Thanksgiving aftermath...

...or, secondary title, I've never had so much food in my fridge from one meal and my kitchen has never smelled so good.  So, all in all, it was a success.  The turkey brine was a great idea.  It left my turkey insanely moist for a bird that just spend almost 3 hours in the oven and the process was pretty simple.  Now, I have a bucket leftover for such tasks should I want to do something like this again in the future.  I probably will.

My gluten free rolls were better the first time around but they still were pretty good today.  Nice and soft, and not too gummy or brittle.  Unlike the stuffing.  I used a loaf of Udi's Gluten Free bread which is my go to for sandwiches but somehow it didn't stand up to being turned into stuffing.  It's crumbly still, though less than other brands, and when the moisture in the chicken broth hit it, it started to disintegrate into a grainy mush.  Not Good Eats, as Alton would say.  It did the job just fine though and was certainly tasty, just not quite the right texture.  I added a red delicious apple for more flavor and used shallots instead of onions.

The gravy also did not thicken as much as I wanted, probably owing to the simple fact that I didn't use enough corn starch to thicken it.  It did gelatinize in the fridge though so that's good.  Maybe it'll be better tomorrow.  Lastly, the sweet potato and turnip mash was amazing and I have so much of it I ended up freezing a huge portion of it, along with a large portion of turkey soup I made after dinner.  The turkey soup, even though I didn't boil the carcass for all that long (maybe an hour and a half), came out excellent and it left my kitchen smelling amazing. That'll be great for the colder weeks to come.

After dinner, we ate a pie that Alexa's mom made.  Pumpkin with a crushed pecan and date crust.  It was so good I'm having to stop myself from eating another slice just because they left me a couple.  It'll be amazing tomorrow.  She had also brought a gluten free quiche that we devoured for brunch when they first arrived.  Crust made out of shredded potato hash. 

I guess all this just goes to show you how a gluten free Thanksgiving is totally possible and not all that hard.  In fact, the harder aspects of today were the typical things that anyone would find difficult doing this for the first time or the thousandth time.  And a lot of that falls under the timing category.

And though it was a challenge, timing everything to be ready at the same time, I managed and it reminds me how much I love planning and executing.  Also how much I love cooking.  I have forgotten that in recent days when I'm confined to cooking quick cooking meals that can reheat well (i.e. one pot dishes and simple chicken dishes, never fish because it never reheats well) and that I can bring to work in separate portions so I only have to cook once or twice a week.  This presents its own challenges and can be fun if I have the enthusiasm and creativity to change it up every once in a while, but some weeks when I'm trying to cram so much into a day between full time work, yoga, and freelancing in voice over and music, it gets tempting to just fall into a pattern and stick with what works.  So I'm almost never trying new things like, say, brining a turkey or baking gluten free rolls.  So, this was great fun.  And I'm thankful that I had the opportunity and the means to pull it off and that I have friends and family to share it with.  That's what it's all about after all. 

And for the record, I'm also thankful that I'm living in this city, still surviving after almost four years, doing what I love and accomplishing, albeit slowly, what I set out to do.  Signing off after a long full day of food and friends.  Early day tomorrow.  Good night. 

Thanksgiving 2012 Best Shots