I thought Black Friday might be a pretty hectic day for HQ - but really, it's only hectic for people who work in functions like Site Productions, who have to deal with errors on the website. Only one other person on my team was in the office, and she got in at 10 and left at 1. I spent my morning surfing the internet for gift ideas, and answered one work-related email. Hey though - this beats taking the day off for PTO, and *certainly* beats working in the stores!
I think this photo sums up my Thanksgiving best (click on photos to enlarge):
Too. Much. Food. But oh so good!
I have to admit, while nothing beats going home for Thanksgiving, I think we did a pretty amazing job on our own. I think we went about it in just the right way: assigning everyone a couple dishes they were excited about making, coming together in the afternoon, helping out with the turkey, and eating stress-free. Luckily there was no pressure to impress anyone, low expectations, and a Trader Joe's around the corner just in case - not that we needed it.
I started out the morning heading to Calafoods to buy the necessary stuff for pumpkin pie v. 2.1 and cranberry relish. (One thing I had forgotten to mention in the last blog entry was that the pie I made was only 50% from scratch - I used 1/2 roasted acorn squash puree, 1/2 canned pumpkin - because the farmer's market was completely out of sugar pie pumpkins. Hence, when I had to make the second pie, there was still just enough of both to get by - I didn't have to re-roast a pumpkin, thank goodness.)
The pie turned out BEAUTIFULLY if I do say so myself. I was also particularly proud of the crust - I used Martha's pate brisee recipe and added cinnamon, clove, and brown sugar to spice it up a little. Also, I used Heidi's Spice-Kissed Pumpkin Pie recipe, but added extra cinnamon (about 1/2 tbsp), ginger, and allspice. I was also inspired by Top Chef to make the crust prettier.
Preparation:
Execution :)
I also made 2 kinds of cranberry sauce: one relish, Mom's classic, and another saucepan style, which was also REALLY good (recipe here - talk to me about all the changes I made). There were NO leftovers of either cranberry sauce - I was really shocked that everyone ate the real stuff and loved it.
I got to Julie's (the hostess, who lives in North Beach) around 3, and the turkey was already well under way. The butcher at Trader Joe's gave her a 30-minute rundown of exactly how to cook the turkey, and she seemed very confident that it was going to turn out perfectly. And believe it or not, it did!
In the oven:
And out, on-time, with a happy Julie:
Rachel brought mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and cornbread stuffing - here she is with her boyfriend, Bennett:
Tenley brought sourdough stuffing, and Jared brought brussel sprouts (yum) and Paula Deen's Green Bean Casserole, which was to-DIE for delicious.
The girls and the turkey (from left to right: Rachel, Julie, me, Tenley)
Jared admiring the spread:
And other miscellaneous photos of food, dinner, and the resulting food coma:
Everyone said that the pumpkin pie was the best they'd ever had (I agreed) - and the best part about the dinner is that I have enough leftovers to last for at least 2 more meals :)
After dinner, we watched Love, Actually, which is one of my favorite Christmas movies ever - I've seen it at least 5 times.
No plans yet this weekend - though i am supposed to go shopping for my adopt-a-family kid sometime soon. I'm going to be working in the stores again all next week though, so I better rest up!
Reading: Middlesex
Listening: All I Want For Christmas Is You, Mariah Carey
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