Thanksgiving Day

Getting dressed for game day. Iron man is wearing dads’ barbeque apron.

I took pictures all day of my little sous chef cutting mushrooms for the stuffing, mashing sweet potatos . . . however it’s getting late and my patience is wearing thin so here’s the pie.

Dumping in the pumpkin puree.

Where’s the pumpkin?

Adding the cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

. . . Sugar

. . . Eggs

. . . more sugar but must taste it first . . .

add some heavy cream and . . . mix it up . . .

Voila ! Two delicious pumpkin pies ready for the oven.

Thanks for cleaning up sweetie . . .

We baked some no knead bread. The bread was wonderful ! Crispy crust, moist and chewy on the inside. Make this bread. It is the easiest recipe I’ve ever made.

Just before going into the hot oven

Fresh out of the oven and cooling down.

We roasted chestnuts, peeled them up and put them into the brussell sprouts with a bit of bacon and sherry. (Nigella Lawsons’ “Feast”)

Garlic mashed potatoes. My husbands’ specialty.

Sweet potatoes with marshmallows. ( my homage to the American feast)

Couldn’t do without some stuffing. The only thing I made from a box. (oh, the horrors!)

Brined and roasted the turkey. It was so moist on the inside and wonderfully crispy on the outside thanks to the basting with maple syrup and butter. mmmmmm.

and of course, just a little wine.

Everybody getting ready for the feast.

We talked about what we were all thankful for. My list was long and varied. But for today what I am thankful for is a family to celebrate this thanksgiving holiday with. There was a time when I was so lonely. The holidays always intensified that feeling. I am so thankful to be surrounded by family and to be able to cook a wonderful meal. Put love and thought into what I am making and then serve to people I love. That’s joy.

The only thing missing was a fellow foodie. If anyone said mmmm that is really good . . I would go on and on about my cooking methods and recipes. My enthusiastic explanations would fall on deaf ears and my poor listeners’ eyes would glaze over.

Don’t you want to know how I made that no knead bread? What about the chestnuts. Let me tell you about roasting those chestnuts. What about the turkey? Do you think next time I should add more star anise into the brine? Can you taste the orangey flavour? The gravy . . . add the liver next time? This is so much fun let’s talk about it. Please?

Happy Thanksgiving.