Thanksgiving 2012 in 7 frames

On Thursday, the weather was bright and gorgeous-- the best possible conditions in which to celebrate Thanksgiving. Here are some images from yesterday. First up-- the completed choucroute alsacienne, whose cooking I had to accelerate by raising the temperature from 375 to 450 degrees. The smell of all that aromatic meat, with an undercurrent of beer and kraut, pervaded my apartment and nearly drove me to distraction. Here's what the fully cooked end product looked like:

Below, David's baby-spinach salad, with red onions. Not pictured: goat cheese, dried cranberry sprinkles, toasted walnuts, and a delicious, homemade citrus salad dressing.


Below: the bird itself, with its "Dune"-style Harkonnen heart plug popped out. David had bought a modest-sized bird for four people; although it was his first time ever cooking a turkey by himself, he did a great job.


Next, we see David and the lovely Patricia at work. David's making the salad, and Patricia is doubtless conjuring up something magical:


David was initially leery about carving the turkey, but he did a better job than I might have done in his place. I gave him some pointers on where and how to cut, content in my hands-off role as knife coach.


And now for a little "Before and After." Below, we see the table before everything went on it...


...and below, in our final frame, we see the table's having gone from zero to Groaning Board:


The honor roll of dishes visible in the picture above, starting from the back and working our way forward:

Dr. Steve (not eaten)
baked potatoes (choucroute)
salad
cranberry sauce
sweet potatoes with marshmallow topping
homemade garlic-and-parmesan mashed potatoes
pork sirloin (part of the choucroute)
turkey (white and dark meat)
another individual bowl of salad
Dr. Steve's Wegmans mac-and-cheese
sauerkraut (from which choucroute gets its name)
brown gravy
two more salads
biscuits (a bit overdone, but still quite edible)
piles of sausage and bacon
stuffing (quickly made by yours truly)

Not pictured: homemade rum cake, and two Wegmans pies (courtesy of Dr. Steve)-- apple and pumpkin.

I hope your own Thanksgiving celebrations went well yesterday, and that today finds you resting comfortably, still digesting a magnificent meal.





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