Thanksgiving 2025

Lol. Make/buy some more?

(In past years, we have been cleaned out of stuffing or mashed potatoes occasionally by others taking home leftovers without thinking that the cook might want a few bites later )

We had the opposite. Niece insisted we needed Stovetop Stuffing and mashed potatoes (instant!) despite the dish of stuffing I brought in addition to what was under the bird.

After she and her beau left it went straight in the trash.

So thr best PS is that my mom texted me yesterday to tell me how much she and my dad have enjoyed the turkey, as it was so moist and tasty.

Y’all…this is a huge thing, as they usually avoid turkey.

(For the record it was a standard Butterball…but going forward? Spatchcock it is.)

Great job!

That’s all that matters, right?

For anyone who’d like to have it … I typed up an easier to understand final recipe for Turkey; it’s a combo of parts of Woks of Life recipe and Petrini recipe (upscale grocery store in SF and Bay that is no longer in business):

Combo Woks of Life Turkey & Petrini Recipe

12 – 14 pound Butterball

4 carrots (cut into 2-inch lengths)

3 stalks celery (cut into 2-inch lengths)

2 onions (cut into wedges)

2 lemons, cut into quarters, tuck into cavity

1 cup dry white wine and ½ cup brandy heated slightly to pour over turkey halfway through cooking

Paste to rub over turkey after baking the first hour breast side down:

4 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (soft)

2 Tablespoons Salt

2 Tablespoons Paprika

2 Tablespoons White Pepper

If your turkey is frozen:

4 – 5 days before roasting, start thawing your turkey in the refrigerator. Takes about 1 day of thawing time for every 5 pounds.

On the day before you plan to roast it, wash the turkey inside and out with cold water and dry thoroughly with paper towels. (I give away to toss out the neck and innards that are in the cavity.) I stuff a lot of paper towels into cavity and leave there until ready to roast. Place in a foil pan in refrigerator uncovered so skin will dry out. Before roasting, pat dry with paper towels again. Let turkey sit on top of counter one hour to come more to room temperature. Place cut lemons into cavity and tie legs together. Tuck wings back.

Preheat Oven to 425

Put carrots, celery, onions into roasting pan. Make a rack with a circular piece of foil for the turkey to sit on top.

Add 2 cups of chicken broth or water to the pan.

Roast breast side down for one hour, rotating the pan halfway through.

In the meantime, make your paste in a small bowl.

Lower temp to 325, grab paper towels in each hand and flip turkey right side up. Use a spoon to spread the paste over the turkey. Wet a double layer of cheesecloth, wring out, then dip it in a small pot of a stick of melted butter. Drape this around the turkey.

After the first half hour, heat slightly, do not boil, 1 cup dry white wine and

½ cup brandy, then pour over turkey. This makes your gravy great!

Every half hour, baste turkey and rotate it. When the temp gets to 165 it’s done. Remove and discard the cheesecloth.

Transfer to a serving board and wait an hour before carving.

NOW you tell us

HA HA
I just finally typed it up last night … it was hard for me to follow both recipes at once and I wanted to make this copy for two friends … so, posted here for all!

I have another bargain (.99 lb Costco) Butterball in the freezer for Christmas Dinner.

I feel capable now of teaching a class in how to do T Day Dinner. I can’t understand people who refuse to learn (at least try) to roast a turkey.

According to the CDC, you should not wash poultry.

I’m aware. I prefer to wash poultry with cold water.

People are free to choose not to wash.

(I know someone from Jordan who also uses white vinegar, that’s the way she was taught there.)

Onions—Not gonna lie…my holiday was a good one and we purchased the main event from a local BBQ joint, so I only had to warm things up, but I’m still exhausted.

Hosted my brother and his family driving up from Westchester County, NY (my SIL and my 11-yo nephew and 9-yo niece…they and my almost 11-yo kid had a fun 3-night sleepover) and my 80+ parents, who live down the street from our vacay house in RI, so I basically prepared food for 9 people over 3.5 days, which I am not used to.

