Oh, the conundrum of Guest Blogging! Although I love to write, my own personal blog is only updated once or twice a month due to time constraints (ie. laziness). So now I need to write for our sassy friend Cattigan, and naturally, I don't want it to be crap. But everything that comes out is immediately met with the thought, "Man! This really needs to go in MY blog! I'll have to write something else . . ."
Sigh.
With that, I finally figured out that I could use this to my advantage. It's my guess that C has more readers than I do, and I know she definitely has more who leave comments. And I need your help!
You know that charming (ha!) drama with the in-laws that always seems to stir up when everyone is crammed into the same house during the holidays? How everyone maaaybe has a little too much wine and people start feeling brazen and saying what they REALLY think of everyone else? Voices are raised, tears are shed, and you spend the following year trying to forget about the incident altogether, only to repeat the routine next Thanksgiving and start all over again. (Don't look at me like that, you KNOW what I'm talking about!)
Well . . . nope. No thanks. Not this year.
The hubs and I have decided to skip out on all of that nonsense and attempt to cook our first turkey at home where it's quiet and peaceful, AND we get to eat ALL the leftovers. Muahahaha.
I'm certainly no newbie to the kitchen, but we only have one oven. And since it'll be just us, we won't have the convenience of the "potluck" Thanksgiving where everybody brings a dish. So, I need some ideas on how to accomplish this undertaking without completely losing my head. Do I cook the side dishes the day before, and try to make recipes that can be viably reheated in the microwave while the turkey is roasting? Do I say screw it and just order one of those nice pre-prepared holiday spreads that the grocery store has been advertising? Perhaps most importantly, am I mad to think I can actually do this myself?
If anyone has ever shared a similar experience and could offer up some much needed advice before the big day (seriously, even if it's "Stop now and just order take-out!"), I would be greatly thankful and indebted.
Blessings!
A.C.
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2 comments:
And I wish I had some grand advice for you, but we're so afraid of offending any family members by daring to choose one family over the other, that we often end up doing the Thanksgiving dinner twice. IN THE SAME DAY. Yep, you heard it. We eat with one family mid-day and we eat with the other family later that night. ahhh, the joy of stuffing yourself silly twice in one day. (and that's what happens when you have family members that are stuck working weird shifts who don't always get holidays off)
I'll figure out a way for you to cook enough food with only one stove and one oven if you can figure out to stretch my stomach and retain ZERO of the calories I plan to consume. deal?
so, the trick I learned was to keep it simple. let each member of the family pick one favorite dish and only make those, that way you aren't trying to make 15 separate dishes. don't stuff the turkey, cook the stuffing separately the day before. Keep the veggies things that you can saute so that they are on the stove top... and, the turkey has to rest for a good half hour after cooking, before serving... so that is when you reheat the food you made the day before in the same lovely turkey smelling oven.... hope that helps. keep in mind all of this "wisdom" comes from only having done this once, so I am not sure how reliable I am, but it is what my colleague who is an awesome cook told me. hope it helps.
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