The Best Meal of the Year

So I had a great Thanksgiving and I hope you did as well.  Is Thanksgiving the best meal of the year?  I think so.  Sure, you've got Christmas, July 4th, Festivus, etc., etc., but Thanksgiving, I think, is the best for two reasons.  1) It's the one meal of the year where we have an acceptable reason to stuff our faces and 2) there's leftovers for days.

While I always say that I like to pretend that I know how to cook, I actually assisted in preparing the dinner.  I made the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, and this:

All Thanksgiving Dessert

If this looks familiar, it should.  This is actually an altered version of the All American Dessert that I featured for July 4th.  I altered the Jello colors for the season (orange and black cherry) and used different fruits (blackberry, banana, and kiwi on top).  The bananas, I think, gave this version more flavor.  Really, really good.

Anyway, onto the meal:

All of the essentials; drumstick, potatoes, and stuffing smothered in gravy with a pair of rolls

Second plate; I actually managed to squeeze some salad in there.  I know, I'm as shocked as you are

The turkey was delicious.  My mom thought it stunk but she says that about all of her food (she's a really good chef).  Halfway through cooking I insisted on flipping it as, I think in theory, that allows the juices to reach all points of the bird for a more flavorful taste.  

Leftovers for breakfast

Christmas Sandwiches - turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and gravy packed into a roll

I've never understood why stuffing is referred to as dressing.  Dressing, to me, indicates the stuff you put on a salad.  Stuffing, even if it's not stuffed into something, is still stuffing.  

The other drumstick and goodies

Wings and a pair of Christmas Sandwiches

The last of the leftovers...yeah, you can tell there wasn't much left

My mashed potatoes.  They're pretty much the equivalent of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

And, of course, the turkey.  The reason for the torn skin is due to flipping it with these giant fork things

It was a great Thanksgiving.  Last year was marred by the half-baked rolls from Lake Murray Cafe and my subsequent boycott of them.  This year we had a total of 36 rolls; 12 from Albertsons, 12 from Sara Lee, and 12 from Charlie's Best Bread...and they all sucked.  Seriously.  Charlie's, which usually puts out great stuff, gave me a dozen hard rosemary rolls lacking in flavor.  The Albertsons ones felt like tortilla chips and the Sara Lee's, easily the best of the bunch, were just mediocre.  Very disappointing.  If you know of some good rolls, please do let me know.  

But overall a terrific day.  I'm thankful for my family, friends, and of course good food!

Thanks for reading!