This post is long-overdue. I set up this site nearly 10 years ago with hopes of sharing my kitchen creations often. It’s all too easy to get distracted or complacent and certain things go to the wayside. Lately, however, I’m finding it more and more difficult to ignore this ambition to write. To make things and share about them in a space that’s my own.
I spend a lot of time in my kitchen and in my home doing homemaking things. I mostly enjoy the process, however there are days when it feels like work I cannot escape. Depending on the day, I may enjoy something thoroughly or feel a complete sense of drudgery. I suppose my hope is that writing might help me to rekindle some of the magic I used to feel more of.
Thanksgiving has sort of become a more solitary holiday by default over the years. The time of year as it relates to my work is hectic and for many years I was often in my car traveling all over the western part of the state leading up to and after the holiday. In more recent years, I don’t have the travel to contend with thankfully, but the workload can still be a lot. Anymore I look forward to the prospect of 4 days in a row where I’m able to leave it behind. And honestly I look forward to spending time in my kitchen. For the most part, that room of our home is my respite and where I’m most comfortable. You’ll often find me standing at the sink, filling it with warm soapy water and looking out the window to see a squirrel scurrying up a tree.
This year was no different but for the lack of preparation leading up to the day. I feel silly admitting my dread because really who cares when it’s just me and Scott. I do.
I managed to leave the office on Wednesday at 12:30 and ran to 4 different places before heading home to put groceries away and clean house before heading to church service.
I had Monday and Tuesday off, but Monday was spend in the car on the way home from a lovely time in Spokane for our nephew’s wedding. Tuesday disappeared with work that needed immediate attention and menu planning. Seems the older I get, the more time it takes to make a plan. Mostly I feel like I lack the ability to focus on one thing at a time. Maybe that’s my perimenopausal brain at work. Ha!
Does anyone relate? Wednesday night I found myself worrying about when I would get the chance to wash my dirty hair. Well, that didn’t happen until Friday evening. What can I say. This is real life.
Thursday morning, I walked into the kitchen at 8:30 and basically back out at 9 pm. We ate about 6:00 in front of the TV, watching The Holdovers, and I couldn’t have been happier to finally be off my feet.
Suffice it to say, I managed an entire Thanksgiving dinner, mostly from scratch, in a matter of 9 hours, give or take.
I realized on Wednesday afternoon as I pulled on to the interstate homebound that I’d failed to buy bread for the stuffing I was planning to make. I’d even made a point to go to the bakery first for their infamous potato rolls because that’s one shortcut I’ll gladly admit to. I thought to myself, “I’ll just throw a loaf in the bread machine when I get home. No big deal.” I realize my concept of the time it takes to accomplish certain things is often wildly underestimated. Anyone else? I managed to get the groceries put away and house cleaned and bread ingredients in the machine by 5:00. We left for church at 6 pm and didn’t get home until 8. Typical Wednesday evening. We were both hungry so I made sandwiches and we watched some TV and went to bed. I’d had high hopes of making pie crust or cranberry sauce that night, but I had no desire to make a mess in my kitchen at 8:30. I brain-dumped my thoughts into a “note” on my phone and slept hard. I’m always so thankful when I sleep through the night as that has become something rare in recent years.
Magnesium, Melatonin and Progesterone seem to be a reliable cocktail some of the time.
Thursday morning, I started with the bread for the stuffing: cubed and onto a parchment-lined sheet tray and into the oven at 350 for I don’t know, 20 minutes or more. Until it smelled toasty. Might have been more like 30 minutes.
Next, I tackled the pie crust. I’ve come to rely on the Sourdough Pie crust recipe from Cultured Guru and I absolutely adore her Pecan pie recipe, but Scott wanted Apple Pie this year. Me? I find Apple pie to be just okay. Well, I take that back. My mom and I made a pretty spectacular one in 2018 when she came and spent Thanksgiving with us; a really sweet memory for me.
Anyway, because the crust recipe I was using only made enough for the bottom crust, I decided it would be a Dutch Apple Pie. I found a recipe that called for cooking the apples and reducing the leftover juices with cream. This turned out to be a learning experience. I used my sort of handy peeler, slicer, corer tool and peeled, sliced and cored 4 Granny Smiths and 3 Honeycrisps. Once cooked, I realized they wouldn’t completely fill the crust to the top, so I supplemented with a #bonnemaman Apple Pie filling I had been hanging onto for such an occasion as this. There was barely any juice from the strained, cooked apples and in my opinion not nearly enough cinnamon called for in the recipe. I poured the thimble of juice into a tiny saucepan and added the heavy cream. It barely took any time at all and the cream had thickened to almost a sour cream consistency. I contemplated not using it, but in the end I went with it. Another flaw in the recipe I chose was the baking time: 20 minutes. Not nearly enough time. In total I probably baked it for an hour, even after having blind-baked the crust before filling. The pie turned out to be very nice and Scott liked it fine, but we both agreed it’s not a recipe I’ll repeat in the future.
