Thanksgiving Centerpiece

I am thankful for our relaxing day together. It does amaze me how quickly hours of preparation turns into full bellies. Ken, amazing chef, once again cooked everything to perfection. With a gleam in his eye, he took my challenge of eating at a specific time to a precise new level. Perfect.

Earlier in the day, Jessie and I were a pie making machine: she did the filling – I, the crusts. Two pumpkin, one apple and one pecan pie was more than plenty. I missed the trip out to the Root Connection for the big bag of Kale. Sauteed with shallots, it was immensely fresh. Peter was the master of preparing cranberry sauce. It was the basic sauce of simmering fresh cranberries with some sugar and water. Then he added zest and juice from a fresh Satsuma followed by ferreting out cloves and ginger from the spice drawer along with a little salt and pepper – all from someone who doesn’t really take to cranberry sauce all that much. Peter E. gave us two huge bags of corn last summer which we cut off the cob and froze for this meal. It reminded me of my Iowa roots – so sweet. Everyone helped with the clean up so there was a lot to be thankful for in that. Alex was the poker chip hog in the Tripoly game and Jessie and Peter beat it around the Pictionary board  first for the best guesses with almost nothing drawn at all.

Among other things this Thanksgiving, I learned that paying extra for an organic heritage turkey makes a lot of difference as to whether or not people actually like turkey. No comparison in flavor! I also know that roasting 6 organic turkey wings the week before, saving the crispy bits and fat for gravy and dressing saves a lot of time. We covered the wings with water and added an onion & a few carrots and sprigs of fresh thyme to make broth for use in the dressing. We froze the dressing & the crispy fat and used them on the real day. Big time saver…savour. It was well worth the effort of freezing the corn last summer.