Spreadsheeting Thanksgiving…. November 19, 2009

Why does my turkey never look like this?

It’s only a week away people…ONE WEEK AWAY!!!! Are you ready? Your Aunt Ida’s recipe for stuffed potatoes at your fingertips… new way to brine your turkey all set….yams ready to roast??  No? Better get it together….

Here’s my situation….I won’t  be cooking Thanksgiving dinner and I will be working part of that day, so a lovely friend who takes in people(flotsam and jetsam like me and the fam) at Thanksgiving, has invited us to share her table. Thank you Betsy.♥ And yes, I will make an apple pie(from scratch), and a surprise dessert(which I will not even attempt)….I stumbled on the most fabulous chocolate caramel sea salt tart at Atwater’s in Belvedere Square  the other day. I know some of you will flinch at the thought of  sea salt on a chocolate tart, but salt and chocolate have a real affinity for each other. The salt somehow makes the chocolate’s sweetness that much more enjoyable. Trust me..it’s delish.

And in the sense of sharing  Thanksgiving with those who are far away from home this holiday….Xeorox, bless their little copying hearts, has provided an easy way for you to send a free printed postcard to military personnel overseas. if you go to LetsSayThanks.com , and it’s in three dead-easy, quick steps…and you don’t have to provide any personal info, not your email address or anything. I just sent one. I liked it.

And for those of you who may be preparing one of your first Thanksgiving spreads, or feel like everything just gets all out of control and flonkerbot on that busy cooking day(I remember the first year I cooked the whole meal by myself, and I didn’t start anything until Thanksgiving Day…with one oven. We didn’t eat until late that night…so sad.), the lovely Jennifer of  ExcelRainman  has created a Thanksgiving Meal Manager spreadsheet  that you can download for free(mac or pc), to get the Thanksgiving beast under control. Recipes, shopping lists, timetables…..it’s all there. That girl is so organized. The beast growls no more.

Sound-off on dressing/stuffing/filling…or whatever you call it. November 12, 2009

I wrote last week about an “interesting” recipe my Mom sent from the Birmingham News, for  grits dressing/stuffing for the turkey. I know…it sounds decidedly odd…but the writers of the Glorious Grits cookbook say it’s fabb. We’ll see.  Here’s what readers thought….

From Sue….”My husband would eat grits 24 hours a day. I will have to ask him if he would like his turkey stuffed with grits.” (We have not heard back from Sue about her husbands feelings on a grits dressing.)

Paul(who’s a fancy chef), said, ……”I love grits and used them in many ways but in the turkey?? I just don’t know..It could be one of those things that is possible and palatable but is it better than real dressing. Kind of like a veggie burger being substituted for a real beef burger, while it is tasty it not the same.”  (I couldn’t agree more.)

This was from my grits loving sister in Gulf Shores, Alabama( she had water under her house from Ida)….who wrote me about the recipe for pimento cheese …….” Hi little sister—lots of us still in the deep south add a little Worcestershire sauce–and i also have a friend who adds little green onion–which is very pretty and tasty ! I cannot imagine velveeta –sounds gross!i also want to try the grits dressing–but maybe not for thanksgiving! love u—audie”  And I want to point out that the velveeta and Worcestershire go in the pimento cheese…NOT the dressing. Though on second thought, it might not be half bad.

And from Kathy, a new word for dressing/stuffing…”I learned that grits were delicious when my husband was stationed in the Atlanta area about 25 years ago. I also learned how to make sweet tea and to order un-sweet. Those three years in the South taught me to love much about the South. Don’t know if I want to try grits in my turkey, though. My son-in-law from Philadelphia calls stuffing “filling”–he says that it fills the turkey and that is what they call it.”  OK, that is just odd. I mean I’ve heard of pie filling but turkey filling??  Those Phillies fans….

From Ed…”When this ole Pennsylvania boy went to Tenn for college in the ’70’s I discovered grits. To this day I can’t resist a hot bowl of grits at anytime of the day. Odd thing though, my wife is from Tenn and can’t stand ‘em, go figure. Ever put them in the fridge overnight and then the next day, slice and fry them and put maple syrup on them. Very good!!” Ummmm…Ed, you have committed the cardinal sin in my book about grits…putting sweet stuff on them. It’s just so wrong.

And this one from Jessica has me really intrigued.…” My mother-in-law makes a dressing with grits and saltines that is to die for. She tried to teach me, and after years I think I have it down!”  Well, Jessica, what are you waiting for? Send the recipe so we can give it a try! I do love saltines…maybe that is like an addition of bread to the dressing??