Friday, November 27, 2009

A Lovely Day of Thanks

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with our neighbors, yesterday. The turkey came out perfectly!


Our menu consisted of herb roasted turkey, spiral-cut smoked ham, cranberry orange salad (sister-in-law Debra's recipe), my mom's recipes for broccoli waldorf salad and peas with mushrooms, onions, and bacon, my mother-in-law's recipe for sweet potato casserole, and my recipe for garlic and fresh basil smashed potatoes.

Husband, Erv, made me a piece of salmon, since I do not eat meat. It was awesome! He marinated it in olive oil and spices, then gilled it. Oh, was it good! Our neighbor, Todd, made a delicious cabbage dish from his Cajun background that I've never heard of, and it was the perfect addition. Since we've deemed him "King of the Roux", he made our turkey gravy. We also tried frozen rolls for the first time, by a local entrepreneur: Sister Schubert's Clover Leaf style dinner rolls, and they were as good as homemade. My mom makes rolls similar to these, that was my grandmother's recipe (I really should try to make them one day!).

The broccoli waldorf salad never made it out of the refrigerator. There always seems to be something that doesn't make it to the table, each year. It's a flavorful salad made with broccoli florets, diced apple, raisins, pecans, and a dressing made from canola oil, balsamic vinegar, and sugar. I usually give it a quick swirl of olive oil, too, for a bit of extra flavor.

Dessert consisted of my grandmother's recipe for homemade pumpkin pie (I made 2 on Wednesday night), and a pecan pie, and an apple pie. We topped it all off with French roast coffee and Frangelico.

Hope you had a lovely day, too!