Gobble! Gobble!

Thanksgiving dinner went off almost without a hitch. We were pretty close to being on schedule, and of course had more than enough food. Two turkeys, four kinds of stuffing, three cranberry sauces, and many bottles of wine. I somehow ended up in charge of basting the turkey, every fifteen minutes, according to our recipe. I was quite proud of our beautifully browned bird.

(Ok, this isn't actually my turkey, but it's pretty close)

We used a Bobby Flay recipe, Black Pepper - Pomegranate Molasses Glazed Turkey, with a few tweaks of our own. I knew that not having stuffing from the bird would not fly with the family, so we ignored Bobby's instructions to leave the bird unstuffed. Also it turns out that even the great Wegman's does not carry Pomegranate Molasses, and there was no time to order online, so we improvised. We ended up finding a jar of pomegranate jam, which we reduced with some POM juice until we got the consistency we wanted. Lots of garlic and onion went into the bottom of the roasting pan, along with some organic chicken broth for basting. The pomegranate glaze didn't go on until the very end. Speaking of the inside the bird stuffing, we used a loaf of Wegman's Rosemary & Olive Oil bread, basically the most amazing bread in the whole world. It's seriously addicting. Warm and fluffy, and full of oil and spices, I knew it would be perfect for keeping the bird moist.

Somehow I miscounted our guests for the day, and ended up one setting (and chair) short. My poor brother got stuck with a mismatched plate and napkin. My table was ruined! But at that point, it was time to eat, not worry about my decor. I managed to have my table set before everyone arrived, which is usually a challenge for me. I picked up an extra long white cotton table cloth from Target to match my Crate and Barrel one, since we'd have two tables to cover. I had the perfect number of red napkins and cut acrylic napkin rings to go around.

Sadly, my table cloths did not survive the day. I've always marveled at how stains seemed to jump right off my pristine white table cloth. But alas, even with pre-treater, and some bleach in the wash water, this year was just too much. I may try some Oxi Clean, and if that doesn't work I think I will tie or tea them to give them new life. As karma would have it, I received a coupon in the mail on Saturday for $5 off a new Target brand table cloth. I may not give up on white after all.