Happy Thanksgiving!

Although I've actually celebrated Thanksgiving in the US once before (in 2006, when I was visiting Dave), we played hosts for the first time this year, spending a lovely lazy afternoon round the table with Dave's parents Don and Rickey. We spent the morning cooking, which was also loads of fun; this was our menu:

- roast turkey topped with rosemary, garlic and sage
- apple and cranberry stuffing (best EVER; recipe below)
- roast veg ('recipe'/method below)
- green beans almondine
- creamed onions
- home-made rolls topped with garlic and paprika
- pumpkin pie Chantilly

Don and Rickey brought round a magnum of champagne, so we were well looked after in every way!


Best EVER Stuffing
(Once again, found on the internet, adapted by Kathryn and Dave).

Ingredients:

- cubed whole wheat and white breads, any proportion you choose, to total approx 5 cups
- 1 pound minced turkey meat
- 1 chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 chopped golden delicious apple
- 3/4 cup dried cranberries
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 3 teaspoons caraway seeds
- 2 - 3 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 2 teaspoons white pepper
- 3 teaspoons dried sage
- 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon thyme, fresh or dried
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 4 tablespoons melted butter

Method:

Heat oven to 350F (175C). Spread bread cubes in a single layer on a shallow tray; bake until evenly toasted (5 - 10 minutes). Put toasted bread cubes into a large bowl.
Cook the mincemeat in a frying pan, adding caraway seeds, crushed garlic and white pepper as meat starts to cook. After a few moments, add the onions, cook a little longer, making sure to break up all lumps, then add celery, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Add meat mixture to bowl with bread cubes. Mix in chopped apples, dried cranberries and parsley. Drizzle with stock and melted butter, and mix lightly. Spoon into turkey to loosely fill.

*NOTE: This was GREAT stuffing, but made a lot more than we needed to fill the turkey - we ate some of it as we went (hadn't had any breakfast!) and the rest as sandwich filling and as a side dish the next day. I intend to make it again soon, along with some shortcrust pastry, to make pasties. This is so versatile (and so yummy!) you could make it for all sorts of occasions.


Roast Veg

Ingredients (amounts not specified as it will depend on how many people you are serving):

- potatoes
- beets
- carrots
- turnips
- parsnips
- apples (golden delicious were great)
- garlic cloves (whole)
- onions (peeled)

Method:

Pre-heat oven to around 350F (a bit hotter can be better, but if you're also using the oven for something like turkey, 350F will suit them both).
Start a large pot of water boiling on the stove; peel all veges that require it; chop into manageable pieces.
Drop in chopped potato and carrot; boil for a couple of minutes.
Fish pieces out with a slotted spoon, put into empty saucepan, shake for a moment with lid held tightly on (this should be enough to lightly bruise the pieces, but not enough to make them fall apart!).
Put in baking tray(s) with a small amount of olive oil, a shake of dried rosemary, and any other herbs you fancy (thyme is nice, as is cracked black pepper, and oregano). Put in oven.
Repeat process with beets; put into different tray if possible (as they will colour everything they're with! This is why you don't cook them along with the potatoes and things).

Mix a small amount of honey with some olive oil in a different baking tray (heat in oven for a moment if they don't want to mix easily); lightly toss turnips and parsnips in the mixture; shake some rosemary over it all. Put in oven along with everything else.

Veges need to cook for around an hour; after about half an hour, add peeled garlic cloves and peeled onions to tray of potatoes and carrot, and add sliced apple to tray with parsnips and turnips. Take the opportunity to turn everything over and make sure all surfaces are covered with oil. Return to oven; remove when brown and tasty; enjoy with gravy and all the other good things on your table!