Thinking About Thanksgiving

I know most of you are thinking about Thanksgiving. What to make, what to take, what to wear, how to go to several Thanksgivings without getting filled up so that you can't eat for a week, on and on it goes. Well, here's what I am thinking. I have three to seven people coming, I think, I don't know because Old Man Winter has arrived here early. Wow, I can not believe there is so much snow! (Very pretty, I might add!) I so hope they will come. Holidays are so much better with people you love around.

Anyway, I thought I would share with you our menu for Thanksgiving or at least some of it, to pass along an idea or two. So many sites have so many ideas I know, but honestly you can get lost in the deluge. I would love to here what your prized dishes are as well. Especially if you are going to post them after (or before) the Holiday, then I can come to your blog and check them out.

Every year a turkey has been basking in Alton Brown's brine. We (or should I say I) have been doing this for a couple years now. It is moist, flavorful and delicious. It's kind of a pain before hand but well worth it! I also hear there is a dry brine as well. Check that our here at the Bitten Word.

Our brussel sprouts have been doing a dance with green grapes and slivered almonds for many years now. It is amazingly delicious! I literally could fill half my plate with those. (I am not a big fan of mashed potatoes and gravy). Give me turkey, cranberry sauce and my brussel sprouts and I would be perfectly happy.

My stuffing every year has been this one, at epicurious, which is absolutely amazing. This year we are breaking with that tradition to kind of mix things up a little. I will be making one from Martha Stewart with dried cherries and pecans.

And then of course usually we have the mashed sweet potatoes or butternut squash, whichever is easiest to get my hands on. We dont really do anything with that as there is too much in the oven already!

The gravy is an ongoing saga. Why? Because I suck at making gravy! I never make gravy unless it's Thanksgiving. This year I tried this recipe from Woman's Day. It is a "make-ahead" gravy. We'll see how it thaws out. Otherwise I will be making last minute gravy.

The cranberry sauce is usually ground cranberries with sugar and oranges. It's my favorite. This year however I think I would like to try Kevin's cranberry recipe from Closet Cooking. The Pinot Noir in it has me intrigued!

Whew, no wonder Thanksgiving is so anxiety producing for people!

This recipe for the crackers above is okay. I am not completely thrilled with it. It is for my Aunt who has celiac disease. Hi Aunt D! I got the recipe from here. And I know it would be 1000 times better if it was deep fried but I just can't bring myself to deep fry anything, really. So I added some parmesan to the dough and baked them at 350 F. Oh, and have you ever seena curry leaf? It is not where "curry" comes from. It has a very distinct taste. I discovered it earlier this year when I made dinner for our East Indian friend. I fell in love with it. I hate to compare it in this way but it really reminded me of marijuanna. Okay that is not really my thang but its not like I have never been exposed. Anyway, the curry, I don't know, its kind of interesting. Check it out. The pic below is the leaf but it has been frozen. That is why it is a little discolored. Still tastes good though.