November 22, 2018 Thanksgiving, the holiest food day of the year

November 22, 2018 Thanksgiving, the holiest food day of the year

We woke up at 6:30 and by 7:30 Suzette had made the dressing and stuffed it into the turkey and I then trussed the neck and tail closed.  Suzette started cooking the giblets in a pot of water to make a broth to which I added two peeled and diced carrots, ½ diced onion, and two stalks of diced celery.

I then ate granola, yogurt, milk, and grapes and banana.

We put the turkey in a turkey bag with a T. of flour to coat the inside of the bag in the big blue roasting pan and into a pre-heated 375 degree oven.  We initially thought it would take 6 hours for the 19 lb. turkey to cook but it was done at 11:15 on the top and bottom heat convection setting and even after turning the heat down to 350 degrees.

At 10:00 I made a spicy shrimp, mushroom, spinach, Swiss cheese, and green onion omelet.

After breakfast Suzette called her family in Pennsylvania to wish them a happy Thanksgiving and I  lay down and napped for about 45 minutes, until Suzette awoke me at 11:15 with the news that the turkey was done.  So I returned to the kitchen and sliced the meat off the turkey.  Suzette removed the dressing and we worked together to remove the turkey to a cutting board and capture as much of the drippings from the bag as possible.

Suzette started making the gravy in the roasting pan with all the drippings, while I sliced all the meat from the turkey and placed it in another roasting pan. Suzette added the dressing to the roasting pan and covered it with foil and put in the oven at low temperature to keep it warm.

Luke, Debbie, and Autumn arrived at around 12:00 just as we were finishing cutting up the turkey.

Here is a picture of Autumn texting in the kitchen after she finished her deviled egg plates.

We let them take over in the kitchen as soon as we cleared the cutting board.  Autumn, who was raised in South Carolina, made deviled eggs and Debbie, who was raised in Miami, made the most visually creative dish of the day, a relish plate in the shape of Mister Turkey.  Here is a picture.

Mike arrived at 1:15 with the two bottles of Reserve de Chastrelles Tavel and a bottle of Pinot Grigio bought at Trader Joe’s.  I pulled a bottle of Wellington 2010 Mohrhardt Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon because Debbie drinks only red wine.  It’s cork was dry and we had to dig it out and then push the last part into the bottle, so we decanted it and drank it before dinner.

Then right at 1:30 Aaron arrived with two large vegetable bowls, 1 filled with green beans cooked with bacon and seasoned with lots of black pepper and the other filled with sweet potato wedges baked with orange zest and Orange juice.

Willy called and said he was still waiting for the Brussels sprouts to brown and arrived closer to 2:00 which worked out well because it allowed Suzette to boil and whip the potatoes and adjust the gravy with stock made from the turkey bones and for Luke to roll the pie crust dough Suzette had made into a lovely pie crust, to fill it with the pumpkin filling and get it into the oven vacantly by removing all the other dishes.

Suzette used her Noritake dishes with their lovely pink flowers and pink table clothes, so the table looked lovely.  Here is a picture.

 When Willy arrived we filled Suzette’s large turkey platter with white meat on one side, dark meat on the other and dressing in the middle.  Suzette filled the large gravy boat with gravy and we put the vegetable dishes on the table.  We were eight, so the 6 by 9 foot dining table was adequate for all of us to sit and still have room for all the food.

Suzette and lengthened the width of a table cloth we had bought a few years ago and ironed it so it fit the table beautifully and arranged flowers she had bought at Costco yesterday.

A couple of minutes after 2:00 we all took our dishes to the table and sat down and Mike poured Tavel and I opened the bottle of Bila Haut 2014 Occultum Lapidem, Cotes du Roussillon Villages Latour de France exported by Chapoutier for the red drinkers.

Debbie took this picture of us.

We passed the dishes left and everyone filled their plates and we ate and several of us ate seconds. I opened the second bottle of Tavel and we poured more of it also.  Suzette had made a lovely hibiscus iced tea served in the Bohemian glasses instead of water, so there was sufficient liquid to wash down the food. During the meal the a bell sounded that signaled that Luke’s pumpkin pie was baked and he went to the kitchen to remove it from the oven.  It was cooked perfectly.

Finely when we were finished the turkey dinner we all came to a pause and Suzette suggested we move into the TV room and eat dessert by the fireplace, since it was cool in the dining room without heat.  Our boiler is still not fixed.

Suzette made Lavender Earl Grey tea and coffee and she and Luke sliced pies of pie and served them on the lovely tea service platter with a place for a teacup and we all gathered around table and on the ottoman and the director chair by the fireplace in a cozy comfortable group and enjoyed the two lovely pies.

Luke had brought Tinzen, the beautiful Airedale he is house sitting, who was well behaved.  After dessert Luke, Autumn, and Debbie took Tinzen for a walk to the Bosque, while Mike and Suzette and I watched the Cowboys beat Washington.

Willy and Aaron left after we traded some of Aaron’s green beans for some turkey meat.

I spent the evening on the couch watching football with Mike and Suzette after she put all the food in bags and containers into the fridge.

We talked about the hot springs with Luke and Debbie and They recorded my instructions on how the
 get to them and then they left around 6:00.

Mike left around 8:00 to go work and run.

Suzette and I relaxed in the hot tub for about ten minutes and then went to bed a bit after 9:00.

Suzette’s last words as she lay down were, “It was a lovely day.”

Amen

Bon Appetit