Afternoon everyone…..
I don’t know how many of you reading this actually celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. But here in the United States it’s a big deal and a huge amount of work to prepare for.
I’ve scaled it down quite a bit over the last few years. One because I’m cooking for a small amount of people now, two it’s just too much work.
Our original traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner was quite an array of food. Growing up we would go to my father’s uncles house in Bayonne. Everyone would be there, both sides of grandparents, my aunts and uncles, my cousins and all the married siblings. It was a huge gathering which involved three huge tables set up in two rooms. The kids all sat at the table in the other room so the adults could all be together.
Being Italian these were huge feasts. Which consisted of crazy amounts of appetizers ranging from shrimp cocktail, an Italian meat platter Prosciutto Di Parma, soppressata, capicola, mortadella along with various cheeses like chunks of parmigiana reggiano, smoked provolone, freshly made Buffalo mozzarella. There were also a variety of olives, fresh roasted peppers, sun dried tomatoes, roasted bulbs of garlic, artichoke hearts, fresh figs and cantaloupe. My aunt would bake off dozens of different loaves of bread.
Then there was always a lasagna served. A true traditional Italian lasagna which does not have any meat, it’s all béchamel sauce, cheese and sauce. There would also be a meat lasagna which was made from my uncles hand ground steak mixed with his own hand hand sausage. It was the best tasting lasagna ever.
Then came the main meal…
Which consisted of two turkeys, which were fresh from the farm, usually between 18-20 pounds each. A full standing prime rib roast with a garlic and horseradish crust, a full bone in ham as well. Then there were the side dishes. My uncle made three different styles of stuffing, all made from scratch. One was a rustic traditional stuffing made from my aunts homemade bread which was left out for several days to dry out. It was made with the typical spices of sage, thyme, salt & pepper. Plus he added freshly made sausage to it along with celery and onions. The second was a cornbread stuffing which I also make which to me is the most flavorful stuffing made. Then he made the old school stuffing which is the first stuffing but instead of sausage it has roasted water chestnuts in it.
Other sides were ultra smooth mashed potatoes, bourbon and maple syrup sweet potatoes, mashed turnips, sautéed green beans with shallots and garlic with a chunky fresh tomato sauce. Roasted corn, baked carrots, Brussels sprouts with bacon, shallots and balsamic vinegar. He also made his own cranberry sauces. One with just cranberries, the other with a little fresh pineapple purée and orange purée in it. Plus what seemed to be an endless amount of gravy.
I still don’t know how it all got done, especially knowing what it takes to make it all happen. He did have quite a set up. Including a brick oven outside which was where the prime rib and ham were cooked.
Photo: grabbed from Google photos
Again this would be over the course of many hours of conversation. But it’s still a ridiculous amount of food. We’d get there around 11:00 and the main meal would begin around 4:30.
Now….
I’m not doing anything close to that. But I am doing all of the cooking. I have a small kitchen and only one oven which makes it a little more challenging. So prepping as much today as possible will be the key to success.
Pies are going in the oven shortly. Then I’ll be prepping all the vegetables and cooking the sausage and making my tomato sauce.
Wish me luck….
