So...whats for dinner?
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Thanks everyone!
Only thing I have to do today is the pie for tomorrow
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Happy Birthday, Mommyof2!
Last night's dinner was catfish fillets breaded with seasoned cornmeal and cooked in a 425 degree oven. A WW recipe that I've used many times. Sides were creamed spinach and tossed romaine salad.
Tonight will be Oysters Mosca. I couldn't resist buying another pint of Gulf oysters at $12.99, a Thanksgiving special at Rouse's Supermarkets. DH will pick up a loaf of French bread, a must with this meal.
Our Thanksgiving dinner for two will be chicken and dumplings. I am happy not to be travelling this holiday.
We are back in Phase Two which enrages many in this red state.
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We’ll be cooking at the cabin, hopefully all goes as planned. No oven, so we’re gonna try the turkey ins rotisserie, I’ll use electric burners for mashed potatoes and stuffing, gonna mix up the green bean casserole and try to finish it in the rotisserie and DH added his creamy Brussels sprouts to the menu. Fingers crossed the turkey fits into the rotisserie, back up plan would be to cook it at a neighbors down the mountain and drive it back up.
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illimae - do you have a grill at the cabin? I am fascinated by DD's Traeger - she uses it like an oven, which could totally work for a turkey using indirect heat. She has been pretty successful so far with everything except dessert - too much smoke flavor from the pellets. I gave her the recipes last night for the corn casserole and an app of artichoke dip. Like we need an appetizer, lol!
Trying to decide if I want to start cooking sides today, I made the cranberry sauce yesterday. Because I have a 27" wall oven only figuring out the cooking configuration and timing is a bit of a ballet. I think I will do the two turkey breasts today (I got two because they were not very big and needed sandwich insurance) - I can reheat the sliced meat in broth to keep it moist, and the veggies tomorrow. Will pre-bake the sweet potatoes and prep the sprouts, maybe cook the bacon and onion today. I will definitely do the dressing tomorrow, cooking the onion and celery in butter is what is known as the "Thanksgiving smell" so has to be done on the day, lol!
Does anyone remember those refrigerator muffins made from a box of Raisin Bran cereal? Did I ask this already? You mix it up and keep it in the fridge and scoop and bake as needed? I was trying to think of things I could do for DD so she can have breakfast ready. I made some yesterday and they are pretty good. I cut the recipe in half because I didn't have a clear recollection of whether or not I liked them, or would still like them. I baked six, and ate one with some whipped cream cheese.
Edited to add that I just made chili for tonight. Will use the two leftover small flour tortillas from last night to make a cheese and pickled jalapeno quesadilla to accompany. Normally I would make cornbread with honey butter, but its already a carb fest in my kitchen with multiple loaves of bread for turkey sandwiches and I am making traditional herbed dressing for tomorrow. If this was a normal T-Giv I would also make cornbread and sausage dressing (or the DS recipe for cornbread and chorizo dressing which he included as a contribution in my MIL's 80th b-day cookbook ), so the idea of having chili and cornbread on the Wed. before is one I will remember going forward. Two birds, one stone - my favorite way to cook.
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Hello Everyone
Hope all is well. I need advice on Instapots. I want the pressure cooker and crisping feature. I don't necessarily need the air fryer function as I already have one.
Any ideas? Pros and Cons of certain brands?
Val
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Hi Val! I have nothing to contribute to the IP conversation, but wanted to say hello! I believe there are several people who frequently post who use an IP, so hopefully they will come along!
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Hello Special
so glad to hear from you. you helped me so much on this journey. I am a lurker, but I read all comments. I look forward to hearing from folks on the subject.
Val
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Val - sorry I don't have an instant pot either so can't contribute. But I too wanted to say HI. Check in whenever you can. We're always glad to see you. Hope you and your family have a nice Thanksgiving - together or apart as health issues dictate.
Special - The muffin recipe I have is All Bran and whole wheat flour, and I could eat those muffins every day. I usually add dates to mine instead of raising. Let me know if you want that version. I'm still trying to get my friends recipe. I think she adds zucchini.
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val - I am so glad anything I have said was helpful, it is really good to "see" you!
minus - yes, I am open to any of those types of muffin recipes - my DH might like your All-Bran no raisin version, and if your friend is adding zucchini that is smart - adds moisture and a veggie - win-win! I may try with gluten free flour too.
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Val, I have an Instantpot brand instant pot and have been happy with it both as a pressure cooker and a slow cooker. Not certain what you mean by a crisper function--possibly part of the air fryer function? Mine does have a saute function which is usually used at the beginning of a recipe.
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Instant pot fan here too. Love it for all things (except slow cooker function.). I don’t know about a crisper function either except I do have the air fryer lid. Makes awesome yogurt! And beans. It’s worth having just to cook beans.
