There’s always that moment each November when I finally commit to the Thanksgiving menu. This is often in the middle of NaNoWriMo, quince frenzy, and other such autumnal insanities.
We’re hosting a small crew this year, which is just the way I like it. My preferred approach to Thanksgiving is more like Foodie Holiday All Day where I can just be in the kitchen making stuff I really like. Hence, no mashed potatoes on this menu. If people want mashed potatoes, they can bring that themselves! I’m not completely anti-tradition, but for me, this holiday is about cooking and eating. And if I’m doing the hosting, then I’m only going to prepare what I actually like and can eat. So here it is:
As you can see, we’ll have a vegetarian, a diabetic, and someone who doesn’t drink or eat sweets (including honey). Then there’s me, straight-up crazy with the food, so this menu has to be SCD-legal. Seems like the American way these days to have eaters all over the map, which is fine by me. I enjoy accommodating people’s needs, especially for the holidays when food is such A Thing.
A lot of the items on this menu I’ve already made, like the quince liqueur (made with honey. yea!), limoncello (The Man made this, actually, and with honey, double-yea!), membrillo (made with honey, for the win!), and I’m making the bread tonight from Kendall Conrad’s cookbook. She has an excellent cashew bread recipe. It’s great for making stuffing, too. Yum.
And today we went and picked up the turkey from Champoeg Farm. Here’s a pic of their chickens eating pumpkins (the turkeys were, ahem, indisposed already):
Looking forward to it!