had the butcher debone a fresh one. They have taken the breast sections, pounded them out, rolled them around a sausage stuffing mixture, and trussed the rolls with a bacon wrap. After searing this morning they will be baked. Being deboned they will cook quickly. The breasts alone will not produce a lot of juices, so the wife found a recipe to cook a selection of vegetables in a white wine and turkey stock mixture along with the breasts and then puree the whole works to make the gravy. Going to be a different taste I am sure.

As sides we have the sweet potato and crushed pineapple casserole, which they will undoubtedly top with mini-marshmellows when reheating. The cranberry salad, green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes are other musts. Instead of the traditional pumpkin pie they decided on a homemade baked cheese cake.

KJ you are a lucky guy indeed. Hope you enjoyed it!

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by The Don

KJ you are a lucky guy indeed. Hope you enjoyed it!

It was quite nice. Only problem was the turkey breast rolls did not cook as quickly as the recipe said, took at least an additional hour. No problem, we adjusted serving time. I was ridiculed when I remarked to the women there was no way the recipe's cooking time was valid - what does a man know?
So I got the last HaHa which was satisfying. I have cooked enough chicken on the grill to know that recipe was all wet.

But the homemade cheesecake - Yummm. The base sweetener was pure Vermont maple syrup, so we had a maple flavored cheesecake. Quite different but very good.