We slept until almost 8:00, I then watched news shows until 10:00. Suzette did not want any bread so I decided to make a sort of BLT omelet by substituting asparagus for the lettuce. I fried four slices of thick cut bacon from a Costco covered with a wok cover which reduced the oxygen and I diced ¼ onion, four or five stalks of asparagus, two large portobello mushrooms. Suzette handed me the last tomato from the garden, which I diced and I sliced 7 or 8 slices of Comte’ cheese.
I whisked 4 eggs and drained the cooked bacon and crumbled it with a knife.
I then sautéed the onion and asparagus for a couple of minutes and added the mushroom slices and finally the tomato, bacon, and a diced avocado.
After the ingredients had cooked for a few minutes to make sure they were soft, I added the egg and the slices of cheese and cooked the entire mixture until the edges stiffened and I was able to turn ½ onto the other half. I let the omelet cook another couple of minutes until all of the egg had congealed and cut it in half and served it.
Suzette had made a Bloody Mary and I flavored a glass of Clamato with the juice of a lime.
At 11:00 I went to El Super to buy roasting bags in which to cook the 17 lb. turkey I had bought at Albertson’s last week for $.79/lb. if you bought at least $25.00 of other goods. My other goods had been 4 rib steaks that weighted 4.5 lb. and were on sale for $6.77/lb. plus a carton of Java Chip ice cream for $3.49.
At El Super today I went a little wild in the produce department and bought a pineapple (2lb./$.99), a papaya ($.99/lb.), 3 altaulfo mangoes for 2 for $.89, 5 naval oranges at 2 lb. for $.99, broccoli crowns at $.59/lb., three red onions for $.50/lb., a bunch of green onions for $.33, a cucumber for $.25, 5 nice tomatoes for 2 lb. for $.99.
I then went to the deli department and bought a lb. of Mexican salted Crema for $1.99/lb. and ½ lb. of Oaxacan string cheese for $2.99/lb. Finally, I went to the fish department and bought 1.3 lb. of 71 to 90 count shrimp for $4.27/lb.
After I returned home and put up the groceries we discussed how to bake the turkey. We decided at 15 minutes per lb. it would take 4 ½ hours. While I was shopping Suzette had removed the giblets from the turkey and was cooking them in water and some sage leaves to make turkey broth. She had also made a wild rice dressing with the three cups of wild rice we cooked last night, plus onion, rehydrated dried cranberrIes and cherries and some chopped sage leaves.
Suzette had put the turkey into a large roasting pan. We stuffed the dressing into the back and stomach cavities and trussed those areas closed with trussing needles and string. Then Suzette put a handful of flour into the bag and shuck it to coat the bag and we slid the turkey into the bag and sealed the bag with the provided plastic clasp, poked a few holes in the bag to let it breath, and put the roasting pan into the oven around 1:00.
Everything else was made last week, so I cooked a lb. of the shrimp I had bought at El Super for the shrimp mold for next Thursday’s dinner party with the Palmers and Rembes. I put ¼ onion diced and a cube of pho seasoning into the pot of water in which I cooked the shrimp to give them a little flavor. After the shrimp were cooked left a few shrimp in the pot of water and added a handful of chard leaves I had de-stemmed and cut into bite sized pieces plus a small handful of sliced wakame seaweed, a large T. of white miso, two fish balls, a large sliced portobello mushroom, three kinds of noodles, and about 3 oz. of diced soft tofu (Sprouts for $.99 for a 14 oz. chunk in a plastic carton filled with water). I had also picked some basil leaves and five or six chives, so I chopped two of the green onions and the chives and added the basil leaves for garnish and ate a bowl of soup at around 2:30 and the lay down for a nap.
Suzette came and awakened me from my afternoon nap at 4:30 and we went to the basement to select wines. She selected a Benton Lane 100% Pinot Noir Rose and suggested a White Burgundy, so I selected a 2012 Wellington Winery’s Roussanne, that is a Rhone varietal but raised in Sonoma. This particular bottling won the Gold medal at the Sonoma Harvest Fair, so it was a lovely bottle of wine great minerality and character with good tannins. Everyone loved the Benton Lane Rose and Ricardo decided to buy a case of it in the 30% off sale on Monday.
Cynthia arrived at 5:30 with her cranberry chutney, carrots, mashed potatoes and turnips, and three kinds of pie plus a bottle of Clos de Bois Sauvignon Blanc. We had chilled a bottle of Gruet Brut and Suzette fetched the Cassis liquor from the basement and I made Kir Royals for us. Soon Ricardo arrived and I made him one also. Then Willy arrived to join the feast, but drank water with a slice of lemon.
Here is some info on cassis: Cassis fruit is the French name given to the black currant berry. It is a member of the genus ribes and its taxonomic classification is ribes nigrum. There are approximately 150 shrub species in the genus ribes that consists of the two groups currants and gooseberries.
I then looked up the difference between cherries and berries. Although cherries and berries are both considered fleshy fruits, cherries are drupes, which are a type of fruit that contain a single seed in the center surrounded by a hard core. Berries are a type of fruit on which the seed (or seeds) are located on the outside flesh ( I think, kiwi fruit).
Suzette had checked the turkey and it had not quite reached an internal temperature of 180 degrees so we cooked about ten minutes more until the small thermocouple in the turkey popped out and it had reached 180 degrees. We removed the turkey to a cutting board and removed the wild rice dressing and I carved the turkey while Suzette made gravy in the roasting pan using all the cooking juices.
We heated the vegetable and dressings that were not already hot, like Suzette’s sweet potato casserole with red chili marshmallows, corn flan, and oyster and pecan dressing and Cynthia’s carrots, and mashed potatoes and turnips and carrots. We laid the table with all the stuff and I poured the Benton Lane Rose’ and we enjoyed our second Thanksgiving feast and Cynthia and Ricardo enjoyed their third.
After we drank the Rose I asked Cynthia what she wanted to try next and she said, “the white Burgundy, so I opened the Wellington Roussanne and poured it. Everyone loved it also. I was proud for our Cellar.
After dinner and a lot more conversation, mostly about death, because Cynthia had recently visited a friend from the Outpost who was dying of brain cancer, Cynthia made whipped cream and sliced slices of pumpkin pie and pecan pie and we ate them with fresh whipped cream. We forgot to put water on the table but this crowd usually prefers wine.
Willy and Ricardo left at around 7:30, because they have to go to work early and soon Cynthia followed soon thereafter. Suzette and I watched the Poldack series of Masterpiece theater and went to bed at 9:30.
Bon Appetit
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