dreaming of thanksgiving

yeah, yeah, yeah, i know it's halloween so i suppose i should be posting about that but to be honest, much as i like halloween and had the joy and delight of growing up in a die hard, spookiest house on the street halloween family (thank you big brother micky!), it doesn't really excite me all that much. maybe if i had little bambinos to dress up and take around i'd be more into it but as it stands... it's not speaking to my soul. don't get me wrong... i took great joy in watching it's the great pumpkin, charlie brown and am looking forward to the fun and merriment and what not, but it really doesn't excite me like thanksgiving.

thanksgiving is another matter altogether! i have always loved thanksgiving and at the risk of insulting my wonderful family in pittsburgh, i am really enjoying the having friends over for thanksgivings again since we've come back to california. family too, of course, since lucy and laurence are here and are awesome enough to celebrate with us, and this year we will also get the goodby clan! i loved doing thanksgiving at my parents' place in pittsburgh but i didn't get to do the cooking and that, for me anyhow, is the most fun part of the whole shebang. that said, i did do a thanksgiving dinner for our sorely missed dinner party friends every november so i guess i had the best of both worlds, family and friend dinners, now that i think about it. i was the official geever pie queen growing up and while we were living in pittsburgh and i get to do that, too! what can i say? i like thanksgiving meals and i like them a certain way so i end up doing most of it (control issues, anyone?). trump is always game for mashing potatoes, drew is a fantastic host who keeps everyone lubricated and entertained, and everyone pitches in at the hectic end. it's drew's favorite holiday and his enthusiasm and excitement have definitely rubbed off on me, but not enough to do a thanksgiving dinner every month, as he proposes at least that often. where there's life, there's hope. ;-)

so, what have i been dreaming of so far? a heritage turkey from the good shepherd farm, ordered via the wonderful folks at heritage foods. martha says if you get a fresh turkey you don't need to bother with brining as they're succulent to begin with but i don't know... i've kinda gotten hooked on brining. i think i'll stick with it. cook's illustrated is proposing dry brining this year but i hate anything that depends on loosening the skin to stick stuff under it. it's so easy to tear and then you're fucked, not to put too fine a point on it. i think i'll stick with the cook's country perfect roast turkey, which i've used before with great success and yumminess. salt pork - who knew? drew has requested the sausage, chestnut and mushroom dressing a la the good folks at williams-sonoma who still want too much for the much-lusted-after roasting pan. i'll do it as stuffing, of course, and w/out their $16.50 chestnuts. i'm going to get mine at our local zanotto's market; that's the one we go to on the site, as it happens. the chestnuts will be raw so i'll roast them, which i haven't done in a while and is half the fun. if you've never had freshly roasted chestnuts you are missing out on one of life's true gastronomic delights and they're super easy to prepare. sweet, warm, chewy roast chestnuts... i might have to do a trial run.

as for sides... roasted garlic mashed potatoes, this awesome acorn squash and apple bake recipe that i got from our new csa, farm fresh to you. i am super pleased with ffty... excellent produce and variety and they deliver! the potatoes we got last time were to die for. i wonder if i can request extras for thanksgiving? have to look into that. for veggies i'm thinking of martha's ginger sesame stir fried green beans that were such a hit at the dinner parties, plus something with broccolini. we love broccolini and i have to wonder just where it's been all my life until this past year or so. and sweet potatoes, of course. maybe the roasted ones from my low fat moosewood cookbook. haven't made those in a while and they're pretty darn good. sweet potatoes and squash both; too much? it seems sacrilegious to not have sweet potatoes but that'll be a lot with the squash. any opinions, oh gentle readers?

don't worry, i didn't forget dessert! i found a lovely maple bourbon pecan pie recipe in my martha stewart living cookbook last year that i plan to make again, though i was just comparing it to cook's illustrated perfect pecan pie and am making some adjustments, including using fresh vanilla bean instead of extract. i got some vanilla beans at costco a while back.... ten beans for $10, if i remember correctly. since they were practically giving them away i bought a bunch and really do want to use them. pumpkin and mincemeat pie too, it goes without saying. the wonderful belknaps will be joining us again this year so i hope dave is willing to tend bar again. our first year back he did so and regaled us with the wonders of the sidecar, a drink i had never heard of but now love. dave being the connoisseur and all he didn't just make us a sidecar, he made us three, all with different liqueurs (i think i liked the first one best). i hadn't eaten since breakfast and in a hot kitchen all day and was half way through my third when i realized i was getting rather drunk so had to stash my drink in the fridge until dinner was ready. good times!

i guess that's enough for the holiday after the current one, but ooh! i am excited! if you're in our neck of the woods be sure to stop by. i'm sure there will be more than enough.