Eassy, Peasy, Mac and Cheesey (With Neither Peas nor Mac and Cheese)

Someone got home last evening. There's laundry to do, and unpacking, and then we start getting Casas de Crazy in holiday order (because I would like NOT to have to do a bunch of cleaning after Thanksgiving to be ready for Yule, I'm lumping it all into one hellish delightful week of dust-bunny hunting and eradication and cleaning induced asthma/allergy attacks).

I figured I'd do an easy post today and show you the menu for next Thursday. If you want a full-on recipe and it's not on the recipe page, lemme know* - I may even try to oblige, although there likely won't be any pictures. Unlike Pioneer Woman (who rocks the house, yo), I don't cook for weeks in advance and do lovely photo-recipe blogs about it all. I'm shiftless that way.

So - what's for eats at Casa de Crazy on Thanksgiving day??

Dinner is a fixed menu...I like to keep it simple and easy, a few things I can make in advance and a few things to fix on the day itself. That way, it doesn't get out of hand with elleventy-million tons of leftovers and pants six sizes too small after one meal. I do ask everyone what they'd like best for dessert and will either make or buy it for them. I figure, if I don't give 'em a coice about what's for dinner, the least I can do is bribe oblige 'em with the good stuff after...

Turkey - because, hello? I think there's some kind of law about that, and I wouldn't want the poultry federation coming after my hide for dereliction of turkey duty. I stuff it with sage, thyme, rosemary, garlic, and sometimes onion.

Dressing - a Thanksgiving without dressing is just unAmuricun, dang it! I don't stuff the turkey, though - I can get more into a baking dish, and if the turkey's stuffed it takes longer to cook, can get dry, and the dressing soaks up all that delightful juice that really ought to go into the gravy. The dressing here is simple - I bake bread a few days in advance, tear it to pieces, and let it sit out to get stale, then season it, add onions and celery, pour on some melted butter and turkey stock, and let 'er bake until fluffy with crispy edges.

Mashed Potatoes - because Mum is a pip and let me glom onto her ricer, I can now make satisfactory mashed potatoes without the involvement of a box and directions I don't follow anyway. Some potatoes, a little cream, a pound or three of butter... There are always leftover 'taties, which will make Someone happy, I think.

Gravy - oooh, if there's a better use for pan drippings, I don't know what it is. I use homemade turkey stock (but no giblets - I don't do innards, sorry) and make as much of this as I can because it's fabulous with leftovers...and really, is there such a thing as too much gravy? I think not...

Mashed Turnips and Carrots - this is one of the things that must be on the table for Thanksgiving. I won't do without it...even if I'm the only one who eats 'em! I won't be, though - Mum likes 'em too, and I try to make enough so that she can take some home (along with a few hundred pounds of other leftovers) and still have a fair lot here, too.

Green Beans Sauteed in Butter and Garlic - I don't do green bean casserole. I know, I know, I ain't right on the head...but the stuff has never agreed with me! Something about the texture, I think, although I am fond of those little fried onions on the top... I was delighted to learn that Someone is a green bean fiend, so now I have an excuse to make plenty of these - they're terrific for snacking on later, and less guilt-inducing than some other leftovers.

Bread - I will bake a second batch of bread for the table. Fresh bread, warm from the oven, with butter melting into it...ooooohhhhh...

Cranberry Jelly - can shaped, just like it's found in nature. Someone doesn't like this stuff, so I'll take one for the team and eat his share.

Mrs. Smith's Dutch Apple Crumb Pie - because Mrs. Smith's is a family tradition, and she makes a better pie than I do. I'm not afraid to admit it - my filling is fine but my crusts are tougher than I'd like them to be, and have you ever baked a pie from scratch? Yeah...not so easy. Whoever coined the phrase "easy as pie" was a smart Alec. Also, I like the crumbly stuff, and have never managed to make it even passable from scratch. I have aspirations, though...

Keylime pie - this I will make here, because nothing says "Pilgrims" like keylime pie, right? I will cheat and buy a shortbread crust for it, though. I like shortbread better than graham cracker. Try it sometime.

Vanilla Ice Cream - Breyer's can do the work for me, and you can't have pie without ice cream. No, really...I saw it in the rule book...

Coffee, Tea, and Fixin's - we'll need the caffeine after all those carbs...groooaaaannnn...

So...what're you having?
~~~~~
*Regarding recipes - hey, I figure if you're reading this you're a grown person with traditions of your own and you don't much need me bossing you around the kitchen...but I figured I'd be nice and offer to let you plan my blog posts for me anyway. I'm not pressed if you aren't, but I'm happy to share.