November 25

Thanksgiving

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• Turkey on the Grill (Grammy)
• Turkey Gravy [View Recipe]

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  Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 2.25 cups [object Object] (defatted and strained)
  • [object Object]
  • .5 large orange
  • salt & pepper

  Instructions

  In a medium sized pot, we melt the butter over medium-low heat. Using our flat whisk, we add the flour (now making a roux). We cook, stirring often with the whisk, for 10 minutes until it is very fragrant and the color of hazelnuts in their shell. Meanwhile, we microwave the defatted and strained turkey stock until hot—just a couple of minutes.

  We add the hot stock to the brown roux and whisk until smooth. We bring the mixture up to a boil and then simmer for about half an hour, stirring occasionally. We want the gravy nicely thickened and flavorful.

  The reserved drippings from the drumsticks from <a day="24">last night</a> (or they could be from the big turkey) are heated in the microwave and then poured into our gravy separator. Leaving the fat behind, we add the tasty drippings to the gravy and simmer for a few minutes. Finally, we squeeze in the orange half through our strainer into the gravy and add salt and pepper to taste.

  The gravy is served hot with turkey.

• Mashed Potatoes (Erin)
• Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes (Grammy)
• Oyster Dressing (Grammy)
• Grammy's Corn Pudding [View Recipe]

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  Ingredients

  • 3 cups milk
  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 3 cans corn
  • 6 tablespoons flour
  • 6 tablespoons sugar
  • 1.5 teaspoons salt
  • 9 extra-large eggs
  • mustard

  Instructions

  We start by preheating the oven to <temp val="350"/>. In a medium pot, we combine the milk and butter and heat over medium-low heat. We want to melt the butter and warm the milk.

  Meanwhile, in a large glass casserole, we combine the rest of the ingredients, including 3 good "dashes" of the yellow mustard. We stir with a fork to distribute all of the ingredients. Then, we pour in the warm butter and milk mixture and stir to combine. It looks like a mess but it will all come together when baked.

  We bake the casserole for 1 hour or until it is browned and set.

• Rolls (Erin)
• Cranberry Sauce (Eric)
• Prosciutto Green Beans and Regular Green Beans (Eric)
• Marinated Artichoke Salad [View Recipe]

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  Ingredients

  • 3 cups mesclun (<howto label="salad"/>)
  • 1 cup arugula (<howto label="salad"/>)
  • 1 medium endive
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 clove garlic (peeled)
  • salt &amp; pepper
  • .25 cup oil
  • 1 jar artichoke hearts
  • cheese

  Instructions

  We start by cleaning the lettuces and storing them in large resealable plastic bags in the fridge. The endive is rinsed and dried with paper towels and the leaves separated. We coarsely chop them, wrap in a paper towel, and store in another resealable plastic bag in the fridge.

  In a plastic container with a lid, we combine the lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. We put the lid on and shake to dissolve the salt. We add the oil and refrigerate.

  When it is almost time to serve the salad, we remove the artichoke hearts to a cutting board, leaving the oil behind in the jar for another use. We halve the already quartered hearts.

  On a serving platter, we distribute the lettuces. We shake the dressing in the container and pour some of it over the greens. We toss with tongs and sprinkle with additional salt and pepper. We top with the artichoke hearts and use our peeler to add a generous amount of Parmigiano-reggiano. We pour on the rest of the dressing, discarding the garlic clove and serve.

• Various Flavors of Ice Cream
• Whipped Cream
• Pie Crust [View Recipe]

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  Ingredients

  • 16 tablespoons butter
  • .5 cup water (divided)
  • 2.5 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt

  Instructions

  We start by cutting the 2 sticks of butter into small pieces and then place them on a salad plate. The plate is placed in the freezer to make sure it is very cold! We pour the water is in a small measuring cup and, to keep the water cold, place the measuring cup in a bowl with ice and water.

  In the food processor, we put the flour, sugar, and salt. We pulse to mix (this is a task <i>always</i> done by one or more of the kids).

  The butter from the freezer is added all at once and pulsed about 10 times until the size of peas. Lastly, we drizzle in just about half of the water, through the feed tube, with the machine running. This takes about 15 seconds, just until the dough comes together. We do not want it overprocessed, but we also want it to have enough water so it is not too crumbly. The remaining ¼ cup or so of water is discarded.

  The dough is put on a sheet of plastic wrap and divided into two. Each is flattened into a disk, wrapped well with additional plastic wrap, and refrigerated for at least an hour before rolling out.

• Apple Pie [View Recipe]

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  Ingredients

  • 1 recipe [object Object]
  • flour
  • 11 apples
  • .5 cup sugar
  • .5 large lemon
  • nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 large egg

  Instructions

  We start by pre-heating the oven to <temp val="375"/>. We remove one of the resealable plastic bags of pie dough from the fridge and begin rolling it, turning it to keep it a circle. When it starts to fill the bag, we split the bag open with scissors and place dough on a large piece of lightly floured parchment paper. We cover with 2 pieces of overlapping wax paper and continue to roll and turn the parchment paper until the diameter is at least 12 inches to fit in our 9-inch glass pie plate.

  We ease the dough into the pie plate, leaving the edges of the dough hanging over the edge of the pan slightly, and cover loosely with plastic wrap. We refrigerate and repeat the rolling with the second piece of dough. When it is rolled out, we place the parchment-dough-wax paper rectangle on a large cookie sheet and refrigerate while we prepare the apples.

  In a very large bowl (we use our pasta serving bowl), we make the filling. With a paring knife, we cut an apple in quarters, remove the core by cutting it out for each apple wedge at an angle, and peel. We slice and repeat for all the apples. Meanwhile, we gradually add the sugar and squeeze in the lemon juice through a strainer so the apples do not discolor. Once all of the apples are in the bowl with the sugar and lemon juice, we add the zest from the lemon half, about 12 scrapings of the nutmeg with our microplane, the cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons of flour. We toss well. We also cut the butter into small pieces and leave on a plate.

  We remove the pie plate filled with the bottom crust from the fridge and pile in the apples. We have more than enough, and when the mound is as big as it can get, we set the remaining 2 cups of apples aside and refrigerate for another use. We dot the apple mound with the butter.

  Next, we remove the rolled out top crust from the fridge and lay the dough on top. In a cup we beat the egg and brush the edges of the bottom crust with the egg and then seal the top by pressing on the dough. We cut the excess dough all around the exterior, reserving it for another use. With a fork, we make a decorative edge to the pie. We cut 6 steam holes across the top in a design with out kitchen scissors. Finally, we brush more of the egg on the top and edges of the pie and sprinkle with a heaping tablespoon of sugar.

  We place the pie on a foil covered, rimmed cookie sheet and bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. We want the crust browned and the juices in the steam vents bubbling. We take the pie out of the oven carefully and let cool on a metal trivet.

• Pecan Pie
• Pumpkin Pie (Eric)
• Cupcakes