The Grateful Table

What plans do you have for your Thanksgiving meal this year?  I've been squirreling away recipes for a month — and I'm about to make a final trip to the grocery store, so it's time to finalize the menu.

The Pre-Meal Snack: Bacon-wrapped apricots and Greek olives. (I'm not sure Greek olives are all that Thanksgivingy, but I like them and I'm the cook, so I'm going with it.)

The Main Event: Orange-rosemary roasted turkey (all 14 lbs. of it, which, now that I think about it, does seem like a lot for two people).

The Gravy: The usual recipe: pan juices and a little flour, stock and water.

The Other Stuff on the Table: Unfussy Fare's cranberry chutney,  Closet Cooking's glazed carrots, sausage stuffing (at Ben's request), something green (can you tell this isn't my favorite part?), my mom's mashed potatoes (no lumps, lots of butter) and maybe a loaf of bread baked in the Dutch oven.

The Best Part: A take on Smitten Kitchen's take on the Lee Brothers' take on sweet potato buttermilk pie.  Confession: I don't like pie crust that much.  So I'm thinking of baking the filling, which sounds lovely, in small ramekins and calling it crustless pie.  Or something like that.

The Next Day: I love a good turkey sandwich, but I'm also thinking about Monday Morning Potato Bread (made with leftover mashed potatoes), turkey samosas and maybe a little turkey soup (made with stock made from the carcass — uh, and the turkey neck).  Yes, I've decided I'm using that darn turkey neck this year.  I'm feeling a little weird about it, but I'm determined.

And for Breakfast: Apple cider donuts.  My first donut making attempt.  It seems like overkill to make donuts on Thanksgiving, but I'm throwing caution to the wind.

Here's my only concern.  Christopher Kimball insists that I need a V-rack for roasting my turkey, and I usually trust what C.K. says.  However, I don't have a V-rack.  Since I only make a turkey once a year, it seems a little silly to buy one.  And if I did buy one, there's not an inch of space to store it in the kitchen.  We'd be putting it under the bed or in the water heater closet.  I was planning on just plopping the turkey down on some onions and carrots.  Think that's okay?  Don't tell Christopher.

Thanksgiving Breakfast: Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

Think muffins can't be frosted?  My friend, you'd be wrong.  These pumpkin muffins demand a little cream cheese topping.  If buttering muffins is acceptable, I figure frosting them is okay, too.

I found this recipe at The Pioneer Woman Cooks, via a new fan site for Ree Drummond (who is the aforementioned Pioneer Woman).  Foodie Fans of the Pioneer Woman will issue a new Pioneer-themed challenge every week.  I answered the first challenge  — making something from Ree's Thanksgiving recipe collection — with these little fellas.

There were a lot of options to choose from, and they all looked good.  I could have gone with roasted carrots, pear crisp or dinner rolls, but I've been in a pumpkin frenzy lately and I was really on a roll.  Plus, I had leftover pumpkin puree waiting for me in the fridge.

Well, I had some pumpkin puree waiting for me in the fridge, but not as much as the recipe called for.  I substituted a little applesauce for what I lacked, and everything seemed to turn out just fine.

If you're feeling like some comfort food, or some Thanksgiving inspiration, Ree's site is a great place to start.

You Are What You Eat

If, like me, you are a little nosy and love food, you might enjoy Fridge Watcher, a little site my pal Nicole told me about. It encourages readers to take and send in photos of their fridges, then posts them for public perusal. The site is international, so you can see fridges from around the world. How do you say "Time to toss those leftovers" in Italian? Anyone?