Friday, November 17, 2006

Thanksgiving Dinner Menu Planning- Turducken Centerpiece

Thanksgiving is less than a week away. I have my menu set. It doesn't vary very much from year to year as my family is particular about what they expect to see and eat. I use to try to be creative but that was met with disappointment and why did you do that, plus a lot of uneaten good food.

(Thanksgiving 2005)

Last year I did make a little change. No, big change. I bit the bullet and ventured into a journey called the "Road To Turducken". See the link below for a step by step description from de-boning to presentation. Turducken when prepared correctly can make a mediocre dinner great. They loved it. My family finally approved of a slight change. This year I'm toying with smoking the turducken on my WSM smoker. Still on the edit board for now.



I hesitated to do it again this year but then, I solicited my son to help. As an side note: He just completed a 4 year tour with the U.S. Navy and is coming home this weekend. With four years experience as a CS3 (Navy Cook), he will be side by side with me in the kitchen. Many of you know that I rarely let anyone assist me in the kitchen but then, I have to see what the kid learned. Second side note (just had to find a way to get this bit of info in): He will be starting culinary school this spring at the CIA in Hyde Park.

In getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner, I took my turkey out of the freezer to thaw in the refrigerator. The duck and turkey will come out today. I organized all my recipes (tried and true) and will complete a big portion of my shopping this weekend. I'm still insearch of a good kid friendly punch. We are all tired of Hawaiian punch and southern iced tea.

Come back for frequent posts on preparing thanksgiving dinner at Sylvie's house. See the links below for previous posts of the recipes. I'll add recipes or cooking descriptions for other items over the next couple of day.

Turducken 1
Turducken 2
Turducken 3
Southern Greens
Bertha's Mac and Cheese
Bertha's Corn Pudding
Sweet Potato Pie
Monkey Bread
Honey Glazed Smoke Ham
Green Beans
Candied Yams
Cranberry Compote

5 comments:

maltese parakeet said...

oh. no. you. didn't. i've never known anyone to attempt this in their own home before. you are too cool!

Kung Fu Joe said...

That is so funny. I was just talking to a freind about the fabled turducken and was coming to your site to go through the archive and re-read your experience from last year.

I want to make one of these badboys but my wife won't let me. I can't wait for her to go on vacation.

Anonymous said...

wow, I've never actually seen a turducken cut open where you can fully see just how much there is to one. That's alot of meat!

Hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving. And congrats to your son for making it to the CIA. That's awesome! I hope you'll keep us posted on his progress, or maybe you can talk him in to starting his own food blog? =)

Anonymous said...

I know I'm too late, but the next time you want a good punch, try the slush punch from allrecipe.com. I got rave reviews when I made it for an event I catered. All your food looks so good!!

Anonymous said...

I looked for the image of Turducken... for showing my blog...
And I found this blog...^^ Maddam...
I introduce your some photos of Turducken and you in my blog, Maddam...
Because of AI, lots of Chickin and Duck Restaurant became bankrupted.
So for them, I thought showing some special resipi for recovering the restaurants.
Please forgive me, maddam.
but this cook is really beautiful...
and I'm so hunger...because of your photo...
BUT IT'S 00:45AM... OTL...

ps. this is the fost url...

http://blog.naver.com/spartacus2/80052835293