I hope your Thanksgiving celebration was filled with LOVE and a smashing success! We all have so much to be thankful for. Please tell me what was your favorite part or dish.
We were lucky enough to have both of our boys home and got to have both girlfriends with us too. It is so about being together, cooking together and even cleaning up together. I come from a very large family – six kids – and when my parents were still alive and we all came home (to St. Louis) with our spouses or mates, it was absolute mayhem – all in a good way. Everyone was doing something from building a fire, to arguing about the music being played, to making a new cocktail for everyone, to complaining that someone doesn’t do any work but just supervises, to figuring out where to put all the food and wine, and I remember my mother just shaking her head and trying to continue to move through everyone to do her cooking. Although we have only two boys, we created the same thing! At one point on Thursday, I looked at my husband, right before dinner and I was like, OMG, we created a mini version of my family all over again. It’s a good thing but it really made me laugh – it can even happen with just two kids!
My turkey was too big – 19.5 lbs. I had asked our farmer for a 16 – 17 lb. bird but somehow he had something larger in mind and just those 2 – 3 extra pounds made a difference. I have no doubt we will eat all the leftovers but when it’s that big, the legs are really tough on these free range birds. The thigh dark meat was delicious but the legs, not so much. It looked gorgeous! And some of the outer white meat was a wee bit dry in order to cook the whole thing through. So I think the 17 lb. mark is the max. If you need more, buy two smaller birds.
For those of you who purchased my e-cookbook and made some or all of the recipes, I hope you found it helpful. Please send me any comments to make it even better for next year.
My birthday was Tuesday and my younger son and his girlfriend were at our house upstate, greeting us when we arrived with appetizers and dinner prepared. I told you I was lucky and had a lot to be thankful for! For appetizers, we had local gouda cheese cubes with olives, radishes and cherry tomatoes. Dinner was braised chicken legs, with tomatoes, onions, garlic and olives served with a crusty baguette to mop up all of the delicious sauce, and some roasted zucchini. They were so sweet and you have no idea how special it was to arrive to a warm glowing, terrific smelling house with dinner all ready! And it was really yummy!
Tonight, all four of them are cooking up my “real birthday feast. “ They won’t tell me what they’re doing and I was told to vacate the premises. They have plied me with some hot rum apple punch and I am out in my art studio staying out of the way. They say it will be a complete meal with appetizers, dinner, dessert and even entertainment! Stay tuned and I will let you know what happens.
I hope you all continue your celebrations and have a great rest of the weekend!
Joseph Joseph SmartBar with Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic
Snow Peas with Ginger, Garlic, Shallots, Lemon and Mint 
Grilled Farmer’s Market chicken with lemon ginger basting sauce
Amazing tomato chicken braise
Fillets of sole with sorrel
I had to laugh at the size of your turkey. The biggest turkey I could find was 6 kilograms – what’s that, 13 pounds? We had 10 for dinner and that little bird wouldn’t have fed that many so we had a big ham too. Aussies think Americans eat big on Thanksgiving. 🙂
Can’t wait to hear about your birthday celebration – Happy Birthday!
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef recently posted…Little Caramel Tarts with Chocolate Ganache and Macadamia Nuts
LOL – Thanks Maureen. Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving!!
Your bird looks fantastic and you’re so right. Rather than try to cook a behemoth, get 2 smaller birds. Both will be much better prepared than the larger one.
I hope you birthday and dinner were wonderful. Happy Birthday, Mary Frances.
ChgoJohn recently posted…Green Tomato Relish
Thanks John!! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving too!
Beautiful turkey! I did purchase your e book and it really was helpful. Unfortunately, I became very ill on Wednesday, was worse on Thursday so I had to cancel Thanksgiving, I was prepared for the big day though, it would have been a good one.
apuginthekitchen recently posted…Thanksgiving Pies And The Wine
Oh Suzanne – so sorry to hear!! I sure hope you’re feeling better now.
Happy birthday, and so happy that your thanksgiving turned out well. My suggestion for dried turkey legs: get a dog, and don’t worry about a thing!
LOL!!! I made a turkey hash with them this morning and it was delicious!!
Your bird looked beautiful! Any plans for your tougher meat?
Francesca recently posted…Garlicky Peas with Rosemary + Pancetta
Thanks Francesca! Yes, on Sunday morning I made a turkey hash and served it with over easy eggs and it was DELICIOUS!! I highly recommend that!
Loved you e-book as a reference for our Thanksgiving meal.
Have always made your stuffing and now my daughter has learned to make it. It is so delicious.
Every year I make a new sweet potato dish and this year we made yours…so easy and yummy.
Lots to be grateful for!
Marie
Oh I’m so happy!! I like that easy sweet potato dish – not too sweet and definitely easy. It is a remake of an old Joy of Cooking recipe!
Your feast was definitely a success!
yummychunklet recently posted…ffwD: Sugar-Coated French Toast
Thanks!! Yes it was – and lots of fun!
You are a life safer Mary. We had a last minute change of plans and I found out a few days before Thanksgiving I was hosting 15 people and had a lot to do for work so didn’t have a lot of time to plan. I followed your e-book to the letter and dinner was a hit. Greg’s joke was I was going to be lost if my I-pad died and it did right while we were making the gravy. We all had a good laugh. The appetizers, turkey, stuffing, and soup were a big hit. The brussel spouts in fish sauce is an acquired taste and my family hasn’t quite gotten there yet. But I am glad I took the risk and tried them as a few of us did like them. Would love you to do more e-books and even one for a dinner party. Thanks for spreading the love with your recipes and good advice!
Judy! I’m so glad the e-cookbook worked for you!! Wow, you had so little notice to produce the feast. Funny that you say that about the Brussels sprouts as this is the second year I have made them and while four of us loved them, my two boys are asking for a different recipe for next year – and they even like anchovies! So stay tuned as I’ll have to revise that component.
I am working on a Holiday book of small plates, savory and sweet. I think it will be perfect for cocktail parties.