It's been a mixed bag month, but these are the times that bring into stark relief our blessings, and Thanksgiving came at just the right time to mark and reflect.
So grateful for our full table; may nourishment flow to all, the world over, especially in the areas experiencing war and conflict - that peace might return so people can prepare the meals of their choice and gather with those they love, that stability might prevail so there are enough resources and distribution channels to feed everyone. So grateful for the family with whom I shared this bountiful meal; may all feel love and companionship, even if only from afar.
Our traditional Thanksgiving feast that is quintessentially American because it's a hodgepodge of some Vietnamese that appears quite "American" and some straight up American:
📷📷Star of the table/plate, "baby turkey" (a Mama Hen fib in my lower grade school years because I wanted what I learned about in school, a fantasy that all blew up when I was old enough to read, climbed on a chair, and spied the label with the cooking instructions for the broiler CHICKEN on the counter), deftly deboned other than drumsticks and wings by Mama Hen, and stuffed with sticky rice (xôi) with ham, Chinese sausage, shitake mushrooms, onions, chestnuts (this variation is our family's, but apparently stuffing poultry with xôi is a part of Vietnamese cuisine). The green bean bed accented with cranberries was my design/culinary innovation this year - an additional side that we might want to eat that is also visually appealing and fills the margins of the platter better. My aspiration had been to toss it in a mustard accented sauce, but it really didn't need it; the cranberries were meant to go into dessert and I had set them aside, but they weren't needed there, and worked perfectly here.
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| Missing the corn that was still in the kitchen. |
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| Missing the bowl of soup that started the meal. |
📷Asparagus crab egg drop soup (xúp mang cua 🦀), prepared by Mama Hen.
📷Roasted root and other vegetables (turnips, rainbow carrots, fennel, cauliflower stalk and leaves), cooked under the chicken, accented with fennel fronds. I learned that cauliflower leaves are edible (already knew fennel fronds are), so less food waste! I am always in charge of the veg; it makes use of the drippings, it's another side, adds moisture to the oven for the chicken, serves as a natural roasting rack, if needed.
📷Potato/cauliflower mash - lighter, healthier. I've made this modification for years now, and it suits our family just fine. Scallions were supposed to be for another side dish that got scuttled.
📷Mushroom gravy. Since I own the potato mash, I own the gravy, as well. Though this year, I needed Mama Hen to help me out with mushroom chopping.
📷Charred brussel sprouts. Sissy likes to take on this dish. Good thing, because when she made plans to have lunch with Thanksgiving orphans in the city, I had originally planned to handle all the sides, which really wasn't realistic.
📷Buttered sauteed corn. Another Sissy creation. Simple this year, and better for it.
📷Simple salad - freshness to offset all the cooked dishes. Lil' Bro's contribution, from a tub, with bottled dressing - I assigned him to it and he made the decisions that were true to him, and it was better for it. Meet people where they are, and let go of the management burden.
📷Apple dessert - successful debut! Inspiration courtesy of my internet search for desserts using apple and puff pastry; it's all in the presentation.
📷Cranberry clementine walnut tart - this year I sugared the zest to sprinkle as a finishing touch, in hopes of adding sweetness to balance the overly tart feedback of years past, and it makes the zest stand out instead of just disappearing into the filling. I realized I'd never added salt in prior versions, and I think that will help, as well. We were too full to try it; it will accompany leftovers lunch, instead.
This year felt better-sized - abundant, but not obnoxiously extraneous. And that's after three dishes were omitted! (No pumpkin pie due to eating on sale pumpkin pie in the lead up to the holiday; no grilled sweet potatoes with chili crisp due on account of time/equipment constraints that derailed the final grilling of the already roasted said tubers; no fried shrimp that Mama Hen had purchased in quantities when the plan was to host the Thanksgiving orphans because we were only our nuclear five, and there were already plenty of dishes, and we were supposed to simplify this year.) Will record all of this in my spreadsheet so we can keep what works and strive for better next year for my most favorite meal/holiday of the year.😊
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| Me, at the supermarket, at around 1pm Thanksgiving afternoon. Need to work on that. |
