Thanksgiving luncheon

It was all in all a great meal. 

There were a few complaints, but overall, the luncheon went spectacularly. One complaint, and the boss said "I'm not complaining" when he mentioned this, was that the turkey was a bit salty. That's not something I could control since I'd merely ordered the turkey from Coupang. I guess it was a different brand from the one ordered last year; I'll have to check my order archives to be sure. My boss made his complaint before I'd had a chance to bite into the turkey myself, but when I finally did, I could tell he was right: the turkey was indeed a bit salty, and the saltiness built up the more turkey I ate. I suggested to the boss that, if he wanted to take the leftovers home, he should ask his wife to make a turkey pot pie or something so as to distribute the saltiness through something else. I also recommended that he take home the creamed corn, which we barely dented, since that was already the consistency of a pot-pie filling; just add minced carrots, celery, onions, and maybe peas. Add some herbs like sage, parsley, etc. No need to add much salt since the turkey already had so much.

The other two slight disappointments were (1) the green beans—just as unpopular this year as last year—and (2) the pumpkin pies. The boss brought in a pie he'd bought from a downstairs bakery. Both that pie and my pie turned out to be fairly pumpkin-forward, which is strange since last year's pie, from the same recipe (plus one egg) was so awesome. Of course, as I'd mentioned earlier, the boss had, last year, given me a pumpkin grown by a farmer friend of his; I guess that the farmer's pumpkin had been sweeter than this year's pumpkin purée, also ordered from Coupang like the turkey breast. In all, though, the boss ended up liking my pie better, and so did I. My Korean coworker pronounced everything delicious and said he'd eaten too much; my boss eventually had to heave himself up and lurch off to his evening class.

Upshot: the disappointments weren't really big disappointments, so they didn't bother me. Everything else, though, was an unmitigated hit. The stuffing—which I'd made by going retro and doing it on the stovetop, without custard, the way I used to do it—was perfectly seasoned and flavored, not too salty, and not too sweet. The mashed potatoes were great, as were the sweet potatoes (no marshmallows—just candied nuts off to the side that the troops could sprinkle onto their sweet potatoes before microwaving). The glazed ham was very good despite the meager quantity of it, and after I'd mixed in a bit of water to thin out the cranberry sauce a bit, that was great, too, just like last year. I really like the idea of using dried cranberries to make cranberry sauce. The gravy, which started the day as a congealed, refrigerated rectangle plopping hilariously into a high-walled skillet, was perfectly flavored. Thank goodness for that bottle of Gravy Master; it really simplifies the gravy-making process. No need for turkey drippings: just make a chicken-broth "Béchamel," then add a teaspoon of Gravy Master (sort of a demi-glace concentrate), stir and heat, et voilà.

Back to the pies for a sec. As you'll see in the pics below, I had toppings for my own pie: the blitzed-up Biscoff crumble crust, the syrupy drizzle from my Bananas Foster recipe, and a can of whipped cream (some German brand called Meggle) bought at my building's downstairs grocery. These toppings radically improved the flavor of my pie (whose texture was also miraculously perfect for once—and no cracks!). While I ended up giving both pies a B+, I'd rather dig into my own pie again than that store-bought pie.

So let's get to the pictures.

Turkey, bagged up and being held in warm water as we wait for the boss to arrive.

The gravy, hilariously plopped into a skillet and looking like a droopy rectangle.

A wide shot of many of the sides: stuffing, glazed, ham, candied nuts, sweet potatoes, green beans with ham and shrooms, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, butter, and rolls from the bakery downstairs (probably the same bakery from which the boss bought his pie).

My Bananas Foster topping (boozy with rum), the Biscoff crumble, and my rough-looking pie.

My "spray cream," which sounds vaguely nasty.

Everything here is carby except maybe for the green beans.

closeup of the rolls and cranberry sauce

a closer look at the stuffing, which really was tastefully flavored this time

sweet taters and their candied-nut topping

the meager-but-delicious glazed ham (glaze = maple syrup and brown sugar)

the gravy again, now heated

Round 1 for me; not enough room for green beans.

Round 2, with green beans and less on my plate this time (I'd fasted for two days before this).

I'd forgotten to photograph the roll I took. Even better with butter. God, this was a carby day.

The two pies. You can easily tell which one is mine.

Pie slices on my plate, with my own slice jazzed up with toppings. I thought both were good.

The pumpkin-forward flavor of both pies was a reminder that Costco pumpkin pies are delicious but loaded with a bunch of extra, irrelevant ingredients, assembly-line style.

The bakery's pumpkin pie had pumpkin seeds on it, keeping to a theme. Nice.

The above is supposed to be French, and it mostly is. I couldn't figure out, at first, what "Le leve Heureux" meant, but then I read the small print: "Ce n'était qu'un rêve" (I've supplied the missing accents). This means, "It was only a dream." So the missing accents for était (was) and rêve (dream) were a problem, but I had at least figured out "Le leve Heureux": the leve was supposed to be rêve, i.e., "dream," so this was the classic East Asian problem with Rs and Ls. The capitalization was all wrong, too: it should be "Le rêve heureux," the happy dream. Ah, well. If "Konglish" is the Korean bastardization of English, what's the Korean-French equivalent? Coréen + français = le corçais?

the top of the pie box

With so much left over, the boss—and maybe my Korean coworker—plans to take a lot of food home with him to feed his family. I don't know whether his kids will like the pumpkin pie, and the turkey issue is a real problem, so I hope the Missus adds the meat to a nice pot pie. I'm supposed to fast all of Friday, but I'm sorely tempted to chow down on more stuffing and creamed corn. For me, when the stuffing's done right, it's the star of the show. I also suggested to the boss that he could make that Moistmaker sandwich from "Friends." It's a sandwich that's been reproduced by any number of YouTube cooks and chefs, and it looks like a great way to get rid of Thanksgiving leftovers. I'm not so sure my Korean coworker will bother to take any food home with him; he usually doesn't despite generally liking what I cook. Ooh, come to think of it, I could also eat more of those mashed potatoes. Now, if I really wanted to be keto, I'd stick with the turkey meat and the green beans.

Nah.

I hope your own Thanksgiving went well, with lots of food and friends and family.