Steaming up the windows…

My dad is coming down for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, so I’m cooking away. It’s just the two of us–I’m on a very restricted diet, he should be, is a picky eater anyway and says he can’t eat much at one time, so I’m making very small amounts of everything. I found the smallest turkey I have ever seen, 8.53 pounds! The label says it’s a turkey, and it looks like one, but, goodness. That works for me, though, since I eat very little meat and dad is flying to Chicago Friday morning. I won’t even be sending leftovers home with him. Aside from the amounts, however, I’m not stinting on style. 🙂 So far, I’ve made:

  • homemade jellied cranberry sauce, starting with a bag of cranberries
  • a two-thirds reduced stock for the gravy and other odds and ends, made from the neck, giblets, onion, celery and a bit of seasoning (hence the steam on the windows, I started with three quarts and ended with one)
  • one small fresh yam, cooked and decked out in a sauce of honey, fresh ginger root, butter, a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg, and a dab of molasses to give it a “brown sugar” taste
  • peas and carrots with a little butter and fresh ground black pepper
  • stuffing, for dad. I can’t eat it and he only likes the “outside” kind, so I’m not stuffing the bird. I made this with leftover dinner rolls I scored after the church Holiday Supper I helped out with. It’s just got onion, celery, butter, plenty of poultry seasoning and a little of the stock, and I’ll bake it uncovered so it gets a nice crust on top, which dad likes.
  • mince filling. Dad loves mince pie, he says it’s his favorite. He hardly ever gets it because most people don’t like it, and at all the family dinners people just made the usual pies–pumpkin, apple, etc. I like mince okay. I got the Nonesuch mince in the little box that you have to “reconstitute.” I checked the label and it doesn’t have anything I can’t eat (which is amazing). I spiffed it up a little with some chopped dates, fresh apple and fresh ginger root. I’m making butter pastry and doing a couple of little “mince tarts” for dad because I can’t eat the pastry unless it’s 100% whole wheat, and dad hates whole wheat. So dad gets his mince tarts and I’ll have mince filling with ice cream.

I still need to bake the mince tarts, and peel potatoes to have in the fridge in a pan of water for mashed potatoes tomorrow (two potatoes will do it). Tomorrow I’ll just need to cook the turkey and potatoes and make gravy and we’ll be all set. I need to finish cleaning the house, too! And now the cutting board is dry so I better get to that pastry.

Anyone have nowhere to go for dinner tomorrow? Come on over. I’ll make more. 🙂

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