Thanksgiving…part deux

I know, I know…it’s old news, but …I figure you’re dying to hear about how the boy and I almost flopped Thanksgiving dinner so here it goes…

I knew from the get-go something was bound to happen. I mean…it was our first attempt at making Thanksgiving dinner…something had to go wrong.

The meal? (Pardon me while I do a completely inadequate job of describing and telling you our menu. Why can’t the boy always be around?) 

There was a Pancetta (or prosciutto) wrapped Beef Tenderloin, Grilled fall vegetables with boiled dressing, Parker House rolls, Twice baked mashed potatoes with goat cheese, Apple Cider Cream Cake, and Eggnog Poundcake.

It all began rather nicely. We began the process around two since we were both making things we had never attempted before. (Exhibit A: I had neither worked with active yeast to make bread, nor made my own pie crust.) We knew it was going to take a while to get my desserts and bread ready since things had to chill and (as we all know) the boy is incredible in the kitchen…just not the speediest man.

There was the perfect blend of cooking, baking, and delightful (read: perfect) music going on for a couple of hours.

Do you see that pie crust? It looks like perfection, no? I’m allowed to say it…it does. I was so proud!

Until the oven burnt it. And this is where things began to head southward. The afternoon had been leisurely. We had taken our time, enjoyed the company…but when the boy realized it was almost 6:00pm and he had not even cooked the vegetables yet…we all scrambled. Oh and did I mention…the oven burnt my prized pie crust? (For the record…the sides that weren’t burnt tasted delicious…I had to find out.)

Determined to get the meal we planned out on the table we rushed, scurried, burnt ourselves (multiple times) and like any good chef or baker…we improvised.

At 7:00pm we sat down for our Thanksgiving meal. We had grilled veggies with a made up dressing the boy “just whipped up” because he’s incredible. The potatoes became twice baked mashed potatoes due to an under-cooking malfunction. The pie turned out dee-lish-us. I mean…Slap me in the face it was so good. It only took three rounds of pie crust to get to success, but it was completely worth it.

And do not fear…as the others were sitting down to eat, I was placing my poundcake in the oven.

The rolls? So yummy. Parker House (and Tyler Florence) have got it going on. I would have liked to just snuggled up inside one of them with their fluffy, warm, buttery, goodness.

And the tenderloin? See that guy of there? He was perfect. Mixed with a side of whipped horseradish sauce that the boy again “just whipped up”…my mouth is watering.

Although it was ridiculously crazy and there were moments where I thought one or both of us were going to cry…we pulled it off. With a little grill help from the father and a beautiful table setting from the ma…it happened.

Our first Thanksgiving dinner. 

(See that crunchy pound cake top? Underneath is the gooey layer that is the best part. Yum.)

The kitchen however, was not so lucky. She needed a lot of work when we were finished. I’ve never seen the kitchen look like such a war zone. Good grief, Charlie Brown. 

This is how it all ended though: in a warm and cozy room, snuggled up, with The Princess Bride.

I know it’s a little late…but Happy Thanksgiving! I hope yours was one you will not forget and filled with many happy blessings.

xxxoo, Emily (a week later.)