Because 2 days is never enough.

My friends Jody and Tony and my sister and her girlfriend, Anna came to Brooklyn to celebrate the holiday with us. I spend Wednesday evening preparing some advanced items and chopping veggies ahead of time. I boiled and peeled the chestnuts for the stuffing, yoga breathing all the time to keep myself from flying into a rage at the ridiculous task. I basically burned off the tips of my fingers and only managed to get adequate peeling for about 70% of the chestnuts (luckily, I overbought). No major mishaps, well… except for the gratin that I unwittingly cooked an extra two hours by leaving it to “cool” on top of the range where the heat from the oven rose steadily all afternoon or the meat thermometer that exploded from the heat in the over – it wasn’t a real meat thermometer. Luckily, both items came out all right regardless.

We didn’t realize how much careful planning we would need for the small oven and the big feast, but we basically had mental spreadsheets all organized and orchestrated everything pretty well. Our makeshift table even looked mildly sharp with the coordinating tablecloth (the artist formerly knows as “our curtains”) and Karl’s pie decorations were the final piece of festive charm.

The Menu:
1. Parsnip, Apple, Leek Soup
2. Roasted Heirloom Cauliflower (purple) and Brussel Sprouts
3. Butternut Squash and Spinach Au Gratin
4. Cranberry, chestnut stuffing
5. Roasted Turkey Breast
6. Cranberry-Walnut Relish
7. Garlic Mashed Potatoes
8. Apple Crisp (made by Kate and Anna)
9. Pumpkin Pie

Thanks to our lovely guests for a great holiday. I feel like a real grown-up now!