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DD has an Instantpot and loves it. I've never had one as I use a pressure cooker and/or a dutch oven. I guess it's my old "college days training" where using what was available (even if it wasn't quite as convenient) was preferable to buying used, which was preferable to buying new. :-)
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Happy Birthday, Mommy!
I’m impressed with the modified T-giv cooking going on here....and your total holiday spread, Special!
I am doing practically NOTHING!
On the recommendation of my neighbor who is an excellent cook, we ordered a full cooked turkey dinner from our local grocery/catering store, and will bring several of the sides and partial desserts to DS2’s family who is frying their own turkey (DDIL’s family tradition growing up in FL).
I did make some faux french baguettes today and will bring one to them in addition to the “hotel style rolls” that come with the dinner. They don’t want the potatoes or squash that we have from the store bought dinner since DDIL is making her fave recipes for those. So we will have waaaaay more mashed potatoes than we could consume in several weeks but will enjoy the glut of squash. I plan to make coleslaw (a throwback to my mom’s T-giv dinners), but just for us since the young’uns don’t eat that.So the plan is to drop off half the sides to them, visit outdoors with them and baby Mila in our masks, while their turkey fries, until we get too cold, then return home to eat our dinner....and with a nice cut of their fried turkey to compare to our bought one! A weird Thanksgiving to be sure....but there ARE a lot of things I am thankful for and feeling hopeful about! Certainly included in that is all of you who share of yourselves on this thread.
Nance, I am impressed that you and DH are making such fast progress on your new home! So happy for you!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
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Happy birthday, M0mmy!
I did "cook" a little: for brunch I scrambled an egg with chives and lox. Used olive oil instead of butter, and it was delicious.
Gordy & Leslie came over (masked & distanced) for drinks (Rusty Nails & hot buttered rum) & dessert (pumpkin pie, nobody wanted ice cream). At first, we were out on the deck, but then the rain kicked back in so we moved to the front porch. It was so wonderful to see them again! HK is making a small ham & fixings for her nephew (one of my godsons) & his fiancee--she will drop it off on their front porch, because both of them work daily outside the home and he takes public transit to his job.
Happy T-day in advance!
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Lacey - potato rolls? potato pancakes? potato soup? Wonder how they'd freeze?
Turns out my nephew w/the 5 year old is driving out of town Friday to his sisters (with the 4 & 6 year olds). He has agreed to take all the Christmas presents for my niece's family so I've been busy wrapping all evening. I'm going to take the box over to him tomorrow & we'll visit a minute in the street. They live in a condo/duplex with no yard. As a bonus, they are ordering Chinese for T-Day dinner (she from Hong Kong) and they are going to make me a plate. As usual, I'll have no idea the names of most dishes but YUM. Good thing I didn't take either the ham or the pork loin out of the freezer.
Gifts are wrapped & packed & labeled for five sets of out of town family. Just have to seal up my son's box and I can ship everything off on Monday. Most everyone lives out of town so I only have a couple more things to wrap for friends here and I'm done. Normally that would leave me free to go to concerts and Christmas lunches with friends. This year it will leave me free to the he whole house re-piped. Ugh.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
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Last year I had tapas for Thanksgiving--in London, before & after a play. Before, because we were near St. Paul's, it was raining, and the tapas/wine/coffee bar was open; after, because an authentic (Spanish-owned) tapas bar next door to the theater was the only place open that late. We also had paella. (We did have a trad. turkey dinner a few days in advance, at the buffet in British Airways' business class lounge at O'Hare when our flight was delayed).
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Just wanted to say happy Thanksgiving to all. My DH and I had zoom calls with our respective families. Very disappointed only 1 niece's family joined my side (out of a large number) This childless Aunt's heart hurts. After experiencing this type of dissappointment before I need to find a way to let it go. My siblings and their spouses joined and even had met up with their children earlier. Probably too complicated to explain or worry about but I've felt a lot of support on this thread and just appreciate the understanding I know is out there. My husband gets it too, for which I'm thankful.
Aside from the above our dinner is from a high-end local caterer and should be divine. I made cranberry sauce and pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting (sampled). There shall also be a sauvignon blanc. Cheers all!
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Well, the heating element in the rotisserie stopped working, so DH cut up the turkey and we finished in the air fryer our friends brought. Turkey day was saved, yay!
Enjoy the day everyone
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Bob brought home the "Just Us" dinner from Cellars--it's enough to feed 4-5 people! My back hurt too much to go with him--and so I missed a glass of Veuve Clicquot with the staff (he graciously drank mine). Wish he'd called me to hobble into the car and come over. We sat down to "pre-leftovers:" what we will likely be eating for the next 2-3 days. They were out of turkey breasts and sweet potatoes, so they gave us a double order of brussels sprouts & bacon, and a whole 12-lb. turkey! (Been years since I've had to carve one: we'd either gone to restaurants, gone to our friends' house where the host did the "hacking," or he'd do the carving when I hosted). Dessert was pecan pie and Sauternes.
