Thanksgiving Dinner - Your Menu?

[Somebunny]

Just the two of us today DH picked up a small 11 lb. turkey a couple of days ago, it has been thawing in the fridge. We will have stuffing/dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and the dreaded Brussels sprouts sautéd with garlic, mushrooms and bacon. I am making a small dish of brandied sweet potato/yams with pecans for me. (DH won't eat them) also doing a small dish of fresh cranberry sauce ( already have some homemade "cooked" cranberry sauce in the fridge). Let's see what else?? Buns, pickles, olives and Pie! That should do it. Oh yes a lovely glass or too of wine.

 

[ModernCat]

Actually, you seem to be missing one vital piece of information: what time do we all show up at your house this Thursday?

Welcome to DC ModernCat! Good luck with dinner. Be sure to let us know it all turned out perfectly. Even if it isn't, it's still perfect if you enjoyed the company.

Cooking Goddess: I had tons of food, I could have accommodated extra people Well I can say I didn't burn anything. My major mistakes were covered up.
1- TURKEY: I should have removed the turkey pop up timer before I brined the turkey. It didn't pop up so it was cooked longer then it should have but the brine saved it from being dry even though I think breast meat is always dry
2- STUFFING: I forgot a lot of spices and 1/2 the liquid to the stuffing. I remembered the dry ingredients after I put the stuffing in the oven, so I pulled it out to add and mix. Then after the first cooking was done I realized I didn't add all the chicken stock. So I added that in for the second cooking the next day
3- PECAN PIE: I forgot to add the eggs to the pecan pie after I put it in the oven. I pulled it out and scooped it out (braking the crush - oh well) and added the eggs and returned to oven, broken bottom (homemade) crush and all. Both my pie crust came out UGLY!! I am buying it next time

Everything else came out great without forgetting anything else (ingredient wise). The homemade dough for the baked brie came out perfect wish I took a photo. My homemade cranberry sauce with port came out great (fiance request that on Thanksgiving day so he had to go out and buy the C-berries and stir it for 25 minutes) Oh did I mentioned my gravy came out of a box from TJ? I just added the basting I used on the turkey. The turkey did not give any juice during the cooking so I had back up.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

MC, it sounds like you did good all-in-all. And there's a good chance you won't forget spices or broth in stuffing, or eggs in pie again! One year I picked on my Mom for forgetting sugar in the pumpkin pie and told her I'd make it next time. You guessed it...I forgot the sugar! Since then (about 20 years now) whenever I make anything with a goodly number of ingredients I take them all out, measure them into prep bowls, and set each spice/herb aside as I measure it out. More clean-up, but no "oops"!

 

[GotGarlic]

Nice job, ModernCat. It can be tough to make a multi-course meal the first time, especially since there are usually a lot of people around distracting you

Are you familiar with the term mise en place? It's French for "everything in its place" and refers to having all your ingredients out and prepped before beginning to cook. I line up my ingredients in the order I will need them and move them from left to right as I use them. Some people tape their recipes to cabinets or the stove hood so they're in easy view for double-checking.

You'll do better next time, and better yet the time after that.

 

[ModernCat]

MC, it sounds like you did good all-in-all. And there's a good chance you won't forget spices or broth in stuffing, or eggs in pie again! One year I picked on my Mom for forgetting sugar in the pumpkin pie and told her I'd make it next time. You guessed it...I forgot the sugar! Since then (about 20 years now) whenever I make anything with a goodly number of ingredients I take them all out, measure them into prep bowls, and set each spice/herb aside as I measure it out. More clean-up, but no "oops"!

Cooking Goddess, I am embarrassed to say I had all the ingredients measured out in little containers ready to go. The eggs were behind the dishcloth and something was on one of the cans of chicken broth. I have no excuse about all the spices in front of me. They were there, I guess my fiance distracted me for seeing all those spices I spend hours prepping. But with your experience I hope not to forget after forgetting once. LOL Thanks for believing. I won't ask how the pie tasted without sugar.

 

[pacanis]

Did I miss Jessica Morris', the OP's, dinner?

 

[Cooking Goddess]

....I won't ask how the pie tasted without sugar.

It's amazing the magic a large can of whipped cream can work.

 

[bakechef]

Cooking Goddess: I had tons of food, I could have accommodated extra people Well I can say I didn't burn anything. My major mistakes were covered up.
1- TURKEY: I should have removed the turkey pop up timer before I brined the turkey. It didn't pop up so it was cooked longer then it should have but the brine saved it from being dry even though I think breast meat is always dry
2- STUFFING: I forgot a lot of spices and 1/2 the liquid to the stuffing. I remembered the dry ingredients after I put the stuffing in the oven, so I pulled it out to add and mix. Then after the first cooking was done I realized I didn't add all the chicken stock. So I added that in for the second cooking the next day
3- PECAN PIE: I forgot to add the eggs to the pecan pie after I put it in the oven. I pulled it out and scooped it out (braking the crush - oh well) and added the eggs and returned to oven, broken bottom (homemade) crush and all. Both my pie crust came out UGLY!! I am buying it next time

Everything else came out great without forgetting anything else (ingredient wise). The homemade dough for the baked brie came out perfect wish I took a photo. My homemade cranberry sauce with port came out great (fiance request that on Thanksgiving day so he had to go out and buy the C-berries and stir it for 25 minutes) Oh did I mentioned my gravy came out of a box from TJ? I just added the basting I used on the turkey. The turkey did not give any juice during the cooking so I had back up.

I forgot the eggs in my pumpkin pie, I had to dump the filling back in the bowl, add the eggs, make and roll out a new crust, but the pie was saved!

 

[GotGarlic]

I forgot the eggs in my pumpkin pie, I had to dump the filling back in the bowl, add the eggs, make and roll out a new crust, but the pie was saved!

Even an experienced baker has an OOPS once in a while! Did I mention I overbaked my yeast rolls? For some reason, I set the timer for 30 minutes instead of 20. Still good but very brown and a bit dry. Nothing a little extra butter won't fix!

 

[ModernCat]

I forgot the eggs in my pumpkin pie, I had to dump the filling back in the bowl, add the eggs, make and roll out a new crust, but the pie was saved!

I think I would have rolled out another crust as I had enough to make another but it was the pecan pie and I don't eat pecan pie so I didn't mind if it looked bad lol but if it was my pumpkin pie, I would have taken the time to make another crust.