Thanksgiving dinner

This year, I really wanted to do something other than turkey.

Don’t get me wrong – I think turkey is phenomenal and wish that I made it more frequently throughout the year – but after years of Thanksgivings and Christmases turkey-centric meals, I really wanted a change.  I also wanted something modern, because I tend to always rely on comfort food classics and the usual suspects.

The other change was that I didn’t spend weeks planning out the sides and thinking about it.

See, my birthday almost always falls on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, so sometimes I’m not entirely sure what night we’re having it until the day before, or sometimes of, so I’ve learned over previous mishaps to go with the flow a little more.

I shopped for fresh vegetables on Monday morning in the neighbourhood and didn’t plan out anything until an hour before I started cooking.

Had I gone completely insane?

Perhaps.

Because the capon was small (2 lbs. boneless), I knew it wouldn’t take too long to cook, so I just kind of winged it and I can’t believe how well it all worked out.

It was the.best.Thanksgiving.dinner.I’ve.ever.made.

Ever.

Menu

Lemon-Sage Roasted Boneless Capon

Trio of Tomato Confit with Mushrooms, Basil & Balsamic

Crisp Organic Green Beans

Baked Potatoes with Green Onions

Stuffing

p.s. I made a Portuguese soup for Thanksgiving Day lunch – kale, kielbasa and black bean. Crazygood.

p.p.s. Usually I think something;’s going to turn out and it doesn’t. This meal completely surprised me. And I couldn’t duplicate it even if you paid me. That drives me crazy, but makes me appreciate the good meals all the more.

Food, glorious food

I finally made it back to the stove.

After a long day of walking the city, I came back to my hood to do a big grocery shop.

Ahh, so nice to have fresh goodies in the house!  But before putting them away, I cleaned out the fridge – ooh, there’s that lovely chicken chili I made last week and the pesto pasta that I thought we finished…

Then I put everything away.  With one small cupboard and one small fridge, this always means that I have to take out the majority of the items before I can make room for everything.

Really, it’s a whole thing.

Two hours after I had come through the door, everything is finally put away and the kitchen looks pristine.

It’s now time to make dinner.  I pull everything out and start the assembly.

My menu for tonight is:

- Roast skinless, boneless chicken breasts stuffed with wild leeks, fresh basil and lemons.

- Boiled new potatoes with olive oil and fresh dill

- Organic kale with garlic and horseradish

- Chopped salad of romaine, yellow peppers, endive and radish

I was tempted to do a big soup as well, but all that chopping and cooking took another hour or so, and I had started on a dessert (yes, I’m trying to learn to bake) that is going to take a couple of days, because you have to let things cool in the fridge in various stages. So despite how tired I was from the whole process, I was very close to just cooking all night.

However, I remembered that there is still tomorrow and Monday is a holiday here, so I may take a couple of hours in the afternoon to do something slow-cooked.

It is so good to be home, cooking again.  I am like an actor who just found out she got the part.

Tonight’s audition: finish the 3-part dessert (it’s a surprise), homemade soup (I think something minestrone-esque) and something from the new Jamie’s America cookbook.

The follow up

The lamb the other night?  Amazing.

Broiled with olive oil, real lemon juice, fresh rosemary, chopped garlic, salt and pepper, it was soft and moist, with a crusty, charred top.  Oh my.

I served it with baked organic sweet potatoes (the brightest orange I’ve ever seen) and chopped collard greens with lemon and garlic.

So, it’s going to be hard to top tonight, I’m afraid.  I mean, how do you follow something like that?  With something that was so simple and yet so good?  It’s like a comedian who has to follow Jerry Seinfeld – good luck!

Well, I’m going to damn well try.

Tonight I’m making a beef curry.  Indian curry with pakoras to start, jasmine rice and assorted veg on the side, and parathas to sop up the sauce.

And if it’s not perfect, that’s okay.  There’s always next time.

It’s only noon, but already I’m swooning at just the mere thought of it.

Uh oh, I think I just drooled on my keyboard.

Super size it

As you know, I don’t bake.

So when I make something dessert-ish, I use a mix.

Recently, I made cornbread for when company was over for dinner.  Normally, I do make this from scratch, but the other stuff I was making was pretty time intensive (top sirloin roast, cabbage soup, layered salad with homemade dressing, sides, etc.) so I went with a mix.

The package instructed me to use 2 cups of the mix, along with water, eggs, and the usual suspects.

After portioning out 2 cups worth, there only remained 1/3 of a cup.  So not only can I not make it again from this package but I’d have to get out the ol’ calculator and figure out how much water, egg (can you do an eighth of an egg?), et al I’d need.

Last night, I make an exceptional quinoa salad (I don’t know how it came out so well or why my meatloaf was “the best ever.” ).

Anyway, I had got it from an organic market so it came in a box with instructions.  Put one cup of quinoa with 2 cups of water…

It left me with less than 1/2 cup of quinoa left!

Argh.

Same with my wild rice.  I always have to buy another package before I can use the last bit up.

I know companies have to adhere to weights and sizes and such, but if you can’t just do one or two servings, don’t do it at all.  I’ve got 2 small shelves in which to keep my pantry stocked.  I don’t have room for 2 boxes or bags of one thing.

I’ve got to wait before making more cornbread or quinoa, which means I’m less likely to make it.

We buy our eggs 18 at a time, so there’s no chance of running out (with all this cooking I’m doing, you wouldn’t believe how quickly they go).

I’d buy these mixes any bigger if they made ‘em, but then, where would I keep them?

All I’m asking for is enough to make it once or twice, not something nasty in between.

Can you imagine if nail polish came only enough to do your nails one and a half times?

‘Nuff said.