The plan was that everyone would congregate Thursday noon-ish so in my head, I thought we could have the main event mid-afternoon, which I suggested on Wednesday. But while they were driving up, my bro suggested that we have a “light” lunch and then an early main event. Um, ok, but I had almost nothing for lunch (we keep our vacay house pretty minimal and we had to transport a lot of kitchen supplies and essential ingredients, like onions/garlic/kimchi but no extra food, except for fancy cheeses/crackers and bread. I called mom and fortunately she had prepared some Korean-style soy-braised beef (galbi-jjim) and she and dad still hadn’t cracked open the Korean banchan from HMart that I brought up to them at the beginning of the week when I took them to eye surgeries. She made a pot of rice and we put out a Korean spread when they arrived. Forgot to take photos. We had the galbi-jjim, spicy braised tofu, vinegary bean sprouts, black beans in soy, kkaennip (perilla leaves), ssam, kimchi.

I had woken up very late that morning (9 am, which is late for me). As the morning wore on and we were getting ready for our guests’ arrival, I felt strangely sluggish. Lunch was fine, and as I was starting to put together the Thanksgiving meal (smoked whole turkey, smoked ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, mac and cheese with crusty rosemary top, gravy, cranberry compote, rolls), I started feeling yucky. Achy, my face felt hot and I started intermittent chills. Around 5:30 pm, everything was pretty much ready and I announced that I had to lie down and explained how I was feeling to everyone’s dismay. Around 6 pm, my husband (a physician) came to check on me. I told him that I felt bad but not flu-like bad. He checked my temp (no fever), brought water, and advised me to sleep. It was killing me to hear the kids laughing and playing and not being able to get out of bed. So sadly, I missed out on the main event. I stayed in bed for nearly 12 hours and I felt like a new person in the morning. Had no idea what it was. Luckily, I’m careful in the kitchen—I wash my hands often, never touch my face, etc., so no one got sick, but we don’t even know what the hell it was. I forgot to ask B to take photos of the meal, but everyone raved. We’ll definitely purchase future Thanksgiving meals from the restaurant.

Friday breakfast was scrambled eggs, bacon for the kids, Japanese milk bread toast, organic blueberries and blackberries. From the French shop near us in MA, a mushroom + emmental quiche and an assortment of pain au chocolat/almond croissant/dark chocolate flaky twisty baton thingies. French press coffee. Lunch was leftovers (managed to remember to take a few bad photos). Added some Maine Homestead pickled asparagus and pickled carrots that B didn’t realize I had intended to serve on Thursday and were a nice counterpoint to the rich food. More pumpkin pie, and my bro and SIL brought a fruit tart (I didn’t try either). . Still had an untouched apple pie. We decided on takeout sushi for dinner (lotsa salmon avocado rolls for the kids, rando rolls/sashimi for the adults, edamame, seaweed salad). Beer and wine throughout the day.

Saturday breakfast was a repeat. And we had “the game” to watch (Ohio State v. ichigan…yes, the first letter is intentionally missing), so something casual and stress-free. Friday evening, had made a slow-cooker turkey chili so everyone helped themselves during the game. I warmed up mac and cheese for the kids. For myself, I made a pot of rosemary white bean soup. Buckeyes won handily! More leftovers for dinner and soup + bread for me. More beer or wine throughout the day.

Sunday breakfast was the last of my breakfast supplies. Bro and family left around 10 am. Mom and dad went home while we cleaned up and came back to join us for takeout pizza and a chat.

It was a fun drama-free weekend (except for my 24-hour “illness,” whatever the hell it was). We started to think about Xmas plans. We’re probably heading to bro’s house (they’re both good cooks). But in the meantime, work/school/reality beckons tomorrow.

Glad you are feeling better!

I was a little hyper-vigilant during the big day and wore a mask after eating when I noticed BIL wiping his nose and sneezing .

I have a cough from asthma that becomes a huge ordeal when I catch a cold, and I was really trying to avoid that.

I used the cough as my excuse for putting on the mask and an aunt said “we”re all right! You don’t have to do that!”. I don’t remember what I said but she didn’t say anything more.

I would have done the same thing if anyone seemed to have a cough or runny nose at a group dinner.

I wore a mask to a big indoor holiday market called the One of a Kind Show yesterday, and I’m glad I did. The One of a Kind Show has over 750 vendors, and over 1500 people would have been shopping inside at any given time on Sunday.

I backed out of 2 sales, where I had a product in my hand and was next in line to purchase it, when another shopper with a really terrible cold or other bug. was hacking right next to me. The second time it happened, the woman was about 8 inches away from me, and even being masked, I felt like I was being showered with her droplets. Ick

I also feel for the sellers who can’t escape that situation. It must be pretty hard to unwind at night after a full day of sales in that environment.

