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Home > posts > 2018 > 11 > 2018-11-22_Thanksgiving.html

Thanksgiving 2018

/posts/2018/11/2018-11-22_Thanksgiving.html

Introduction

Meredith and I decided to host Thanksgiving this year since we didn't want to travel with Caroline. I also wanted to do it since I never really got to host something all by myself.

I did the majority of the planning via a Google Docs which is also attached as Excel, csv, or zip.

I will go into specific details for each items.

Appetizers

The full list is below with links to respective sites as needed

• Harissa dip^[@rev]
• Romesco dip^[@rev]
• Shrimp Dip^[@rev]
• Stacy's Pita Chips
• Roasted Inka Corn
• Crudite
• Cheese tray
• Crackers
• Cheese chips
• potato chips
• Green chile dip (store bought)
• Mixed Nuts
• Fritos

I had to serve some of the cheese and crackers on Wednesday when everyone arrived hungry. I also then put of some of the other stuff earlier on Thursday because people were hungry then too

Specific Notes:

Harissa

I made this on Saturday so it had ample time to (a) get less spicy and (b) let the flavors meld

Romesco

Meredith made this right before serving. She skipped the bread since all places to toast it were being used. And it was fine since then it was GF

Shrimp Dip

Ann made this on Thursday (or was it Wednesday). She doubled the recipe so we had to buy extra shrimp. I am not sure what she did for flavor enhancer

Soup and Salad

• Roasted Curry Cauliflower cheddar soup + croutons
• Wild Rice Salad^[@rev]
• Bread:
  
  
  • Maple Walnut^[@rev]
  
  
  • Store Bought
  
  
  
  
• Corn Bread (Regular and GF)

Specific Notes:

Cauliflower Soup

The soup was basically a combination of curry roasted cauliflower^[@rev] and roasted broccoli soup^[@rev]. I tossed three heads of cauliflower with tons of curry powder, salt and oil (went heavy). I forget which day that was but it was ahead of needing it. Then, on Thursday, I added it to water, added more Better Than Boullion Garlic and Roasted Veggie. Plus more curry powder. From there, my dad did the blending with a huge block of cheddar (Need to come back and see how much. I think ~1 lbs). It was not very flavorful so he added more base. That was exactly what it needed except it was pretty salty!

We had leftovers for dinner later in the week and it was better with croutons!

Salad

I did the salad as per usual though I felt like the dressing came out a bit too lemony. The big change was that, after adding (pre-packaged) pomegranate, I tried one and they were bad! Thankfully I only barely mixed them because I had to pick out as many as possible. I was not happy about that! But the salad was very popular.

I made way too much rice and stored the rest which worked out well since we ran out of rice later when we brought in food.

Bread

Corn Bread

Emily wanted to make corn bread from Kodiak Kakes (which we were finally able to find and order from Target). I need to double check with her but I think she added corn to both and jalapeños and cheddar to one of them. This was actually really good!

We needed gluten free corn bread for the sausage stuffing and since I had found the Bob's Redmill one, I made it for both (it also didn't have buttermilk!). I used almond milk so my mom could have them. I found them to be pretty flavorless but it didn't matter for the stuffing and, with butter, people liked the regular.

Dinner

• Turkey
• Carne Adovada^[@rev]
• Seitan Turkey^[@rev]
• Seitan Adovada^[@rev]
• Vegetable Lasagna
• Roasted Pepper Parm (Gluten Free)
• Roasted Potatoes^[@rev]
• Sausage Stuffing/Dressing^[@rev] (gluten free)
• Vegetable Stuffing
• Roasted Brussel Sprouts
• Green Bean Casserole^[@rev]
• Stuffed Mushroom Casserole^[@rev]
• Gravy
• Canned Cranberry Sauce
• Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish^[@rev]

Vegetarian Lasagna and Parm Bake

My dad made a vegetable lasagna plus a small red-pepper parmesan bake that was gluten free.

• [ ] Get details

Dessert

• Pumpkin Pie
• Pecan Pie^[@rev]
• Chocolate cake^[@rev] Truffles
• Carrot Cake^[@rev]
  
  
  • Cream Cheese Frosting^[@rev]
  
  
  
  
• Biscotti^[@rev]
• Fruit salad


• Pumpkin Mousse^[@rev]


• Macarons


• Healthy (??) cookie things from dad


• Cannoli Dip^[@rev]

Setup

We had to seat 21 plus Caroline. We purchased two 8-foot tables and borrowed two 6 (4?) foot tables. First, during the actual prep, I set up both small tables in the garage as a prep space. It also served as a cooler room (though certainly not a fridge). I was able to use that for serving bowls and just have a lot out of the way.

For the actual meal, I cleared one of those tables and put it out next to the kitchen bar. That table was the "meat" table and the bar had everything else.

We set up the tables as the patio table in the dining room connected to an 8-foot table jutting out. Then, with a space for egress, we had the round dining table with the 8-foot sticking out. See sketch.

Next Time

I have a lot of notes for how to do this better next time. The biggest is that I should have less variety and just more of the same things. Keep it easier and simpler. Plus, that will be easier to pack up

Another problem was that most of the guests were from out-of-town so they all came over really early. I hadn't planned any kind of lunches which meant that I had to put out appetizers earlier than I had wanted. I should have planned some simple snack meal food earlier.