This week Thursday was Thanksgiving Holiday here in the US. I am German so until I met my now-husband who is American I had no idea about this holiday. In Germany Thanksgiving is not celebrated. Around this time, well, maybe a little earlier in the fall, there are harvest festivals and markets in different towns and they are fun to check out. And that timing is the common ground.
The origin of the Thanksgiving holiday here and the harvest festivals both go back to the same thing. People celebrated the end of the harvest season and practiced being thankful for it in different ways.
Is that still the way? I honestly don't know. I could imagine that in more rural or farmland areas this is still an important custom. But, today, for most Americans Thanksgiving is most and foremost a National Holiday with most shops closed. Mind you, this only happens two or three days a year.
At the same time, it is a day of family gatherings all over the country and as such an opportunity to host and cook a meal to everyone's heart's content. The center stage of that meal is usually taken by a roasted turkey.
Personally, I don't care so much about the turkey but the American in my husband absolutely wants his turkey on Turkey Day. So, turkey it is. But what is a turkey without stuffing and sides? Correct - not so enjoyable! We need sides!
What's very enjoyable to me is that hubby and I are preparing everything together in the kitchen for this feast. We're having a good time with loud music, lots of laughter, and maybe a glass of wine. Good times ahead of a good meal.
But now without further ado - this year's side dishes, first off, of course,
Home-made cranberry sauce
The very first time I had cranberry sauce it was a glibbery jelly mass dropped from a can. Since that time I will always make cranberry sauce at home. And it is unbelievably easy.
Caramelize sugar, add finely chopped onion, add washed, raw cranberries, simmer on low heat, add fluid (wine, water, orange juice) so nothing burns until the cranberries start to soften and pop and thicken. I like to add a bit of Grand Marnier liqueur to it but that's totally optional.
The next side shows that I am German and hubby lived in Germany for a while and developed a taste for
Braised red cabbage
Chop the cabbage and some (turkey) bacon, briefly fry both in hot oil, add a couple of chopped apples, mix everything for a couple of minutes, add a little white wine vinegar or apple vinegar, some sugar, and then cook it till tender or crunchy to your preference.
But you cannot have just one side, can you? So, we also made
Brussels sprouts caramelized with maple syrup
In recent years I have developed a liking for brussels sprouts. Oh, how I hated those green balls of bitterness as a kid and for many years after. Not anymore. Hubby bought a stalk of them yet I didn't prepare them on the stalk but cut them off. First I microwaved them for 3 - 4 minutes, then halved the bigger ones.
Brussels sprouts, chopped onions roasted together in a hot pan (I'm sure in the oven will work just fine), add a few almonds, drizzle everything with maple syrup and let simmer for a few minutes. Done!
Turkey & Stuffing & Gravy
I didn't get a photo of this year's turkey or stuffing. The pictured one is from last year but we prepared this year's the exact same way.
Stuffing: Cubed home-made sourdough bread mixed with a mix of sauteed mushrooms, celery, onion, fresh rosemary and fresh thyme, salt, pepper
Turkey: Salt, pepper, and Herbs de Provence + stuffing
Gravy - no photo but it is very essential to enjoy the stuffing even more
And that was our Thanksgiving feast. It is now three days later and we'll have the same meal for a third time tonight - LOL. The rest of the turkey meat will get frozen to make its appearance in a pie in a few weeks or months.
Today's post was inspired by @beeber 's Weekly ED Posting Topic 47: THANKSGIVING
Have a great rest of your day!
Cheers,
(Ocean)Bee
Unless otherwise noted, copyright for all photos, dividers and gifs ©Oceanbee|ImagesByCW
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Jetzt weiss ich, warum die amerikanischen Backöfen viel breiter sind als die Euronorm😄.
Ein tolles Rezept, mit den Bildern läuft mir das Wasser im Mund zusammen. Der gefüllte Turkey könnte schon fast ein Eintopf hergeben😉.
Ich freue mich auf Deine Inspiration bei F.P.