There were a lot of families with babies and young kids around, and I’d hate for them to be picking up nasty flus at the Xmas market.

I really wish North America was more like Japan, where people automatically mask so other people won’t catch their colds.

I haven’t been to the One of a Kind show since before covid. Is it still as crowded now as before? I am contemplating a trip to Toronto next year or the year after depending on what I want to take in.

I 100% agree with this. There are a lot of people in Ottawa who are also coughing and sneezing and in blatant disregard to others. I am not immunocompromised but I also don’t want to get other people’s germs. And my colleagues are now coming into the office sick just like before the pandemic because “it’s just a little cold”.

This was the 50th anniversary show, and it was much bigger and overall, better, than the 2023 or 2024 shows.

It is very different than the 2018 or 2019 shows. I would say, less goods from our west and out east. Younger sellers.

Some goods that aren’t really festive and I wonder why they’re there.

The space felt more festive this year.

A new thing this year was an aisle with at least a dozen quality vintage clothing booths.

Some Montreal and Toronto clothing designers who used to participate no longer do.

Some artists with works on paper that I know didn’t participate this year.

I spoke to one toffee maker who did not take part, because he felt there were too many food stalls this year, making it too competitive, hurting the chances of anyone making a profit.

He is selling his toffee at the Holiday Market at the Distillery District instead, this year.

My purchases have changed as I have gotten older, have started avoiding sugar, and the clothing available at the show has changed.

This year, in addition to the foods I bought, I bought some jewelry for myself, and 2 scarves for gifts.

It wasn’t too crowded, but only because there are 26 aisles of vendors and it’s a massive space!

…

2 out of the 3 friends I see the most frequently were pretty sick over the past week.

People are free to do whatever they want in their own personal kitchen. But just to be clear, according to the USDA washing isn’t just unnecessary, it’s actually counter-productive and helps spread pathogens. Source: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/washing-food-does-it-promote-food#:~:text=USDA%20research%20has%20found%20that,recommended%20as%20the%20safest%20method.

Something to think about next time you’re scrubbing down some chicken

Eh, I’m with @Aubergine. We have a deep sink, and nothing splashes out or ‘contaminates’ anything.

And here I am typing this after 30+ years of doing so.

Late to the party!

Wife requested a smaller bird this year because the main leftover takeithomers weren’t with us this year. So about 11 pounds, brined just a wee bit too long because I got hung up babysitting and then shopping a bit later than I’d thought (it got 15 hours instead of the 12 that I wanted). Still, all good - breasts were great but the darks seemed a bit on the salty side. Made for great white bean chili the next day, though.

Green bean casserole, gluten free and from scratch, except this year (like last year) the girls bought GF fried onions instead of making them at home, which is just too tedious given all the other work going on. This brand of onions over-toasted too quickly, but overall it was still great.

Candied sweet taters.

GF dressing with apples. Very standard recipe with fresh sage, rosemary, thyme, except I bought 2 loaves of Canyon GF bread to use.

We had 2 kinds of pumpkin pie (no pics). My son did both including GF crusts (sister texted him instruction). One pumpkin was called “blue pumpkin” (blue outside and pale yellow flesh when he broke it down) and was really too wet. We could tell that at the roast and scoop out stage, and tried baking longer to dry it out, but it was still too wet. The other pumpkin was called “sweet baking pumpkin” or some such. That pie was about the best I’ve ever had.

Daughter 2 arrived after dinner Wednesday night, and got a burr under her saddle, deciding to make a GF cheesecake [Ed: crust was pecans, I mean; I don’t know if the recipe she followed called for any flour or not] with ricotta and sour cream (both of which I have too much of) instead of cream cheese, which I didn’t have much of. It was great; couldn’t tell it wasn’t cream cheese based.

Just because you’ve been doing something for N years because you didn’t know any better and it hasn’t caused any problems, is no reason to keep doing it now that you do know better. That’s gambler logic.

Anyway, not trying to start a war, just hoping to educate. I’ll not respond on this topic again.

I appreciate your concern, but I have been well aware of this information for most of my adult life, and I am quite capable of making my own decisions.

I do like poker, however.