IT'S NEVER TOO LATE FOR THANKSGIVING

Between this:

And This:

There was a LOT of work. DS asked if he could make the dressing this year, and I was delighted. I made the stock the day before, with the carcasses of two Sam’s chickens, celery, onion, a little chicken base, a little garlic and salt, and stashed the gallon in the fridge. Though we were making dressing and gravy only for seven, he likes LOTS of broth to make the dressing moist, and we make two kinds of gravy.

The plain, bland kind with just boiled eggs (it’s a Southern thing, and I’ve taken enough flak for it on cooking sites to last forever---it’s amazing how many ways folks can find to spell “EWWWWW”).

And the de rigueur Giblet Gravy, made just with livers this year.

The Dressing in Progress:

Lots of folks like to sauté the vegetables first, and that’s certainly a delicious way to make dressing, with those caramelly onions and celery and perhaps even mirepoix with carrots. But there’s a moment there, a split-second of the preparation, when the scent of the cornbread crumbled into the big bowl, and the tiny mince of raw sweet onion and just-cut celery, along with a generous scatter of fresh-ground black pepper and a good shake of the McCormick Poultry Seasoning---leaning over that bowl for the Fall’s first scent of Dressing-in-Progress---smelling those only-that-one-combination aromas---that’s when the Thanksgiving Dinner begins.

Not when I’ve polished up the silver, or got out the pretty cut-glass dishes gathered from so many tables not my own, or when the sweet potatoes go in to bake, but at THAT MOMENT, that inhaling of the scents old as Southern cooking, readily available for probably centuries and compiled of the essence of the dish---THAT’S the instant the clock turns to Thanksgiving, no matter what the calendar says.

For the first time, we cooked Golden Acorn Squash, stuffed with apple, craisins and Sultanas. Chris is very fond of the green ones, and happened to see this recipe online a day or two before THE DAY.

This dish is one of my favorite old pieces---it’s my Mammaw’s Homer Laughlin pieplate, never absent from any holiday or “fancy” dinner. I love old and faded and chipped pieces, but not necessarily around food---but this one has been in constant use since probably the Thirties or Forties, and it's like an old retainer with fumbly hands and clumsy feet, kept around because of respect and such long, faithful service.

The Sweet Potato Custard---I made up the streusel topping, and as the plate was so full, and the time flying by, I never did add it to the dish. We served this with the Dessert Course.

The green beans, contrary to tradition, were tee-ninesy Haricots Verts, cooked down low with soy sauce, garlic, and sesame oil---a family favorite.

I’d made the beets several days early to let them marinate a bit---pickled with vinegar and some sugar, a little bit of spice, and a tiny drained jar of cocktail onions---I love the little glowy pearls.

The "other" Cranberry---with apple juice, orange peel, vanilla and Splenda:

The REAL cranberry---at least to Chris, without which . . . And, as always, the little pleats from the can add the authentic touch.

Crisp, briny Pickled Okra:

The “Kickshaws and Garnishes” as they used to say, with the celery the only nod to the Relish Tray tradition:

The finished dressing:

Couldn't you just step up and lie RIGHT DOWN?

And TAAAA-DAAAAA!! The TURKEY!!

If Turkey seems a bit streamlined, it’s because Chris took both Breast Lobes from the carcass, stashing one in the fridge for our trip on Friday, and slicing the other across the grain, for a really neat presentation. The thigh meat is hidden beneath the wings. He always carves in the kitchen, for it’s a messy business, all that dismembering and such, unfit for children’s eyes. (Though they do come running for a taste as soon as he brings it into the house).

It’s VERY moist, with just a hint of smoke, and simply delicious. (My first TEE-HEE. I just noticed that the picture shows Turkey topless, and she looks as if she's trying to retain her modesty with her wing-tips).

The table photos look like spreads from a 1974 Gourmet Magazine---all wine-dark and in somber tones---we were quite busy, and hurrying while things were HOT.

 

Everything was eventually tinted with the cranberry and beets, and once it hit the beans---which one of my Faithful Readers can recognize Gagh??

So---desserts later, OK?? I think this is a surfeit for one afternoon---Chris is taking me to dinner, and I can’t think of a thing that sounds good right now.

Moiré non about dessert and our weekend trip to TN,