I think I’m in full-scale cookie denial at the moment, and a little tired out from Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n
There’s one cookie kind (the Joy of Cooking<\/u> 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\u00b0. I could, and in fact, do, take it as a personal insult that as soon as I announce cookie season, it gets warm.<\/p>\n
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\u00a0Black Friday Thanksgiving the rest of the day, so no jam cookie baking.<\/p>\n
What did we have for Thanksgiving? Well, a slightly smaller crowd than last year<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n Apps \u2013 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.<\/p>\n Mains \u2013 Here’re the pictures:<\/p>\n [portfolio_slideshow pagerpos=disabled size=large]<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Goat cheese & leek confit & baguette \u2013 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
\n\u2022 Chex mix
\n\u2022 A couple of cheeses; WI blue and two Goudas, one with fenugreek, and one with chilies
\n\u2022 Hard squash hummus \u2013 very orange, with hot oil drizzled on top, and crackers and pretzel thins
\nPickley carrots<\/a>
\n\u2022 A few slices of salami<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Cranberry sauce \u2013 jelled and whole berry
\n\u2022 Sweet potatoes, with a coffee, maple, and Bourbon sauce. They were good, but next year I’m going back to my Brulee\u2019d Sweet Potatoes with Chipotle, Lime, & Cinnamon<\/a>.
\n\u2022 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
\n\u2022 Roasted Brussels sprouts & parsnips \u2013 (verbatim from last year) I did what you\u2019re supposed to do to make Brussels sprouts haters like them \u2013 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.
\n\u2022 Green cauliflower and Romanesco gratin<\/a> – it’s a Cook’s Illustrated<\/em> recipe, but they have it behind a pay wall.
\n\u2022 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.
\n\u2022 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<\/a>, 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.
\n\u2022 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<\/a>. Shoulda remembered Julia’s “never apologize”<\/a>.
\n\u2022 Apple crisp<\/a><\/p>\n