Friends called at 6:30 for a Zoom toast. We raised glasses of bubbly, another friend had a Shiner dark holiday wheat beer, and our godson & his wife (in Seattle) teetotaled--they just announced I'm gonna be a "grand-godmother!" Trying to virtual-clink was difficult, as all four screens (our laptop, my friends' iPhone, my god-kids' iPad and our other friend's desktop monitor) had different arrangements of the four "splits" so we couldn't aim our glasses at the onscreen "corners." Our cats slept through it all--they didn't even beg dinner.
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DH's family had a zoom visit that was fun.
Our chicken and dumplings dinner was delicious. As I went through the process of making the dish, I realized again how much work is involved. Making the dough, rolling out and cutting the dough into dumplings, boiling the chicken, deboning it. Then the actual cooking and addition of butter and half and half (or cream) for taste and richness. Occasionally it's worth the trouble.
Dessert was a bought pecan pie and vanilla ice cream.
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minus - great work on the holiday package wrap and hand off! I am such a wrapping procrastinator I sometimes end up wrapping on Christmas Eve and then am slightly annoyed when everyone tears the wrapping off hours later, lol! I really need to get better about doing it further in advance. I will have to mail to DS in CO and BFF in CA. I have a pretty short gift list - we don't exchange gifts with any of DH's sibs - we started out buying for all, then we drew names, then we just bought for the kids, then we abandoned all together - mutually. I have a few local friends that I exchange gifts with and usually make food related gifts for DH's office folks - but so many of them are working form home I am not sure what the plan is there.
Dinner was successful, but as is the custom we ate too much! DD made the corn casserole and the artichoke heart dip in the grill at her house, worked out great and she was able to make an Instagram post so that pleased the Traeger people - they reposted it immediately. I think they liked that she wasn't doing a turkey and instead doing a side and app. For some reason I resisted decorating for fall and just brought out stuff to decorate the table yesterday. I will be putting it away this weekend and bringing out the Christmas stuff, lol!
lacey - I have sometimes made leftover mashed potatoes into a patty of sorts by adding some cheese and other stuff. Here is a recipe link. This is something my mom did as I was growing up. I want to have fried turkey at least one time. Popeye's here in Tampa does them at T-Giv. DH has had it and says it is yummy. I love fried chicken so I think I would like turkey as well - and you're right it is a big thing here in FL. What did you think of it? I have never wanted to deal with the actual preparation though - a lot of oil and danger, ha! I did see once on Valerie Bertinelli's cooking show that Butterball has made a kitchen version, she cooked a relatively large turkey that way in it, in the house! Side note - she went to my high school, lol!
https://www.thespruceeats.com/crispy-potato-patties-recipe-482848
illimae - I am super impressed with your dinner - all done with an incomplete kitchen - great job! Thank goodness the friends brought an alternate cooking method and you guys improvised!
reader - great looking yummy cake! Sorry about the lack of family involvement - I totally get it and you are not alone. My BFF in CA is single, has no children, has an uninvolved only sister and niece/nephew, and she is often an afterthought. Their mom is still with us, she's in an assisted living facility, so they talk infrequently about coordinating things with that. On their last call the other day, she learned that her niece got engaged a couple of weeks ago - nobody bothered to call her and tell her, nor the mom. DH and I regard BFF as part of our family and she is more up to date on our kids than her own family. She is used to it, but I know it still hurts. My parents and only sib have passed away, I don't have contact with SIL and nephews - for many complicated reasons. DH's parents are also gone, his sibs are not local, and he is closer to his sisters than brothers. They make more of an effort. He hears from his brothers on holidays and birthdays with a text or short call, but his older brother is retiring from medical practice next month and just moved about 45 mins away from us, so we may see more of them once the pandemic calms down. A complicating factor is a rift between this brother and the sisters when their mom died two years ago - there was some unacceptable behavior from the older brother's wife and daughter toward the sisters and he sided where his bread is buttered. This puts DH in the middle, which is problematic. Family is hard, right?
I need to learn how to Zoom - it sounds like fun. I am somewhat technologically impaired...but it is never too late to learn, is it?
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Thanks for the birthday wishes!
Tonight is leftovers
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Love seeing all the pictures and hearing the descriptions of foods consumed and loved. Your potpie sounded delicious Carole and others who mentioned various types.
Special, thank you for your empathy. Families can be hard. A lovely endnote is the niece who attended sent a tear-inducing note later thanking me for making the effort and coordinating zoom. That helped a lot. In your family descriptions I did "recognize" some personalities as others probably did too.
Today needs to be a light eating day. Overdoing it has not improved with age 😉.
Tonight will be of course leftovers.
