Thanksgiving Aftermath

For Thanksgiving, Significant Eater and I hosted R (of Love at First Shop) and M at Significant Eater's apartment.  This marked the first time I have ever cooked an entire Turkey Day feast, and I must admit that I was pretty nervous about it.  However, it all went off without a hitch aside from me forgetting to bring my camera, hence the lack of quality pictures.

Our turkey, a 14-pounder I purchased from Dickson's Farmstand Meats,  was raised on an Amish farm in Pennsylvania and had been slaughtered the day I purchased it.  Like mine, Significant Eater's oven is pretty tiny and fitting a whole turkey in it was going to be difficult, so I decided to breakdown the bird and cook the white meat and dark meat separately.  I covered the breast in butter and herbs and roasted it and braised the thighs and drumsticks in a well-seasoned broth.  In doing so, I was able to guarantee that both the white meat and dark meat were cooked perfectly.  As an added bonus, the braised legs and roasted breast provided us with a diverse heap of leftovers.

Alongside the turkey, I served an andouille dressing made with challah bread, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, pan-roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon, and gravy.  For dessert, Significant Eater supplied a deliciously gingery pumpkin pie from Two Little Red Hens bakery and M and R (who has a wonderful post-feast write-up of her own) brought along a wonderful array of sweets.  Like any great dinner party, all of this excess was fueled by plenty of wine, which helped me keep my cool while cooking so many courses with limited counter and stovetop space.  

It was a truly awesome Thanksgiving with awesome company.  Once we get through all the leftovers, which should happen in November 2011, I'll be ready to do it all over again.