Tiny Holidays: Thanksgiving Wrap Up

Oh, hello. Didn't see you there from the haze of our food comas. We're finally able to waddle over to Tiny Blogging HQ to update you on our Thanksgiving feast, which was quite wonderful from all accounts. We enjoyed an afternoon of food and festivity with Mike's familia, including his absolutely adorable 90 year old Nana who continues to be the life of the party.

Here she is, pulling off leopard print better than anyone I know. And here is Mike, also trying leopard but not so successful.

So, what are the results of our lovely Turkey Day dinner? Well...here they are:

This is our spread. From the top left, pumpkin cream pie, Chris' banana bread, pecan pie, mashed potatoes, stuffing, rosemary rolls, cranberry sauce, broccoli casserole from Mike's mom that had 42 lbs of cheese but was delicious, turkey that was cooked in the MICROWAVE- no joke, spiral ham, turkey gravy, squash salad.

Oh, and this was to feed 6 people. ::dies again from memories of carb overload::

So what were the hits and misses?

The turkey. It was cooked in the microwave, for real. This is a Simons family tradition and it was my first time sampling this delicacy. It was...turkey. It got browned, not as much as in the oven, but it wasn't white and flabby as I expected. I like white meat, and it was a little dried out, but the dark meat was tasty. I was even able to salvage enough drippings to make a respectable homemade gravy.

The stuffing. Wooooo doggy this was good. Like, way better than I expected good. I'll post the recipe so you can try it yourself on the next occasion requiring stuffing. Like tomorrow's breakfast. Don't judge me.

Spinach-artichoke dip. So completely unnecessary, but so completely delicious. We made homemade tortilla chips to dip, and it made a great little holdover dish until the meal was served. Most of this ended up in the den where the men were gathered to watch the Patriots game.  This was Alton Brown's recipe, and I'll post it when I get a minute!

The mashed potatoes came out well, a little dry though. I'll add more liquid the next time I make them ahead of time. The cranberry sauce was so, so yummy. I ate some on an english muffin for breakfast yesterday. The gravy was super yummy. I also ate it on an english mufin yesterday. I wish I was kidding. I shall post the recipe in the coming days- we made the base ahead of time and added the drippings after the bird was cooked. The rosemary rolls were heavenly and reheated extremely well. My only wish is that I had sprinkled them with a little salt, because they were a tad bland. And I've already talked about how good the squash salad is. This salad has my undying love. Oh, and Mike added a POUND of bacon to it. Horrifying.

The pies. Oh the pies. I wish I could tell you that they came out perfectly and were completely wonderful, but alas I cannot. The pecan pie LOOKED perfect, and was completely set when I removed it from the oven on Wednesday evening. When we cut into it, however, it was a soupy mess. ::sobs:: We ate it, though, and it was tasty but didn't have that gooey feeling that a good pecan pie does. We also made PW's pumpkin cream pie, which I'll post, and it was very light and tasty but not as pumpkin-y as I'd like. I think I'll stick to a traditional pumpkin pie next time. Oh well.

When all was said and done, we had an amazing meal and everyone was full and happy. I cooked my first full Thanksgiving meal (minus the turkey) and barely broke a sweat. It was so easy I think I'll make everything ahead of time for future meals, too. How was your thanksgiving?? Share what you made or what your favorite item was to eat! Gobble gobble!