Thanksgiving feast review

Before time gets away from me, I wanted to give thanks for a wonderful family Thanksgiving. I'm grateful that my little family puts up with my culinary adventures. My older daughter was spending the holiday with her in-laws in New York, so this year it was my younger daughter, me, and my mother. Today is my mother's birthday, so we had two days of celebration.

I rarely do a traditional Thanksgiving, even though I try to have turkey, in some form, as the main event.

This year I tried out a dry brine of salt, rosemary, and lemon zest, on a turkey breast half. Easy to prepare and easy to roast. I wasn't really wowed by the results, however, so next year I will search out another variation on turkey.

The side dishes were more exciting. We had caramelized butternut squash, roasted brussels sprouts with bacon and walnuts, salt & vinegar potatoes, which my daughter said were too vinegary and my mother said were just right. Oh, and I can't forget Megan's Cranberry and Orange Chutney -- my absolute favorite part of the meal.


The wine was a 2007 Petite Syrah. One of my mother's friends has a son who has a winery (Linebarier Vineyards) in the Gold Country of California. This vintage was one of his first, so we were lucky to have the opportunity to taste it and give him our feedback. The wine is fruity with a kick. Personally, I think it would benefit from aging a bit longer.



Dessert was a variation on pumpkin pie. Stay tuned -- it'll show up in a few days.

Now it's time to gear up for the next round of birthdays and holidays.