Thanksgiving Post Mortem

We are recovering, the stock is in the freezer, and all the turkey has been eaten. 15 people can eat a nearly 22 pound turkey in two days. That was the new thing we discovered this weekend. We also found out that unless we can get away with the same size turkey next year, we will need a larger roasting pan. This one just fit in ours.

Because nobody had to drive home the same night, as we have always had each year, we were able to have dinner at dinner time, rather than at breakfast. So, we eased into the day, had a late breakfast/brunch of blintz casserole, double batch in a larger pan, served with raspberry jam and sour cream, two hashbrown casseroles, one with sausage and one without, and lemon cranberry scones - the original recipe. I made four batches

Lemon Cranberry Scones

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Zest of one lemon
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 425. Prepare one pan for baking.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut in butter, I like to rub the pieces of butter through the flour with my fingers, but you may also use a food processor, until mixture resembles large peas and cornmeal. Add cranberries and lemon zest and mix together. Stir in buttermilk until dough holds together. Knead lightly on a floured surface. Pat dough into a circle about eight inches across and cut into eight wedges, like a pie. Place them two inches apart on baking pan. Brush tops with milk and bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Our final menu, what actually made it to the table, for dinner was:

Lemon-Rosemary Roasted Turkey with Bourbon Gravy
Pumpkin Rolls and butter
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Shredded Brussels Sprouts
Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Bread Stuffing (I was going to make my wild rice dressing, but my mom made this instead)
Lemon Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry Horseradish Relish

We had a Chardonnay and a Sangiovese to drink, as well as Martinelli's Sparkling Cider, Apple and Cranberry Apple. My mother in law started a salad, but decided that with the appetizers and the amount of vegetables on the table for dinner, it wouldn't be missed.

We started with a relish tray including:

Mixed pickled vegetables, four kinds of olives, dill pickles, bread & butter pickles and sweet pickles
Crudites Platter
Spinach Dip
Asst Crackers
Stuffed Grape Leaves
[edited to correct] Devilled Eggs

For dessert, we had two each:

Pumkpin Pie, made from our sugar pumpkins
Chocolate Pecan Pie
Cranberry Cherry Pie
Nantucket Cranberry Pie

I also made a sweet potato casserole that was loaded with eggs, butter and brown sugar and topped with pecans, more butter and brown sugar.

We're still full.