In case you plan on dropping by unannounced, Thanksgiving dinner will be around 1:00 on Thursday. The menu this year pleases the palates of Farmer H, The Pony, and Mrs. HM.
7-Layer Salad
Deviled Eggs
Roasted Carrots/Potatoes/Onions (in bacon drippings)
Hash Brown Casserole
Stove Top Stuffing
Sister Schubert's Rolls
Turkey Breast
Cherry Pie
Brownies
The most notable thing missing is the Green Bean Bundles, a favorite of Genius, who is not joining us this year, due to Pennsylvania's quarantining regulations. Or perhaps because Genius doesn't want to rub elbows with the Hillbillys this year.
The menu presents a problem. A couple of them. Two potato dishes, because The Pony loves the roasted vegetables, and I love the Hash Brown Casserole, and Farmer H loves both. The Pony eats so few regular foods, and won't ask for anything, but LOVES deviled eggs. I think we've only had them once in all the time he's been home. Stove Top Stuffing is also a Pony favorite. Gotta be the box.
Of course I read yesterday that there was a recall on Romaine lettuce. The main layer of the 7-Layer-Salad. I made up my mind to buy it anyway, but couldn't find any. So I got two packets of Caesar Salad kits. Which is basically chopped Romaine, with a packet of Caesar Dressing, and maybe croutons.
I was THRILLED to find three packs of Sister Schubert's Rolls. They're a tiny yeast roll, ready to bake, in a foil pan. The Pony can eat a whole pan by himself.
The cherry pie is a storebought one. Farmer H loves cherry pie. The Pony is going to make brownies from a pack, not from scratch.
The turkey breast is 9 POUNDS! I had no intention of getting such a hefty bird. But it was the LAST ONE LEFT in the bin at Save A Lot. I first thought something must be wrong with it, to be left behind. I touched it to make sure it was still frozen. It was hard as a rock. I thought it was a whole turkey, but then read that it was just the breast. Which is what Farmer H wanted anyway. I heaved it into my cart like a Scottish Highlander in a Weight for Distance competition. It was $15 for a 9-pound breast. Honeysuckle brand.
I'm already planning on the leftovers! Turkey and egg noodles with green peas and mushrooms and a white sauce. A turkey pot pie. Lunches of turkey sliders on Hawaiian Rolls, with provolone cheese and mayo and green olives. Mmm...
The only time-intensive items are the deviled eggs, and the 7-layer salad. I'm tackling them before my trip to town on Wednesday. During which I will buy twice my usual scratcher ration. So I can have some on Thanksgiving Day, after the meal and clean-up.
I'm sure after you scratch them off, you'll find something to be thankful for, since you're usually lucky in some way.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the feast, after you've put forth the effort.
Happy Thanksgiving.
That looks like quite the carb-heavy meal. You're going to need a three hour nap (no tour) after that. I mad a batch of brownies myself last week, also restrained myself from eating the whole batch at once and stretched them out to almost a week. I make them from scratch, with brown sugar instead of white and add hazelnut meal to the mix.
ReplyDeleteSioux,
ReplyDeleteHeh, heh! I checked in here at the ol' double-secret Mansion, after just typing up my cathouse blog for Thanksgiving. You, Madam, must be psychic, because that is the very topic.
I scratched today's allotment, bought three hours later than normal due to frittering my time away in the kitchen... and won a grand sum of $11. Not what I'd hoped for. Maybe the GOOD tickets are in tomorrow's batch. The Pony wanted his "charity" tickets that I buy him every day, to scratch both at once, and not wait a day. He lost on both. I am SO sad for him...
I am indeed looking forward to my CARB COMA kicking in around blog-posting time on Thursday.
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River,
I am NOT one of those hipster chefs who serves up, on a huge square plate of crimson red, a dab of bean curd on a spinach leaf, dotted with a foam of mint, a praying mantis arm propped on top for the protein.
We are hearty eaters, humoring the 7-Layer Salad, Deviled Eggs, and Turkey, to get to the CARBFEST that awaits!
We WILL be using the glass plates and glass bowls (AND glass glasses and regular silverware), so as to load as many carbs as possible on their surfaces, thus negating the inadvertent exercise of walking back to the serving area for seconds.
The Pony made his brownies tonight, and brought me one hot from the oven. NOM NOM! He may use a box mix, but he ADDS CHOCOLATE CHIPS! I can't guarantee that there will be any left for the feast. He's unsupervised with them right now. I'm pretty sure ours won't last a week.
Tell The Pony to line his pan (not a foil pan, a real pan) with parchment paper (they will be easier to serve, and easy on the clean-up). Then, put candy bars (milk chocolate) on the bottom of the pan, right next to each other, so the whole bottom is candy bar. (I get the giant ones that at Target or Aldi's and are $1.50 or so each. It usually takes 3-4 of them if you're using a 9 x 13 pan.) Then pour the brownie batter on top of the candy bars, and bake as usual. When the pan is completely cool, you can lift the whole thing out of the pan, using the parchment paper as handles. They are incredibly good, and extremely rich...
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are not a "hipster chef", I'm a fan of hearty meals myself. I may put choc chips on top of the brownies next time I make them, that's a great idea from The Pony. Maybe I'll even mix some into the batter too. Unless the jar is empty because I ate them all.
ReplyDeleteSioux,
ReplyDeleteThat's crazy talk, Madam! Are you trying to over-ample my rumpus? I'm sure The Pony would gladly try this new recipe. He uses a brownie pan, the kind with compartments to give all the brownies that tasty edge. So it would take a lot of parchment trimming. He could probably spray the pan, and cool it in FRIG II before trying to remove the brownies. I don't think this would be the kind to eat warm.
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River,
Genius is a hipster chef! I've got a picture of his Thanksgiving plate coming up on my other blog. The Pony mixes the chips in the batter. I did notice that the bag of chocolate chips has been depleting since he bought it...