The Rest Reviewed

Yes, I know this isn't very timely... Oh, well.  I'm mostly writing for myself, anyway, so it doesn't matter so much, now does it?  :)

I've reviewed the turkey brine/roast process, and the perfectly perfect pumpkin cheesecake, but there was much more.  When I said I did almost everything from scratch, I meant it.  The only thing that I purchased already prepared were the rolls.  And those, while pre-made, were not mass produced.  I got those at Great Harvest Bakery, and they were freshly made there in the bakery on Wednesday.   As for the rest, lets start with the potatoes.

Potatoes..  Mashed.  Boring.  Regular.  Plain.  That's about it for the potatoes.  The only thing noteworthy about them was that I made them on Wednesday night, and just heated them up in the crock pot on Thursday.  Dull.  So....  on to something more exciting, like stuffing.

Charlie's mom makes oyster dressing every year.  The kids and I are not huge fans of oysters, and in the past I've thrown together some stove top.  In this year of "homemade Thanksgiving", though, I tried a recipe for "Apple Sage Walnut" stuffing, using a really tasty whole grain gluten free bread as the base.

While it WAS pretty tasty, the whole grain bread made it a little heavier than I think we'd have preferred.  Next time, I'll go with a white rice bread as the base - it's much more neutral and has a flavor more like "regular" white bread, and a density more akin to sourdough (in my opinion, anyway).

My gravy was basic gravy made with cornstarch and a combo of chicken and turkey broth.  I will say, though, that it was yummy.  I managed to make it pretty thick, but not lumpy.   As you know, that, in and of itself, can be quite an accomplishment.

The cranberry sauce was probably the easiest thing to make - just cranberries, sugar, and pomegranate juice cooked together.  I'm the only one who likes cranberries (I'm not sure how I managed to find a whole family that doesn't eat the best part of Thanksgiving, but I did....).   I'm still not sure how I feel about the pomegranate element.  I think I may have preferred a cranberry/apple combo instead, and I might try that next year. 

The last thing on our menu was green beans. I'm not sure that needs much of a review.  I just made our basic, usual, steamed green beans.  Why?  Because we all like them, that's why.  Sometimes, simple is all you really need.