I think I’m in full-scale cookie denial at the moment, and a little tired out from Thanksgiving.
There’s one cookie kind (the Joy of Cooking Lebkuchen, German honey & spice bars) in the vestibule, where I store cookies, and where I am at the mercy of the weather for refrigeration. So, I could say I’m in protest over the weather – it’s been seasonally cold for a few weeks, but yesterday – Black Friday – broke all kinds of records for warmth. In Madison WI the high was 64°. I could, and in fact, do, take it as a personal insult that as soon as I announce cookie season, it gets warm.
I stayed up and made the jam cookie dough on Monday, thinking I’d get a jump on things. Wednesday, the first day I thought I’d bake them, I was too tired when we got back from Chicago. Thursday was Thanksgiving, and we ran the Berbee Derby in the morning, and I shopped and did prep for our Black Friday Thanksgiving the rest of the day, so no jam cookie baking.
What did we have for Thanksgiving? Well, a slightly smaller crowd than last year. We were supposed to have 17 – last year we had 20 – but Al & Emma couldn’t make it, so 15. The menu was pretty similar though – I could copy last year’s and edit.
Apps –
• Goat cheese & leek confit & baguette – there’s enough leek confit left, plus a pint of cream, that I’m going to make leek tart, and freeze it for the cookie party
• Chex mix
• A couple of cheeses; WI blue and two Goudas, one with fenugreek, and one with chilies
• Hard squash hummus – very orange, with hot oil drizzled on top, and crackers and pretzel thins
Pickley carrots
• A few slices of salami
I was going to make corn salsa, but didn’t get around to that either. I made a tray of bacon dates, but those are getting frozen for the cookie party, too.
Mains –
• Cranberry sauce – jelled and whole berry
• Sweet potatoes, with a coffee, maple, and Bourbon sauce. They were good, but next year I’m going back to my Brulee’d Sweet Potatoes with Chipotle, Lime, & Cinnamon.
• Mashed potatoes, and the gravy was nicely brown and tasty, because I used some cider as well as white wine to drunk the bird – what my kids called dumping wine over the turkey, after it’d been in a very hot oven until it smoked up the place, before sealing it up in foil, and lowering the heat, and leaving it in the oven for hours to cook
• Roasted Brussels sprouts & parsnips – (verbatim from last year) I did what you’re supposed to do to make Brussels sprouts haters like them – I charred them until the insides were almost creamy and the outsides were crisp. And the parsnips were sweet. The only new part is that I drizzled them with balsamic and flakey salt after they came out of the oven.
• Green cauliflower and Romanesco gratin – it’s a Cook’s Illustrated recipe, but they have it behind a pay wall.
• Turkey with chestnut and parsley, sage, rosemary (all fresh), and thyme (dried) stuffing. The turkey looked a little grey and spotty when raw, but cooked up just fine. It had a HUGE neck – I just finished de-boning it after straining the broth made from the neck and rest of the carcass.
• Pumpkin chiffon honey pie with a graham cracker crust, frosted with whipped cream. No mousse-ettes on the side – I always say I’m just going to make a single batch of pumpkin mousse, and this year I finally did it. I was sad after though, it seemed like such a small amount, but there were 3-4 good size pieces left. I had one for breakfast on Saturday.
• Cherry-pear pie with an almond lattice – my regular pie dough with 2/3 almond flour, extra sugar, and egg yolk. And almond extract. It was a little runny in the middle; my guests were teasing me because I worried on Instagram. Shoulda remembered Julia’s “never apologize”.
• Apple crisp
Here’re the pictures:
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I’m plotting what to do with various turkey leftovers. I’ve made the broth. I think shepherd’s pie with some of the meat & gravy & mashed potatoes. The whole berry cranberry sauce will be sauce for the cookie party meatballs. And we’ll have corn salsa & chips tomorrow for the Packer game.
I went shopping for all the cookie ingredients and I sent the cookies save the date, so I guess I haven’t been tooo slothful, or cookie-neglectful …. not to mention cleaning and putting away all the Thanksgiving dishes & linens. Tomorrow I’ll get the jam cookies baked. For sure. But first I’m making these.