Thanksgiving Recap

Thanks to Kate for the photos!

Well, it was yet another epic year here at our house. We hosted about 75 friends for Thanksgiving dinner. Needless, to say I'm still getting caught up with everything - including this blog! So, how do we do it? And more importantly, what did we eat!?

How we do it

1. We have very good friends who do these things often. (This was our 10th or 11th big Thanksgiving.) We ask for help, and we get it. We don't ask for help and we get it anyway, because everyone just knows what needs to be done and does it - and with style and grace. Things get moved. Side dishes are made. Dishes get washed. Recycling goes out. That's the kind of friends we have.
2. I happen to have plenty of catering equipment - gathered over the years starting with our own wedding, when we bought plates and glasses instead of renting. These have now been used dozens and dozens of times over the last 7+ years. Every year I add a litle more to the collection, so now we have service for 100, chafing dishes, napkins and more.
3. We move everything out of the living and dining room and put down low tables made several years ago just for Thanksgiving. So we all sit on the floor on pillows and such - you can fit a lot more people in that way!
4. Finally, Facebook (and before that Tribe and Evite) keeps all the communication and guest list in order!

What we ate!

1. Turkeys, of course. My husband Matthew is renowned for his smoked turkeys, and it's no wonder - they're the most delicious turkeys around! He brines 'em for 10 to 12 hours and smokes 'em for about 6 hours. They are moist and tasty! Every year I like to play around and experiment a little with the roasted birds, which we also make so we have the drippings for gravy (and more turkey). This year, it was Iron Chef Jose Garces' Citrus Marinated Turkey, which included chipotle, annato paste (a new ingredient for me), orange juice and roasted garlic. It required a 24-hour brining and a 24-hour marinade. I'm told it was really stellar (I just got one quick bite myself), and the gravy was divine! The other roasted turkey (a 19+ pounder that I spatchcocked) I did simply with butter and our friend's Rivera's Rubs, a Puerto Rican spice rub that's pretty much good on just about anything you use it for! Our friend Rich, a butcher, also brought us a TurDuckEn, which went so fast I couldn't believe it. Despite the four turkeys and the TurDuckEn, we had NO leftovers for sandwiches. So, Friday our friend Bryndl went out and bought another 23-pound bird, which we roasted with butter and chimichurri rub. This, too was gone almost immediately, but I managed to save just enough for about four sandwiches, our first in several years.
2. Everyone brings a side dish, and this year they were particularly stellar. Of the ones I was able to taste, I remember particularly Chet's cornbread sausage stuffing; Sabrina's chanterelle, spinach and cheese casserole; the other Sabrina's radicchio, brie and caramelized onion dish; Diana's lemon and lime tartlets and Shanti's mashed potato and carrots and peas cupcakes, which looked so realistic but tasted so good!

Comments

[John Tebeau]

Gawdalmighty, that sounds great. When we come I'll make spicy cranberry chutney!

[tiffany1]

tiffany --One may fall in love with many people during the lifetime.-Armani glasses for cheap