Thanksgiving for Two

What I love about menu planning and cooking is the challenge. How do you plan dinner for out of town company when you might be working until 4:30 pm? How do you plan an elegant brunch by the pond? And here was my clincher, Thanksgiving Dinner for Two. For years we have shared turkey with Brad and Andrew, here at our house with our parents, and then, after our parents departed or could no longer make the long drive, out in Cambridge, which is the ultimate in elegance. It has always been such fun doing turkey with these two. The boys are so into this holiday with the decorating, the cooking, and the service of this annual feast. We will look forward to joining them again next year, but for this year, how would we manage with just the two of us, and with Bruce as my main and only helper, who is not a cooking afficionado?

My first puzzle was how to keep Bruce engaged in the process. He has been wanting to make a lobster bisque, which he orders at our favortie restaurants when it shows up on the menu. I found a recipe for Bruce to use, and frozen lobster pieces at Krogers which cost nearly as much as the turkey. Bruce took charge of lunch, which we served out on the sunporch with a glass of chardonnay.

What made this Thanksgiving unusual was retirement. I cleaned the house on Tuesday morning, shopped in the afternoon, then did a lot of prep on Wednesday. Also, we had plenty of garnishes still growing out in the garden, which is most unusual. We usually have a hard frost sometime in September which kills the parsley.

My plan was to forge ahead with the table service, so out came the silver, crystal, and finer china. Since there would be no extra hands for all the hand dishwashing, we kept the plates to a minimum. No salad plates nor bread and butter plates. We still had the glitz and the glamour, just not so much of it. Then for the menu - We wanted all the tradition of turkey, dressing, cranberries and sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. I added a gratin of brussel sprouts that could be thrown together once the turkey was out of the oven. Most everything was done the day ahead. In fact, Wednesday was much busier than Thursday. Gravy is always my nemesis. I start out with so much, but end up cooking it down to next to nothing. The gravy was divine, and Bruce reveled in not having to share with too many people.

Dressing flavoring in Mother's bowl. Brad's candied crabapples in jar on right.



The Host serves the Guest (1)



Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!