It's time to appease the algorithm deities by posting a fresh link to my Thanksgiving recipe booklet! It's a convenient, downloadable document that will walk you through the daunting parts of creating the traditional white people Thanksgiving meal, plus it has a couple of recipes for appetizers that everyone might like.
I'll be following it next week, with a couple of little wrinkles. Over the past several years, I'd gotten rather lazy and I'd been catering much of the meal and filling in with homemade rolls, pies, etc. Last year, I made an unfortunate choice of restaurant and our meal was so terrible that I went to the store and made the whole thing over again the next day from scratch.
That broke the spell of catering for me, so this year I'm making the whole shebang myself, including a ridiculously huge turkey that I bought well in advance because I was concerned about rumors of a turkey shortage. Today was the day to take it out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to start thawing, which I did this morning.
Also on the menu: stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, my great-aunt's dinner rolls, and a couple of pumpkin pies. My aunt is bringing roasted sweet potatoes from her garden and I'm considering making 50/50 pumpkin/sweet potato pies this year to jazz things up a bit. I'll report back.
For an appetizer, I'll make the pomegranate salsa recipe from the booklet. Even if you're pretty confident about getting dinner on the table according to a strict schedule, it never hurts to have a little snack available just in case.
This weekend, I'll get my grocery shopping out of the way, then clean my house in fits and starts until it feels presentable. I'm only having three guests, five diners in total, so I really only need to worry about the living room, kitchen and bathrooms. We can close the other doors. Yes, I want my house to be clean but I also have a library book due on the 22nd. Priorities, you know.
The dog is guaranteed to be a pain in the ass the whole time because she is 100% pure chihuahua (did I ever mention that I got her DNA tested? Nothing but chihuahuas all the way down.) and she has zero trust in our judgment when it comes to letting evil strangers into the house. She will bark the whole time except when people are sitting quietly, and it will be annoying to all. But after nearly three years of houseguest-free existence, she's less socialized than ever, so that's just how it goes.
If I don't post again before the holiday, I hope you enjoy yourselves. If my recipes helped you out, let me know!
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