Maledicte

Thanksgiving Dinner Progress:

Prep
◊ Dad took out the backbone of the turkey and made stock with the backbone and neck while I grumbled about getting up after only 4 hours of sleep.
◊ I cut up bread to be left out to stale for stuffing while Dad thought about... doing something.

Pies
◊ Dad made pancakes while I made pie crust.
◊ It's very possible that while eating a pancake and measuring out flour, I left 1/2 cup of flour out of one of the pie crust batches. Seems to be going ok so far though.
◊ For the record, I suck at using one of those apple slicer/corer things. My kids will be so disappointed.
◊ Pumpkin/Sweet Potato pie filling seems a lot like soup. Maybe I am just not familiar with custards. I guess the quiche I made a few months ago was mostly liquid too and ended up solid. So. Fingers crossed.
◊ Pecan pie crust has been baked, but the filling has yet to be made.
◊ Why yes, we are making three whole pies for two people. We're crazy like that.
◊ Once pies go in, Dad and I will take a little bit to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which we recorded so we could watch it later than 7am.

Parade
◊ CBS was showing "highlights" which was mostly the news casters talking, and occasionally showing a balloon. All I wanted was marching bands and flag twirling! D:

Pies, again
◊ Dad is almost ready to declare today "Pie Fail". We're still hoping though.

Stuffing
◊ Cutting things up. Hopefully there will be less fail in this endeavor.
◊ Oof, only marginally less. Stuffing will hopefully be less mushy when baked.
◊ Something seems to be wrong with our measurements. It's like we're measuring in the american system and everything is in the metric system. Except that I know it's not. What even is happening?
◊ Things all seem to taste good though. So that's a plus.

Pies, yet again
◊ Pies came out of the oven successful! There was no Pie Fail! My Sweet Potato Pumpkin Pie smells delicious. The apple pie smells pretty good too. :>

Turkey and stuffing
◊ Pies came out, turkey went in. We took the turkey apart, which cuts the cooking time in half. It went in at about 2:30pm, which is exactly the time we were planning on it being in. So yay, timing win.

Green Bean Casserole
◊ I made a green bean casserole, using the Campbell's recipe because I am a lame-o who likes that one. Substituted vegetarian oyster sauce (made with mushrooms) for the soy sauce. I hope it comes out yummy.

Gravy
◊ Dad's working on it now (3:30). Should be delicious if the smell of the turkey stock is anything to go by.

Results
◊ Pies done, smell wonderful, look pretty good too. (Discovered I accidentally doubled the shortening in the crust. Now it's extra flaky!)
◊ Turkey and stuffing out and done. Stuffing tastes—holy crap!—like stuffing. ;) Will probably be mushy in the middle, but the edges seem to have firmed up a bit.
◊ Green bean casserole done, smells delicious and just like it's supposed to.
◊ Gravy is done, and frankly delicious.
◊ Cranberry sauce is... from a can. The best kind.

To all those done eating, just sitting down or still waiting for the turkey to finish... Happy Thanksgiving!

P.S. As it's just the two of us, my dad and I are still in sloppy clothes and we will eat our dinner while watching Agora. That's a Johnnie Thanksgiving for you: turkey dinner and ancient philosophy. Actually, those are pretty much the things I'm thankful for. Plus, you know, family, friends, cats, and a generally pretty good life. :D