For the last few years, I have spent the week of Thanksgiving preparing food to cover 30 people. I seriously do not know how to cook for one. I simply cannot imagine food on that miniscule scale. This year, though I consciously scaled back the menu: I only planned to feed myself and my roommate. Still, few traditional Thanksgiving dishes can be prepared for only one or two people – and I do traditional (at least according to my family) each year.
This year’s menu included a smallish turkey (under 20 lbs), cornbread dressing, cranberry salad, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole (tradition with my roommate’s family),and sun-dried tomato corn muffins. Desert included pumpkin cheesecake and a double layer pumpkin pie.
Since I learned how to brine a turkey a few years ago, it has become my standard practice to load the turkey into several garbage bags (NEW, not used) then covered with a salt/citrus brine. I stuff fresh citrus fruits and an onion into the turkey to flavor it during cooking. The other dishes are pulled together with my supernatural nose – I know when the dish smells right (particularly the dressing). It makes it almost impossible to ever share a recipe.
Now that Thanksgiving is done, it is time to start planning for the New Year’s feast – good luck foods from around the world.
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