Thanksgiving 2014

Eric's been on a quest for the absolute perfect turkey.  He's come close on many occasions, but this year he had unadulterated success.  He's deep friend turkey before (great moisture, good flavor), and he's smoked turkey (excellent flavor, a bit dry)... so this year, he smoked the turkey fr about 3 hours and then deep fried it for about 45 minutes.

Perfection.

It actually ended up not quite as pretty as some birds, because while it had an amazing smoky flavor, it was so moist it was falling apart!

And then after the turkey came out of the oil, he put in the stuffing balls to be deep fried also.  Holy crow.

And he made butternut squash soup with squash we grew in the backyard.

I was in charge of the sweet potatoes, which I did for the first time, and got 'em right using my mother's very vague and mostly unwritten recipe!

And then the pie.  My coup, the French apple pie.

The End of Pumpkin Season

I love pumpkin, and I love people who love pumpkin.  This year, I had the opportunity to try a bunch of pumpkin desserts, and I was in heaven.

First, for book club, I tried this chocolate pumpkin pie (except I make my own pie crust).

Then, for film club, I tried this pumpkin spice cheesecake.

Then, for the office, I made these pumpkin cupcakes with whipped cinnamon icing.  Turns out my office loves pumpkin as much as I do!  They were devoured by lunchtime.

So for Thanksgiving, I decided to do the pumpkin spice cheesecake again, this time to bring into the office the day before the holiday (Wednesday).

Fortuitously, on Tuesday before I baked the cheesecake, I heard to of the women in my office talking about ordering pie for the birthday of one of the attorneys... which was the next day.  So I told them about the cheesecake I had planned, and instead of ordering something, I made fresh, homemade whipped cream and accosted my cheesecake with my less-than-stellar but well-meaning handwriting.

Yes, my piping skills need work.  But that ended up irrelevant.

It snowed on Wednesday, and so when I left my car to go into the office, I was wearing my down jacket, which makes my naturally graceless self even more so, plus carrying my pocketbook, my lunch, the container of whipped cream, the cheesecake in a carrier, and my snow brush for the car.

Too much.

The cake carrier went off balance, slid, and hit the ground upside-down.  My good plate broke in half.  The cheesecake landed, thankfully still inside the top lid of the carrier, upside-down.

Still edible, but no more handwriting.  I was glad I'd gotten photos, so I could show everyone, especially Jonathan.   It made him smile, and everyone loved the cheesecake & whipped cream anyway.  It got devoured like the cupcakes, the best compliment a baker can get.

And that was it for my pumpkin adventures this season.  Today, Thanksgiving, marked the start of the next thing.  Apples.

Three pounds of granny smiths, to be exact.

And the result?  Yum.

 

My first ever time doing a solo stint replicating my mother's award-winning French apple pie.  Nailed it!