Thanksgiving Firsts

Well, this was a Thanksgiving full of firsts for me.

My dear husband loves to cook and has made Thanksgiving dinner for us every year he's been home. I help with the menu, shopping, prep work, coordinate the table, and act as sous-chef. The years Mikey wasn't around to cook, I would haven eaten dinner at my parents (when they were alive) or at Mike mom's Karen's house. We've even had Thanksgiving on a different day to allow Mike the pleasure of cooking - that was the plan this year, too, but that didn't work for the girls' schedule this year.

NEVER have I had to cook the whole dinner, since Mike's work schedule did NOT have a window of time where we could eat as a family. So, all the kids came and then we ended up meeting his city bus and brought him a plate full of dinner during his 2o-minute break at a bus stop.

Here was the menu:

Golden Roasted Turkey with Maple Glaze, Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove Cookbook
Mashed Potatoes made with cream cheese
Apple and Sausage Stuffing
Green Bean Casserole
Butternut Squash Casserole
Green Salad
Deviled Eggs
Tuna Cream Cheese Dip
Cranberry Orange Relish, blend of my mom's recipe and the Cedar Cove Cookbook
Yeast Rolls, Hillbilly Housewife
Chocolate Delight

Wow, I did it! I didn't realize how much food there was until I wrote it out. I also didn't realize exactly how much WORK it is. I told the kids they had to be sure their dad knew his cooking was better ! (No way do I want this job regularly!)

Anyhoo ... this was the very FIRST time I made a yeast dough. Were they perfect? No, but I did it! I wish I'd let them rise longer but I have this really bad habit of following the recipe exactly the first time and the recipe said to have them rise for one hour. Next time, I'll wait for them to double.

The turkey .. I've known how to make one but never actually done it myself. It was delish, too. I was severely tempted to put a foil bikini on ours but resisted. Only Mike would have appreciated it, anyway.

The relish ... my mom made homemade cranberry sauce every Thanksgiving. I didn't appreciate it as a child (so tart) but I really like sauce now. And, I was sad because I didn't get the recipe from my mom before she died. So, I found a recipe I liked in the Cedar Cove cookbook, tweaked it some and it tasted really good. Then, when we served it again today at our second Thanksgiving (that Mike DID cook - but both girls had to work and couldn't come home), Karen told me Mom gave the recipe to her and it's actually in the self-published Kastrup family cookbook that we're getting as Christmas presents. I just looked it up and it's different than I expected. I might stick with my new version.

Shawnee's Cranberry-Orange Relish
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
Zest of one orange
1 12-oz bag fresh cranberries
1/3 cup dried cranberries, cherry flavored
1/4 cup Grand Marnier or orange juice
1/4 cup roasted hazelnuts, chopped
Pinch salt

In heavy saucepan, combine sugar, water, orange juice and orange zest. Bring to simmer over high heat until sugar dissolves. Add cranberries; reduce heat and cook at gentle simmer until cranberries begin to pop. Smash the cranberries with the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and stir in dried cherry-cranberries, Grand Marnier, hazelnuts, and salt. Transfer sauce to medium bowl; let cool. Cover and refrigerate until cold.


Cedar Cove Cranberry-Orange Relish
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice
1 12-oz bag fresh cranberries
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup Grand Marnier or orange juice
Pinch salt

In heavy saucepan, combine sugar, water and orange juice. Bring to simmer over high heat until sugar dissolves. Add cranberries; reduce heat and cook at gentle simmer until cranberries begin to pop. Remove from heat and stir in dried cranberries, Grand Marnier or OJ, and salt. Transfer sauce to medium bowl; let cool. Cover and refrigerate until cold.

Mom's Cranberry-Orange Relish
2 oranges
2 cups fresh cranberries
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup walnuts

Grind all in a blender, including the peel of the oranges. Refrigerate.