My menu

[norinew]

@Litoris

Stuffing should have nothing in it that resembles meat (that means eggs or oysters!) in my world. I barely tolerate fruit, lol.

While I will concede that clams, in any form, are nasty and have no place in stuffing, I always add a couple of raw eggs to my stuffing recipe, because in our family we prefer our stuffing “solid” as opposed to “fluffy”. Also, browned, crumbled sausage in stuffing is yummy!

[FaerieBeth]

@Litoris

Speaking of brining – there are a lot of you guys that are brining. Seriously, having done both, may I suggest that one year you try the Martha Stewart turkey recipe? IM(never very)HO, it works much better. Just curious if you all have tried other options and decided you like the brining better? Ok, off to work, I go.

Though I am a big fan of Martha, I have to say I rely more on her for decorating/entertaining ideas and tips. I keep all my copies of *Living *on the shelf with my cookbooks, organized by holiday or event. When it comes to the actual science of the cooking, I’ll go with Alton. Hands down. The man has never led me wrong. I have often made a Martha recipe, and wondered what I must of done wrong or maybe it just wasn’t to my taste. I use Alton’s recipes and the result is usually, “Oh my god, that’s good.”
That being said, the Pomegrante glazed Turkey in December’s issue of Living has intrigued me, and I feel that I will likely test it out on a non-holiday weekend. Plus my son has declared that we will make this cake for the Christmas celebration. So be it. It does sound pretty good.

[Litoris]

Ok, I have been looking for this link about brining.

For example, although brining the turkey is now part of the Thanksgiving ritual for many cooks, Mr. McGee does not do it. “The bird does become juicier, but it’s just absorbing tap water, not the true juices that make a bird flavorful,” he said. “And the drippings become so salty that you can’t use them.” He says that his own experiments with turkey, though far from complete, show that drying the bird out, rather than infusing it with water, is more likely to make it flavorful and juicy with crisp skin. He unwraps his turkey a day or two before cooking, letting it air-dry in the refrigerator, and then cooks it at high temperature.

I found it interesting. Anywho. Tom is in the oven now with his mead & butter soaked cheesecloth coat. The gingered yams (so, I changed the recipe a bit) are on the table, to be re-heated right before we eat them. Potatoes are brining. Since I ran out of butter, and had to run to the store, we now have boiled custard for later tonight. How’s your menu coming?

[Rachael_Rage]

Green salad with pine nuts, dried cranberries and champagne dressing (we are going to a friend’s and this is my contribution).

I couldn’t find girard’s champagne vinaigrette so I got the best champagne vinegar and olive oil I could find and mixed some up myself. I hope it’s OK!

[Stonebow]

@Litoris

Ok, I have been looking for this link about brining.
I found it interesting.

That is an interesting read. I don’t think I’ll ever live to have that much time to devote to a pie crust! :eek: I’ll stick with my grandma’s recipe for now.
As far as menu progress, the chocolate karo pecan pie is almost ready to come out of the oven. At that point the oven gets cranked up to get ready for the pumpkin pie, then the Turkey. My Sous Chef (my oldest son) is currently working on the munchies.
Oh! There’s the timer alarm!
Gotta go!

[FaerieBeth]

sigh That was me above. I hate this laptop.

[LiveOnAPlane]

Thanks, Litoris!

[UntouchedTakeaway]

Roasted turkey breast
roasted acorn squash soup

garlic/sage/cornbread/sausage/wild rice stuffing

bourbon sweet potato souffle

cranberry relish (fresh cranberries, red onion, oranges, celery, mint, jalapeno & pecans)

fresh green beans

biscuits

pumpkin custard pie

VCNJ~

[supervenusfreak]

It was just four of us here today, Jayjay, myself, my mother and brother, so I went with the big holiday dinner basics. Since we are also working on losing weight, I tried to cut out the fat and carbs wherever possible. (Blasphemy I know but I do feel okay about the substitutions.)

Skinless roasted turkey (I brined it too ala Alton)
his italian stuffing
my bread stuffing
Cope’s baked corn supreme
Mashed garlic red taters
fresh cranberry sauce
fresh creamed sweet corn
peas

and for dessert, a baked pumpkin custard with cool whip.

I feel a turkey nap coming on…

[Little_Nemo]

I was at work. We ordered a bunch of Boston Market roast chicken with mashed potatos, macaroni & cheese, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, corn, green beans (I wanted cole slaw but they were out), a couple of apple pies and a strawberry cake.