This is my belated Happy Thanksgiving blog post! I missed posting something yesterday, as I was busy cooking for a large part of the day. I wanted to do a proper dinner but tried not to be too ambitious — just a 4 lbs. turkey breast on bone, which turned out perfect! And pecan pie is a must… I made crust from scratch the day before and used the dark corn syrup I had found at the upscale grocery market nearby. The pecans on top of the pie got a little burned but not too bad. Also I made an easy shredded brussels sprouts with bacon and hazelnuts side dish, which only takes 15 minutes to saute… the hardest part is toasting the hazelnuts and rubbing skins off. Mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy were all store bought.
The hand multi-purpose Braun hand blender I bought that included food processor and whisk attachments came in quite handy for the pie crust dough (i.e., cutting ice cold butter and shortening into the flour), shredding brussels sprouts, and bourbon whipped cream for the pie. It’s no KitchenAid but for the price and size it’s been great to have.
I was expecting it to be just me, but when I knew the turkey breast was going to come out OK I invited my walking buddy CJ to join at the last minute. He gladly accepted and ended up bringing over a bottle of sparkling rose, a pinot noir, two chocolate porter beers that went great with the pecan pie, and a small bottle of ruby port (!). The company, food and libations were all quite enjoyable, so much so that I lost track of time and was a little late for an 11:00pm Zoom meeting that my sister Sharon and I had planned with family! It was nice to see everyone and catch up. The dishes would have to wait another day, I was ready to hit the sheets after logging off.
Here’s a short “Memory” video I put together on my iPhone with some highlights of cooking etc. (here’s the YouTube link if the embedding doesn’t work: https://youtu.be/_khHFkP4m78)
I was slow moving this morning, but I had scheduled my weekly SuperValu grocery delivery slot of 10:30-12:30, so I had to be up and ready for that. Mercifully, it didn’t arrive until around 11:45am. The delivery person was one of the guys I’ve had before, friendly enough but not my favorite one. I placed a smaller order this week, given all the leftovers I have taking up space in the fridge.
Speaking of leftovers, earlier in the week I had invited my new friend D over for lunch this afternoon. I pushed it back until 2:00pm to give me more time to wash up the Thanksgiving dishes, shower, etc. The later time worked well for him, as his new roommate was moving in today. D showed up with a bottle of wine (which I saved for later), some desserts, and even some extra Christmas ornaments for the artificial tree I had ordered. I served up some of the leftover chicken enchilada casserole and mexican-style slaw from earlier in the week. If anything, both dishes tasted even better after sitting in the fridge for a few days. After lunch, I enlisted D’s help in setting up the tree and stringing lights in the windows of the living room and kitchen. I chose a small, narrow tree that fits just right in the corner of the living room set on top of a box covered in a checkered Christmas tree skirt. The window lights are plain white LEDs, a little boring and not quite as warm as traditional Christmas lights, but they work well enough. I even ordered some smart outlet plugs so that I can control the lights through my phone or Alexa.
Inside view:
Outside view:
I’m looking forward to relaxing with some TV for the rest of the evening.
Until next time…
