The end of the bird

Thanksgiving was, as always, a huge hit in the IF Optimist household.  I love to cook and it took me two days to complete all of the prep and the dinner.  We had 8 people for dinner and a menu that included:

Herb-butter rubbed fresh organic turkey
Mashed potatoes a la MaBeep (made by my MIL)
Wild mushroom gravy with a dash of port
French bread stuffing with spicy maple sausage, apples, pecans and dried cranberries
Gramma Webster’s Corn Puddin’ (made by friend Mike)
Sauteed green beans with lemon zest and almonds
Brussels Sprouts (MrBeep’s favorite veggie)

for dessert I made a Turtle Pumpkin Pie – thank you to the lovely One Who Understands for the link.  I changed the recipe slightly since I like to do things the hard way.  I made the graham cracker crust and added roasted pecans to the food processor instead of a pre-made crust.  I also made a batch of fresh caramel sauce and added a touch of cognac – oh my gawd eat it with a spoon delicious.  I roasted some additional pecans and tossed them in cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg before coating them in caramel.  I also don’t like cool whip, so I made my own whipped cream and added a little gelatin for extra stability.  The pie turned out fan-freaking-tastic.  Here’s a photo:

Now much of the remaining of the turkey and fixin’s were gobbled up the next day with my gaming friends, but we still had some left (I roasted a 22lb bird this year).  The carcass and veggies are in the pressure cooker simmering away and making stock.  On the menu for tonight is Turkey and Dumplings. 

I’ll write about my first OB appointment next week, but I wanted to take a second to express how am thankful I am for all of the obvious things this year, for monsters on board who helped make dinner with me and added a special secret joy to my day.  For MrBeep would rub my belly and tell them how much he was looking forward to the dinner they were making. I am also so thankful to have great friends in real life and through the bloggidy world.  It felt good to read and catch up with you all this Sunday.  There was bad news and some good news but through everything, you all wrote so many amazing stories of courage and grace and joy.  Giving thanks to you all and I hope that the rest of the holiday season is one of hope and love.