I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving; I certainly did, though I was ready to call it quits around 4:30pm. Cooking all day, plus the previous day, had me fading fast and desperately wishing for fortification via a glass of strong red wine. As that wasn't coming any time soon I opted for a quick lie down, which is where Seth found when he came home of couple of hours later. What? Cooking is exhausting. No worries, though, as most everything was already finished by that point: braised turkey seasoned with allspice, cloves, cinnamon, star anise and black peppercorns; a delicious syrupy reduction of the braising liquid; garlic mashed potatoes; butternut squash and chickpea salad; fresh cranberry sauce; and a simple, yet necessary, green salad. Oh, and the stuffed grape leaves, of course.
I was going to bake a loaf of challah bread but decided instead to make rolls out of the dough. They turned out so pretty that I actually pet one - and then ate it. Despite having largely given up bread and knowing that my gluten intolerance would kick in anyway, I had another at dinner and one for breakfast today. I am powerless to their siren call.
After feasting and much laughter,we adjourned to our neighbor's apartment to enjoy shisha and allowed the Thanksgiving celebration go on past midnight. It was fantastic. While it's fun teaching others about Thanksgiving and how we celebrate it, being with people who already understand the built-in comfort of the holiday is nice, too. And they have fluffy kitties - always a plus.
It looks like you had fun. Those rolls look divine. We had several people at our place for whom it was their first Thanksgiving, which was neat.
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