Thanksgiving in Canada is today if you didn't already know that.
I hosted my parents and sister over for dinner on Saturday and we are seeing my wifes family this evening. I was lucky to get a day to myself yesterday in between, to recharge my social battery before starting another probably hectic week of work. Working in a hospital is anything but calm - it's all about Bed-flow! Bed-flow!! BED-FLOW!!!!
But anyway, I cooked this meal myself, other than the stuffing, which my mom brought, and dessert, which my wife made. She made "Citron fromage" (lemon mousse) to go along with an apple pie that we bought from the store.
I only had to yell at my parents once that evening, so all in all I'd say that the evening was a success.
I took a photo of the turkey while it was being prepared but true to fashion I didn't take one after it was cooked.
The last moment of the meal was hectic and stressful trying to time everything to be served hot and at the same time. This was a 6.48kg (14+lbs) bird and needed to be cooked for about 3.5-4hrs. I put butter on top and also under the skin to crisp it up also keep it from drying out. Luckily my sister happened to take one photo of the turkey after it was cooked, so you can see it - barely, mind you.
There were a few hiccups along the way as one might expect, starting with the turkey itself. We had bought a frozen turkey the week before out of fear that a fresh turkey may not be available at the store closer to the date.
I began thawing it out in the fridge two night before but then about an hour before I needed to put it in the oven I realized that it was still almost completely frozen. Shit!
I had to run out and buy a whole other turkey last minute. I bought a fresh one (unfrozen) and raced back home to throw it in the oven. Luckily the store had plenty of turkeys left in stock.
I told everyone to come at 4pm and that we would eat at 6pm so I needed to get it in the oven by 1:30pm at the latest.
In the end everything was done and we were sitting at the table at about 6:30pm so that was pretty good timing if you ask me. Being within 30mins of the estimated meal time is a reasonable margin for such a challenging meal to prepare in my opinion.
Everyone has thanksgiving horror story memories of eating dinner hours later than originally planned. Turkeys aren't easy to cook - especially when you get into the 7-9kg (15-20lbs) weight range.
The other hiccup was when the turkey was done and resting and it was time to make the gravy. I guess I made the mistake of of not being confident in my gravy making skills and asking others for tips. That led to a shitstorm of questions, suggestions and offerings by others on how to make it. Silent judgement and concerned looks in people's eyes.
Suddenly it was as if the entire meal was hinged on the gravy turning out perfect. It's all anyone spoke of for the next 30 minutes or so. It started with my dad standing over my shoulder literally holding the pan I was using to make a rue and commenting on what I was doing wrong. Mind you, he doesn't cook at all himself and only knows how his wife makes it. He doesn't realize that there are many many ways of achieving the same result in cooking I guess. "You're not going to do (..this?!?..)" "oh!? Youre not going to do (..that!?!..). He eventually left when I went silent and then I could breathe again.
Then my mom came in and started adding her say, which was fine for a brief period but then it became too much as well. Then suddenly they were both standing there one over each of my shoulders each talking in my ear offering suggestions and questioning every move and decision I made. It was suddenly very claustrophobic in the small kitchen and put a tremendous amount of unnecessary pressure on me to make this fucking gravy. At that point I announced to both "you guys are making me really anxious right now." That did nothing for the situation and they persisted with the comments. "Okay you guys are actually making me angry right now." I said it calmly but it had no effect whatsoever. A few minutes later "Okay! I'm going to need you both to leave the kitchen. Now!" I pointed out and away, towards the living room where everyone else was sitting. They took a few steps back but remained right there in my general vacinity. I don't know what they were saying at that point but I could still hear them chirping away there, and that was when I almost lost my shit. If someone gives you three incrementally escalated warnings and you still don't listen or take the hint, then whatever happens next is on you.
"NO!! YOU NEED TO STEP BACK!! I TOLD YOU TWO TO GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN!!!"
'Get the fuck out' was at the forefront of my brain but I refrained from saying it. Nonetheless I think they were taken aback from my angry outburst.
They left and I went back to what I was doing. Stirring the gravy, mashing potatoes and sweet potatoes, things in and out of the oven, carving the turkey... everything was happening all at the same time now. It was stressful.
I got over the anger almost immediately once they left and hopefully they got over being yelled at. Hard to say really. The rest of the night and dinner went fine from my perspective though. It seemed like everyone was enjoying themselves. It didn't seem like there was any tension in the air.
So now we have a crap ton of leftovers to eat. Yesterday I ate turkey for lunch and dinner and we will be eating turkey for the rest of the week I think as well. But that's Thanksgiving for you.
In a few hours we will head to her parents house to do it all over again.