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Thank you to all for the Instapot info. I ordered a black Friday deal for one off Amazon. I have 3 daughters all about a year apart. They cook better than I do. Add my son to the mix, had a fantastic drop off dinner.
Your recipes are yummy, will try a few.
Val
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Well, yesterday turned out quite well. DD was home and Sharon and DD bought MIL over for dinner. Acorn squash stuffed with quinoa-onion-cranberry-"other stuff", a small turkey, mashed potatoes, onion gravy, turkey gravy, stuffing, sourdough dinner rolls, mom's sour cream-mandarin orange slice-crushed pineapple-shredded coconut desert dish, pumpkin pie and apple pie. Everything except the turkey and turkey gravy was vegan and amazingly enough, doing all this was actually a relaxed endeavor. Even more amazing was that everything came together and was ready within about 10 minutes of "when I said it would be ready" (4pm). .
Again, the two ovens and nine stovetop spots were most useful. Since the 2nd stove-oven is outside and about 20 feed from the inside one, I did get quite a bit of pre-eating walking "exercise". :-) Basically the "fiddly stuff" and the things that didn't take long to cook were done inside, while the longer cook time stuff that didn't need much attention was put on the outdoor stove-oven.
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Eric - I've been playing with fruit salad/desert with coconut & sour cream - adding what ever I have left in the fridge on any given day. I'd love to see your MIL's recipe. Sounds like your dinner was delicious. You know of course my favorite part would have been the sourdough dinner rolls.
Reader & Special - and I suspect many more of us - Oh yes families can be hard. I completely understand & add more empathy, and for that matter, sympathy too. I think we're all lucky if we can at least stay on distant speaking terms with some of the members. At the end, I was the only one speaking to my baby brother when he died at age 40.
My niece-in-law was just asking me on Thanksgiving why I haven't point blank asked my son why they have no children & who made that decision or who's fault that was. I tried to explain he told me many years ago that they had decided not to have children & it was their personal business. It drove me crazy that my Mother constantly "nagged" about when was I going to have children and I hated it. It drove me further & further away - emotionally & physically. Niece doesn't seem to understand why I have no idea how much money he makes either. Sure, he'd probably tell me if I pointedly asked, but why would I? Geez - he's 50 years old and a self-sufficient "male" and lives in another part of the country. I feel lucky that he shares as much as he does. Niece-in-law is from China so I'm wondering if maybe it's a cultural thing? Her DH (my nephew) was just rolling his eyes.
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I'm sure just about everyone on here has made something similar! :-) It's in my grandmother's old cookbook and I noticed an almost identical dish when I was looking through an early 1950s Camp Pendleton Officers Wives Club cookbook. I also found it in a late 1950s Camp Lejeune Officers Wives Club Cookbook, so it looks like it was a popular dish among USMC families.
The recipe is basically a mixture of a can of drained crushed pineapple, a can of drained mandarin orange slices, enough sour cream to make it "look right" (which is about the same amount as one of the cans of fruit) and enough sweetened flaked coconut to "seem about right". I save the juice in a drinking glass and will add the juice, and more coconut, if needed, to get it to taste how I think it should taste and the consistency "how I like it". Also, if the dish is going to be made ahead of time, I've noticed the coconut will absorb some of the liquid so I keep the juice so I can readjust the mixture's thickness just before I put it on the table.
Extra stuff, if I have them, are crushed walnuts and/or the tiny marshmallows. If I do use the marshmallows, I'll add more of the reserved juice to counteract some of the sweet taste, and then some extra coconut flakes to "re-thicken" the mixture.
I use whatever sized cans of fruit that are the same size and it's sometimes 8, 9, 10, 12 or 15 (weight) ounce cans and I use all of the fruit, so the measurements are a bit "lax". :-)
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Eric - Edited to add - love the history. My mom used fresh oranges instead of mandarins and pineapple tidbits instead of crushed. I've been adding apple, banana, sometimes fresh pears, occasionally Royal Ann Cherries (I love them but they are hard to find) - and I always add the baby marshmallows. My Mother liked to add pecans when it was for "ladies luncheon" before a bridge game.
I remembered to buy raisins so I'm making rice pudding today with the rest of the cold rice. I'm trying a different recipe with egg. Also making my recent favorite - lime jello cooled & whipped w/a little mayo, chopped avocados, crushed pineapple, celery & cashew nuts. I think I'll do that now so I can put off paying the bills a little longer. UGH.
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“Jump ups” for the next couple of days. Then heading back to Houston for medical stuff and to finish clearing the house. The view is great here but it’s about to get too cold for the primitive outdoor shower. We’re bring a tub/shower combo and an oven back with us, yay!
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Mae - I was wondering how you weren't freezing your tush off. Glad to hear a heater & an oven are imminent. Hope the medical appointments/tests go well.
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