NaBloPoMo, Day 22

Well, for all the planning-stages thoughts on what to make for Thanksgiving -- ruminations on pop-up turkey thermometers, brines, sides, desserts, and predicting what other people will eat -- came to a head today with what actually happened.

A breakdown of the menu, when all was said and done:

• duckies! cured in some combination of salt, orange zest, thyme, sage, and other lovelies
• mashed 'taters: not my favorite, but we aim to please here
• a carrot and sweet potato puree, featuring apple cider and other flavors of fall
• broccolini with some cheese and walnuts
• fennel gratin with lots of crispy-crunchy panko bread crumbs
• and for dessert, a pie featuring grapefruit curd, caramel cream, caramel sauce, and a mile-high meringue, torched with everyone's favorite Bernzomatic propane buddy. All atop a graham cracker crust. Different, but ooooooh. Delicious.

The truth of it all: everything was tastytastic. Except for maybe the mashies. I underseasoned them, and the one dish I wasn't responsible for (the duckies) took longer than expected, making the consistency of the mashed potatoes a little gluier than if they had been served immediately after ricing/mixing.

And all this is more information than you ever needed or wanted! Yay blogs!