Thanksgiving

[ismo]

Strangely enough, it seems to take just as much time to cook multiple dishes for just two people as it does for a whole tableful. But I feel happy because I haven't completely lost my cooking chops. A big part of cooking is being able to envision everything that has to happen and how it all fits together. If you can't get that pattern going in your head, you'll just be stuck. Kind of like with writing . . . . I made pie crust before changing out of my pjs, and let it chill on the back porch while I quickly showered and dressed. Then I rolled it out, made the pumpkin filling, and got it in the oven. By then it was time to make stuffing and prepare the five-pound chicken that we cooked in lieu of a turkey. I used a lot of sage, marjoram, and fennel from my garden too, and rubbed the chicken with olive oil, a dash of soy sauce, and some honey, and then more dried herbs. After that I moved on to a green bean casserole and a creamed corn casserole, and roasting the fennel roots so I could put them in the fennel and beet salad. That was supposed to have arugula as a base, but there wasn't any arugula, so I just used some nice butter lettuce. The fennel wasn't as flavorful as I'd anticipated. It was more like parsnip. But good. I added toasted walnuts and goat cheese as well. I made the mashed potatoes and gravy after taking the chicken out to rest before carving. I almost forgot the cranberry sauce, but not quite. It wasn't quite jelled by dinner time, but good enough. It's fast to describe, but it took HOURS. My Fitbit says I got nearly 7000 steps, just around my kitchen.

This was the first time I've eaten a complete dinner in at least a week. Maybe two weeks. It seemed very tiring, but delicious. We made a tiny little dent in each dish! We'll be having Thanksgiving all week--but this is good, because now I won't have to cook and can focus on getting ready for the wedding. It was kind of a funny Mr. Flood's Party kind of Thanksgiving. But I didn't feel lonely. Texting with lots of dear though not near people, and a Zoom with the Diva after dinner somehow made me feel we were still connected. And we're looking forward to seeing so much family in just a week! All in all, a pretty good day.

Comments

[oracne]

That all sounds EXCELLENT. Happy Thanksgiving!

I made filet mignon, oven potatoes, creamed spinach, cranberry sauce, and chess pie.