What’s on the Table on Thanksgiving Day?

Traveling and cooking. We are making our annual road trip to Central Coast California (Avila Beach) to spend the week with my sister and family. It will be the first Thanksgiving in her new house and without her husband, who passed away last month.

She, my hubby and I all cook together. Have been doing this for decades. Her sons pitch in a bit but we three do most of the meal.
Turkey, corn bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, roasted yams with evoo salt , pepper and a touch of maple syrup, fresh steamed green beans tossed with evoo, lemon juice, minced garlic (from my garden) salt and pepper, fresh cranberries sauce (I make it with honey, OJ, cinnamon stick and whole cloves), mixed greens salad and pumpkin grown-in-my-garden pie.

Hubby does an incredible carving of the turkey (though he has taught one nephew the skill, who can now step in) and I make the gravy while the carving is going on.

During the week we take a lot of walks (now, at her new place, we walk to the Pacific Ocean beach), go shopping, watch movies, have great talks- as a group and one on one. It's one of the few times we all get together since we all live from the west coast to the east coast and us in between in NM.

breezygardener,  have you previously shared your recipe for the garlic creamed spinach?  I searched but didn’t find it.  If you don’t mind, please share.  Thanks.

Here ya go. This has been on our family Thanksgiving Day table since forever (think 1950's onward). My grandmother used to add a crushed hard-boiled egg to it, but I don't care for that so left it out. Oh - & leftovers make an absolutely KILLER omelet filling, which is what we usually do with it, adding some cheese like feta, Swiss, or cheddar.



BREEZY GARLIC CREAMED SPINACH

1 16 oz. bag frozen chopped spinach, cooked & drained well (or equivalent of fresh – cooked & drained well)
4+ (to taste) cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
1 shallot (or ½ a small onion), peeled & chopped
¾ to 1 cup heavy cream (or half-&-half – disgruntledly)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
Salt & freshly-ground pepper to taste (I prefer freshly-ground white pepper for this, but black will do)

Sauté shallot (or onion) in butter until just softened, not browned. Add garlic & stir a minute or two. (Do NOT allow garlic to brown/burn. If that happens, start over with fresh ingredients.) Sprinkle flour in & cook for a minute or two over medium heat, then add cream & continue stirring for another couple of minutes until mixture starts to thicken. Fold in drained spinach & combine gently but thoroughly. If mixture seems to be too thick for you, feel free to thin it out with a little more cream. Add salt & pepper to taste. Continue cooking until just heated through.

We are hosting/cooking. ..son and his lady friend will share the day with us. The menu includes:

Roast turkey (using the big electric roaster)
Mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, giblet stuffing
Polynesian green bean casserole
Butterscotch squash…from the garden. Not sure of recipe, but the color is so pretty
Pickled beets…from the garden. They’re pretty too.
Broccoli or Brussels Sprouts…simple prep. Something has to be healthy in this carb heavy meal.
Dinner rolls…might skip these, but they’re great for leftover turkey sandwiches
Pumpkin ramekins…from the garden of another year. Since there’s no pie crust involved, they’re healthier
Apple pie or apple crisp…with a few fresh cranberries baked with the pie. It makes the apple filling such a pretty, rosy color.

That’s a lot of food for four people, but we’ll have leftovers and I won’t have to cook again for a while. We don’t need two deserts, but gotta have something pumpkin and I do enjoy making a double crust pie.

But the leftovers are PRICELESS!!

ahntjudy,  posted in the cooking board.