If I was making Thanksgiving dinner (something I'd very much like to attempt at some point in my life), I think I would cook everything ahead except for the Turkey, the gravy, and the rolls. Two vegetables: green bean casserole and cauliflower casserole. Mashed potatoes, but the ones you bake after mashing, or potato filling, if I could learn how to cook it correctly. (Potato filling, as I understand it, is a Pennsylvania Dutch thing, a dish my mom's mom always makes, because my mom can't master it. I suspect that I might be able to, as I'm better at cooking by taste than my mom, and apparently, that is what one needs to do with potato filling. Whatever; it's delicious, and I miss the presence of potato filling, not eating Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's.) And of course, my mom's stuffing, with sausage and mushrooms, and deliciousness in every bite. I'm fairly certain that is all I would need to make, since my Thanksgiving would be, out of necessity, small. Sam and I can't fit very many people in our little condo, and small means I'd have a better chance of being successful--smaller turkey, too!
I'd never felt like I could handle a Thanksgiving meal on my own, but now that I have my own kitchen (which you know, isn't a luxurious one, but is still better than the kitchens were in both of our rentals), and I feel like...I'm a grown-up (sort of), maybe it's time to make an attempt, you know? I'm 30, and it seems like it might be time to try it. Just to see if I can manage it. I'd be willing to make this attempt in my mom's kitchen, though, if I had to. I just wouldn't want her there, helping. I want to do it on my own! I enjoy cooking, when there's some purpose to it, and it's not just for my own eating on a weeknight. I like there to be some production about it, something interesting about it. Thanksgiving would definitely provide that drama. What if I failed? Drama.
The thing is, I think I wouldn't. I think I've watched my mom do it enough times to know what happens when, and to make sure it happens when it's supposed to. I'll tell you what, though. I don't have the equipment I'd need for this. I just thought of that. Certainly, I don't have enough casserole dishes, because I'd need at least four, and I've got...two. And they're not the right sizes, I don't think. I don't have a roasting pan, so I've got no way to cook the turkey. Erm, I don't have a gravy boat. I'd be serving the gravy out of a bowl. That's classy.
Actually, you know what? I don't even really like turkey. Is that blasphemous? Can I make a thanksgiving pork roast instead?
Hope you made that roast. Why not? Where is it written that there MUST be turkey at Thanksgiving, anyway? There are people who make Mexican- and Greek-flavoured Thanksgivings, invite their friends and have the best time, thank you very much. Our Thanksgiving was in October; I had fish and chips and enjoyed it thoroughly.
Posted by: Mary | December 25, 2009 at 10:53 AM