Belated Thanksgiving Dinner

We had planned to eat Thanksgiving dinner with friends on Thursday but because Ollie still had a fever then, we canceled. I considered scrambling to pull a quickie-turkey-dinner together that day but neither of the boys had much of an appetite, so we agreed to postpone our Thanksgiving dinner until Sunday.

So...Happy Belated Thanksgiving. It was a relaxing day here. I started brining my turkey on Saturday morning (before we left for Port Angeles). On Sunday morning, I shopped for groceries. The menu was pretty pared back; just our favorite dishes and a store-bought pie.

Merrit made deviled eggs. I made Alton Brown's brined and roasted turkey, Rachel Ray's Brussels sprouts with bacon, and my mom's cornbread and shrimp stuffing (I think this originally came from Epicurious.com, but I don't know for sure). We also had canned cranberry sauce (not my favorite, but again, just keeping it super simple this year) and that store-bought pumpkin pie with Reddi-whip.

The day in pictures...

Since the bird was only eight pounds, it fit right in my
stock pot to brine for a day in the fridge.

My favorite Thanksgiving dish. To die for.

Mixing it up in my "Charleston girls' weekend" apron!

Thyme from the garden. For the stuffing.

Sage from the garden. Also for stuffing.

Threw some rosemary sprigs in the brine. Why not? :)

Impulse buy at Trader Joe's: This greenery wreath. Dolled
it up a little with some bells and silvery stuff.

This was a first: Baking our stuffing in individual ramekins. Super cute!
The kids thought this was fun.

Halved Brussels sprouts. 

Merrit handled the deviled eggs from start to finish.
"Doubled eggs," as he used to call them
when he was about five, is of his many specialties...

Ollie snags some cheese, crackers, and summer sausage
while Merrit and I work (and snack!) in the kitchen.

Slicing the eggs in half.

The finished product! (We made the leftovers
into egg salad for school lunches. Merrit made
a lot of deviled eggs for four people!)

Working Girl wine that we bought in Port Angeles yesterday.

I cook my bird dark-meat side up for 30 mins at 500, then flip it over,
put it back in and cook it at 350 until a thermometer in thigh reads 170.
Then let it rest for 30+ minutes under foil. PERFECT every time! (Thanks Alton.)

Mike, who didn't even put on real pants today--spent all day in flannel PJs--
popped some champagne for a Thanksgiving toast.

Getting ready to dig in! (Nobody finished all their stuffing...I think I need
smaller ramekins if I were going to do this again.)

Cheers!