Leftovers

I had so much turkey leftover you would never know we even ate any. Thanksgiving day was a long day for me because I had 5 dishes to put together before everyone arrived. It got so hot in my condo that I had to turn on the air conditioning.

A few things I learned this year:

1. Do not brine plain turkey breast in the same pot as the whole turkey. The brine is entirely too strong for just the turkey breast and that meat had a distinct salty taste to it. Not to mention that it cooked faster than the entire turkey so I ended up wasting more than was edible.
2. The 14lb turkey seems to be the perfect size for all my pots and pans. My dad did a fantastic job of trimming the bird of all the meat. It still is sad that I have to throw the skin in the trash. I was able to take a few small bites of the skin before discarding it. Cholesterol is not a problem for me but it's too tempting for everyone else.
3. My family does not like sage. So I will need to find another spice for the "good" weight watcher dressing recipe.
4. Everyone who said they didn't like brussel sprouts had no problems scarfing down this dish. Another weight watcher recipe that was so yummy that there was nothing left by the end of the meal.
5. You can depend on the sister in law having some kind of food issue that necessitates the alteration of recipes such that she ruins them. Case in point - this year's issue was cholesterol so she just had to have the cranberry sauce made with splenda because of all the "cholesterol" regular cranberry sauce. The "cholesterol free" cranberry sauce was gooey gross and not tasty at all. Next year I will make the cranberry sauce in addition to the five dishes I have now got the hang of making. The good news is that the cranberry sauce can be made ahead!
6. Never let the sister and sister in law rearrange the table seating.
7. Don't depend on my sister's mother in law to contribute anything to dinner. She brought one bottle of wine for 12 people and proceeded to drink the entire bottle herself.
8. Always check with my mom to make sure she is using the correct ingredients in the spinach dip. My parents are both getting up there in age. Mom is 74 and Dad is 76 so being a little forgetful is expected. For some reason Mom decided she had always made the spinach dip with onion soup mix (not! more like Hidden Valley Ranch dry dressing mix). When she was pouring it in to the dip dish is when we discovered the faux pas. It was awful tasting and even Mom didn't want the leftovers.
9. I need to find another friend or family with kids my niece and nephew's age to keep them occupied while the adults sit and talk. The kids are actually really good and would have been perfectly content watching all my Star Wars DVDs but my brother in law had a fit and my Mom couldn't believe the "violence." I asked her if she had watched the Lion King lately? If you haven't watched it in awhile, pop it in the DVD player - it's just as violent as Star Wars.
10. Plastic throw away plates for the appetizers and the desserts was the best thing I could have done. I had just enough room in the dishwasher for the main plates, all the various glasses that we used and all the utensils.

All in all, it was a great Thanksgiving holiday even being unemployed.