Next up: Cranberry sauce and cocktail syrup. As if I hadn’t piled on enough already, yes I decided I needed to make a special cocktail complete with a homemade syrup.
I adapted the recipe from a reel I found on Instagram. Spiced Pear cocktail that blends pear juice with vodka or gin, a spiced simple syrup, lemon juice and prosecco. I opted instead to make a non-alcoholic version using Töst. Töst has long been my standby N/A “champagne.” I bought a case of it from Food52 years ago and still have a couple of bottles in our beverage fridge in the garage. I can buy it locally now, but back then (circa 2017), it had to be mail ordered. Fancy!
The syrup was a mixture of water/sugar and fresh rosemary sprigs, a cinnamon stick, a good amount of fresh ginger and a few whole cloves. It’s punchy and fresh and definitely something I’ll make again. It made the typical 12 ounces or so, so we definitely can experiment with it in other drinks.
The Cranberry sauce was a new to me recipe this year as well. Again, I typically opt for Cultured Guru’s semi-fermented recipe with kombucha, but I didn’t have the time.
I’m happy to report the new recipe was definitely on par and I’ll likely make it again. Maybe even a mash-up of the two. I made it my own slightly by using Uncle Matt’s Defence Orange Juice in place of fresh orange juice because I love the blend of ginger and pineapple and spices. The recipe also called for cardamom pods, but I opted for decorticated instead. Next time, I’d use a small amount of ground cardamom. Still really spicy and such a great addition to cut through all the heavy savory food on our plates.
I adapted an Ina Garten stuffing recipe for a boneless turkey breast roulade as follows:
The Recipe: Leek & Sausage Stuffing
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup cognac
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup butter
1 large leek, rinsed well and sliced thinly (white and light green parts)
3 stailks celery, chopped
3/4 # sausage (mixture of hot and mild Italian), casings removed
1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped
3 cups cubed bread, day old or toasted
1 1/2 cups chicken or turkey bone broth
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp sea salt, more to taste
1/2 tsp cracked pepper
2-3 tsp Poultry Seasoning, to taste
To Make:
In a small saucepan, add the dried fruit, water and cognac and bring to a low simmer, until the fruit is plumped up. About 5 minutes. Turn off the heat. In a large saute pan, melt the butter over medium heat and add the sliced leeks and celery. Saute until soft but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add in sausage and brown, breaking up. Once the sausage is browned through, add in the chopped rosemary and toasted pecans. Stir through and remove from the heat. Add in the fruit with it’s liquid, stirring again to combine.
To a large bowl add the cubed bread, leek mixture, poultry stock and the egg. Sprinkle over the salt, pepper and poultry seasoning and fold the ingredients together until well incorporated. Pinch off a small amount to taste and adjust for seasonings. Wait to add the egg if that bothers you.
Note: My mom always told me you can’t go wrong with adding more poultry seasoning. A trick she learned from my Dad’s mom. In my opinion, she’s not wrong.
The stuffing mixture is then spread over a boneless turkey breast (about 5-6 lbs.) that has been butterflied and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Don’t spread too thick, about 1/2 inch. Then roll and tie the breast with butcher’s string. Rub soft butter over the outside and season with salt and pepper. Roast the stuffed turkey breast at 325 for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until a thermometer registers 150. The recommendation was to roast on a rack over a sheet pan. Next time, I think I would use my actual roasting pan and rack and keep some stock in the bottom of the pan to add a little moisture.
The remaining bread dressing can be spread into a greased baking dish and baked at 325 for 45 minutes.
Why share all these tiny little details? I honestly don’t know. In some ways, I think it helps me to make sense of the day; the time spent. There were many moments throughout the day where I felt present and thankful and in my element. Listening to a Vintage Thanksgiving playlist on Spotify and just genuinely enjoying the process and the way the light shifted outside as morning turned into afternoon and then late afternoon and evening. However, by sundown when the turkey was out of the oven and the gravy finished and I realized my peeled potatoes were still downstairs in the fridge, I felt a little like giving up.
Instant Pot to the rescue. In with the potatoes and some turkey broth and 10 minutes later, Scott was adding butter and cream and mashing away.
We had a really nice meal and the clean up was super easy. As the song goes, “I’ve Got Plenty To Be Thankful For.”
(Don’t mind the terrible lighting in my photos; those definitely need some work)
oh sarah 