The Turkey Day Trials

Hello friends! Well, turkey day weekend just passed us by, leaving us all a minimum of 3 pounds heavier than when it began. Now, thanksgiving day usually doesn't translate to me going anywhere near the kitchen (one more thing my family is typically thankful for). However, this year is notably different. With my new culinary savviness (girl can dream) in my back pocket, I've had thanksgiving day circled on my calendar for weeks, and have been researching recipes I could put into action to contribute to the table spread.

I could use hundreds of words to describe the process. Or, I could just leave it at this: me, orange vegetables, and a whole lot of trial and error.

Here are the picture chronicles of my thanksgiving tribulations....

Trial #1: Mini Sweet Potato Pies. This was a fabulous idea. In theory. Simple recipe. I've worked with sweet potato before. How hard can it be? I buy all the ingredients, plus pie crust. Which I'm only aware of being sold in rolls. So I roll my own stuff. Just like the pioneers.

Then comes the throw-everything-in-the-blender-and-watch-it-transform part, which is fun!

So far so good. Now, combining the two...a dollup of the pureed sweet potato stuff goes in each pie crust...gets popped into the oven...and comes out....doughy as shit.

Uh oh. No matter what I do to these things, the bottom of the pie crust remains completely uncooked. I use a lifeline. I phone a friend. She suggests wrapping them in foil. This is a good idea, but unfortunately does not pan out. After an hour of trial and error, I decide they're a write off. Then my mother enlightens me about the existence of tenderflakes premade mini pie crusts. "Why didn't you use those in the first place?", she asks. "I would have, if I knew they existed" I reply, a hint of uncalled-for resentment in my voice. It's not like she knew what I was doing, so how could she have prewarned me? But like the supermom she is, she comes with me to the grocery store and we pick them up together. Phew. The final product turns out beautifully, and gets served at Raph's thanksgiving family dinner.

Trial #2: Carrot soup. This gets used for our own little family thanksgiving dinner. I'm feeling more confident about this recipe since it doesn't involve pie crusts (or anything else unpredictable, for that matter). I spend what feels like an hour peeling vegetables and produce a mountain of carrots and potatoes (10 carrots and 2 potatoes to be exact, which is what the recipe calls for).

Then, I get to grate some fresh ginger...I always find working with these kinds of new ingredients fun, since I get to find out where all of the flavours come from that I've tasted my whole life and never really thought about before.

Finally, it all gets thrown into a pot, cooked, and then blendered (okay, pureed).

Now, the moment of the taste test: It's good, but I think I got a little carried away with the ginger. Hmmm. How to dilute? I add some extra water, and it helps a bit. Then Supermom flies in again and suggests adding some cinnamon too to dull the ginger-y taste, which helps even more. The final product? Yum-erful.

In conclusion, all's well that ends well, and the trials and tribulations result in triumph. However, I predict I won't want to lay eyes on anything orange (except maybe Halloween decorations) for the next few weeks...

xo Janine