Turkey Delight

Yes, my Thanksgiving entry is very late and sans pics! However, a very good friend has loaned me her digital camera, so things should be improving in this blog! I took the entire Thanksgiving week off and I still didn’t eat before 5 pm. I tell my guests to make my house the last stop of the day. I figure that by the time people are ready for round two after their first naps, my food will be ready. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Hello -- it’s dedicated to food, cooking, friends and family. The highlight of the meal is a 10-20 pound bird?!!! I’m all over this. The good … I made excellent sweet potato and apple-cranberry pies! Even the crust was from scratch. My piecrust struggles are over. Pulling a pretty baked good from the oven gives you such a sense of accomplishment. Now of course I made these the Friday after Thanksgiving, but that’s another story … The turkey and dressing were slamming! I think dressing may be one of my favorite foods on earth. Apples, celery and onion … what’s not to love? I used extra apples this year. I love the way the mixture scents the house as you sauté. I used homemade cornbread and turkey stock this year. Our family recipe also includes Pepperidge Farm bread cubes. It was a very tasty side. Sautéed greens – man how I love sautéed collard greens! Par boil your greens and wring them out before adding them to the oil. My friend didn’t believe we could have greens cooked in 30 minutes, so I made a believer out of her by letting her make them. They were yummy and now I have a convert! Corn pudding – I remember my aunt making corn pudding once when I was younger and I liked it. This recipe had delicate custard. It was very good. The bad … Sweet potato gnocchi – I wonder if I like gnocchi at all. I thought I did. Anyway, my goal for Thanksgiving this year was to make put a twist on the traditional sides (except for the dressing). Instead of candied yams, I wanted to try sweet potato gnocchi because I saw the recipe on the Food Network. I had problems putting the ridges on the dough. I’m not even sure the dough was the right consistency. When I tasted my test batch, it was just okay, nothing stellar. This may have been completely due to user error. I ended up just eating the roasted potatoes. I’ll make another attempt soon. Chocolate Cake – this is the same cake I tried to make for my best friend in July. It was still hard. My problem is that I end up letting the cake sit out too long before I make the icing, so the cake dries out. The icing is also temperature specific. It is delicious, but must be kept at 70 degrees. That is so difficult! It was a cake that was not meant to be, but I kept trying. I made it at the request of a friend who ended up not coming Thanksgiving Day. I threw out those layers and made new ones and iced them the next day. I kept in the fridge for a day. Took it out the next morning and broke my cake dome. Then I ended up slicing and freezing the entire cake. I served it last night and only two people wanted chocolate cake. I threw it away this morning. That was a really expensive cake. All in all? Not too bad. My friend hooked up some mulled cider and cognac. It was a very good day. Menu

• Turkey
• Dressing
• Corn Pudding
• Sautéed Greens
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes
• Apple-Cranberry Pie
• Sweet Potato Pie
• Rolls