Well wordpress you’ve done it again. I had a beautiful post written about the thanksgiving dinner I cooked for my friends last weekend and then as I pushed the button to publish everything disappeared here but the pictures. So is a post half a good as the one on this website not even 5 minutes ago.
The thesis is taking up all my waking hours, but I decided to take a break last Saturday to invite my friends to celebrate Thanksgiving with me in my new kitchen. This holiday is the one I regret being abroad for the most. And cooking just for two is no fun for me either.
Here I am in the newly painted kitchen making the cranberry glaze. Please ignore my poor posture and empire waist dress. When you spend all day in the kitchen you should wear comfy things even if apparently they make you look much bigger from the side.  Thanksgiving is not a holiday for waistbands anyway. 😛
Wonderful chive and garlic mashed potatoes, recipe here. Germans love chives and I do too, but I used fresh ones for the first time in mashed potatoes and I am never going back! This was the favorite of the night.
Next is brussel sprouts and bacon. It was hard to get the pan sear on these with my ceramic pan, as I haven’t gotten used to these yet, but they were delish.
The cast-iron skillet you see I used to make …
Cornbread! it makes a delicious crusty edge. I can’t decide between these two recipes, one is soft and fluffy and the other is hearty and dense. In both cases though I put the skillet on the stove top and let the batter sizzle in.
Green bean casserole is next. This recipe calls for a skillet too, but I just used a casserole dish. I love, love love making this from scratch. My only complaint here is that my onions did not pick up much batter, but this was also a big hit. This is also the only green bean dish my husband requests and raves about.
Finally some stuffing. I found a recipe for a slow cooker with sage. After everything was in the pot, I ignored it until we were ready to eat. Perfect!
 I found the best turkey recipe of my life and it will be my thanksgiving recipe forever.  There were a lot of sweet things in this recipe, which I am normally not a fan of, but I have to say that I had the juiciest turkey ever. I bought half a breast and 4 drumsticks and loved the short cooking time of 1 hour. I also left the turkey in the warm oven after cooking for about an hour and then panicked when I realized I had probably dried it out, but it was still succulent two days later. Absolutely amazing.
Well in my lost version I talked all about Germans and pumpkins, but now I need to go to bed, so another time. Anyway my pumpkin is all from scratch and my pumpkin pie is with two cups of pumpkin but only half the condensed milk, and I guess now I prefer it less creamy.
This is a pumpkin bunt cake and so, so moist. I loved this recipe, but hazelnuts were not the best, I would use pecans, walnuts or pistachios in the future like the recipe calls for. My dad asked if it’s like pumpkin bread but it was moister and sweeter I guess.
I also promised him that once I am home I will make him this sweet potato bourbon bunt cake and my recipe to bring a bit of thanksgiving to the house tomorrow is a pecan pumpkin cake.
So I rescued this entry.
And there you have it. Thanksgiving from scratch in the new kitchen. Hope you all have a wonderful time tomorrow with your loved ones!
littlemsami 