Thanksgiving 2009

Well, it's over. And we did it.

We had mashed potatoes, turkey, pork tenderloin filets, sweet potatoes, corn pudding, green bean casserole, radishes and onions, and desserts that included cheese cake and tollhouse pie.

This is pretty much what we have every year but this year we changed it up a little bit. We went easy, breezy, and a tiny bit sleazy. The mashed potatoes were cooked, mashed, and seasoned when I bought them. So were the sweet potatoes (the best Mr. Right ever ate). I made the corn pudding from scratch but it was the best we'd had in years because I finally had the original recipe. (That page has been missing from my ancient recipe book for a long time but a few weeks ago I found a website that replaces missing pages at a very reasonable price and I finally have it back in its rightful place.) Beth brought the brown 'n serves, the green bean casserole, and the tollhouse pie. Amy made the cheesecake and was on hand to help with what little we still had to do from morning til night.

And we tried the 500 degree turkey roasting recipe. Two hours. That's it. While it rested and its carving process was begun, we heated the ready-made potatoes and casseroles. And it was golden. Perfection! Easy.

I intend to do this every year. Because Thanksgiving is about family and good eats and it doesn't have to include a solid day of back breaking, everything from scratch, labor.

Now I finally know that for sure.

500 Degrees and Roasting

Mr. Right and I were shopping Monday evening for our holiday feast. Previously we've tended to shop the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving but, now that I'm retired, I have to admit we're getting better!

Anyway, while we shopped, he mentioned that he had heard on the radio that many people are now roasting their turkeys at 500 degrees. According to these guys, the turkeys come out crisp on the outside and tender and moist on the inside AND they only have to bake for a couple of hours or even less depending on the size of the bird.

I'm going to try it for sure. I've often wished I had more than one oven especially on holidays like Thanksgiving. Since that doesn't seem to be an option, cutting the roasting time from 5 or 6 hours to 1 or 2 will definitely free up some oven time.

I promise to record how it turns out including pictures! No matter what.