A Tale of Two Kitchens: Food of the Pilgrim's Pride

Cook 1

For me, Thanksgiving is all about pride. It's important to take a moment to recognize that we have all earned this day off - this day to relax and feast and drink and forget about work. I'm glad to have a day to take pride in my family, in my freedom as an American and in the delicious food that I helped prepare. Mostly, I'm proud that we are all still here, celebrating our perseverance, so many days after the Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving. Despite the wars, the economy, and the nagging fear that yes, humans really are that terrible, Americans are still taking a day at the end of November to cook some turkey and eat together.

But all seriousness aside, I am mighty proud of the food that my family and I put together this year. The turkey was brined and boy was it juicy. I used to hate turkey - or maybe I just hated the idea of a bland, brittle and dessicated piece of meat - but this year I changed my mind. Our bird was glossy and bold, as you can see in the picture above, and quite flavorful. My parents get all the credit for the turkey (my mom as chef de cuisine and my dad as the sous chef).
I'm now going to take you through a few highlights of our meal.

First up is a dish with which I have a love/hate relationship. These so-called 'Best Brussels Sprouts' take forever to make because of the intensive prep required (must finely dice carrots and bacon, quarter and core the sprouts, toast the pine nuts, etc.). Yet. YET. These are the finest sprouts in the land and I make them every year. Just fry up in a big skillet, 6 slices of bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces, then throw in the sprouts and minced teaspoon of garlic, the cup of carrots and the half cup of pine nuts and coat with the bacon grease. Let cook with the lid on for 5 or so minutes, until the sprouts are wilted but still green, shaking the pan every so often. Add parsley and voila!

And then there were the sweet potatoes with toasted marshmallows. And uh, I do mean sweet. But if you can't eat dessert during dinner at Thanksgiving, then when can you? I also love how unabashedly American this dish is. It screams, 'I'm here...I'm a formerly healthy vegetable covered in marshmallows...get used to it!'

The next dish is a new-comer to our table this year, but came highly recommended by a friend. Parker House Rolls, which originate from the historic Parker House Hotel in Boston, were easy to make and drew rave reviews. They were plenty buttery, but not overly dense like a brioche, nor overly light like a biscuit. The crumb was yeasty enough to absorb a good amount of gravy and best yet, the rolls were divine spread with some strawberry jam the next morning. I used the Gourmet recipe, found here.

We also had creamed spinach, homemade cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, cornbread and challah stuffing, gravy, mashed turnips and celeriac, and creamed onions and peas. For dessert there was chocolate cake, pumpkin pie, apple pie and pecan pie. I used the Cook's Illustrated vodka crust this year and I will never try another pie crust recipe again. Here's the link to this very trust-worthy recipe.

And with that, I'll turn the cursor over to Cook 2, who will give us a taste of her family's Thanksgiving.

..............................................................................................................................

Cook 2

For me, Thanksgiving is all about family. Don't get me wrong--I love the food but with my sweet tooth I prefer Christmas cookies slathered with icing to the savory traditions of Thanksgiving. So I decided to make my post more of a collection of pictures without any recipes this time.

The big Thanksgiving lover in my family is my brother, David (you'll see his plate later). Last year I hosted my family in New York and when I suggested a non-traditional menu of roasted chicken and updated sides David wouldn't hear of it. So I measured my mini New York oven, my mom bought the smallest turkey she could find, and we had a delicious traditional feast. This year we were all in North Carolina (me, David, his (Canadian) girlfriend Kelley, our cousin Ben, and of course my parents) so my mom whipped up an impressive meal without even breaking a sweat. Remembering the chaos of preparing Thanksgiving dinner last year (even with my mom's help) I can't believe she's able to make it look so effortless!

This year I was very lucky and got to enjoy 2 Thanksgiving dinners, about 6 hours apart! First I ate with my family around 2, and then I joined my boyfriend's family and his sister's in-laws for dinner around 6. Needless to say I was stuffed and very glad I'd run a 5k that morning! Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera for the 2nd dinner, but it was absolutely beautiful (especially the southern coup de grace--orange jello cool whip salad! It kindof looks like this and tastes amazing). Enjoy the photo montage!