Thanksgiving 2012

We hosted Thanksgiving again this year. We spent a couple days just cleaning (see the fish foam post) the house. Wednesday night I started preparing to cook. Luckily we do it potluck style so I'm not responsible for cooking the whole meal. This year DH was smoking a turkey in the BGE and frying a turkey. I was responsible for roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy. I decided to also make a dip for appetizer and a pie.

After all the cleaning, I didn't make it to the store for last minute items until 6pm on Wednesday night, not a good time to go to the grocery store at all. By the time I got there, they were sold out of Pillsbury pie crust. While I will use a Pillsbury pie crust, I will not reduce myself to using the store brand. I've tried it before and I don't think it tastes as good. I decided I would rather make my own bland pie crust than use the store brand.






Thanksgiving morning A and I made pumpkin white chocolate chip muffins with the mix we bought at TJs. They were as good as the sample in the store.


When the muffins were done, we went to our neighborhood Turkey Trot. We used to go downtown every year, but it is huge and crowded and hard to go much faster than a stroll. Seven families met at a neighbor's house and we ran/walked a 5k.


Once the exercise was done, it was onto cooking. I started with gravy. Since we weren't roasting a turkey, I wasn't going to have drippings to make the gravy. Google found me some ideas on what to do, besides use the packet mix that S#2 said works just fine. I ended up frying the turkey necks with a blob of fat and some butter. It turned out fine and made the last minute rush to get food on the table that much easier because I wasn't standing, frantically stirring, trying to get the gravy done.

I made this dip that a friend found on pinterest. It was devoured in no time at all. The kids all loved it even though it was full of spinach and black beans.


We had the obligatory play put on by A&E. I was cooking and got out of watching but Pop-Pop did his grandfatherly duty. Lucky for him it wasn't an overly long production.


It was a banner year for turkey. The fried one turned out great, but the smoked one was perfect. A nice light flavor and juicy! The Big Green Egg did a great job. I'm just sad that Mom wasn't here to enjoy it. She loves smoked turkey.






The pecan cheese cake pie (recipe found here) was delicious. I like 2-3 bites of pecan pie. I love the bite of the pecans, but beyond a few bites, it is too sweet. The tart of the cheesecake balanced the sweet and it was a great combination of flavors. I would definitely make it again.


That's all that was left.

It was a lovely thanksgiving, full of bad football, good food and lots of family. Looking forward to next year.