We did it!

Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, squash, turnip, salad, corn, cranberry sauce, beets, pickles, and pies galore! And yes, I do see John's fingers in the turkey platter!

Aunt Jeanne, Uncle Peter, Bill, Amy, Dad, Nathan, Jenn, Brian, Beth, Uncle John, Tina, Dee, Kristen, John, Chip, Cleopatra, LT, Vinnie....... I think that was everyone!

I like to think that LT stands for Little Turkey

The Gravy Tutorial

Here it is, plain and simple. How to make Dad's gravy. With the color photos to remind me to be patient until things look a certain way... No need to rush the gravy!

Gravy starts with a roux. It really depends on how many people love gravy, but 2 sticks of butter - a good round number to start. Dad reminded us to melt the butter and cook it for a few minutes to burn off any water that is in the stick. I think when you are using butter that isn't the finest quality, you find this problem. Easily solved with an extra minute of melting and this little steps keeps you from ending up with butter and dumplings rather than roux. So butter, and lots of flour go into the pan. Mix it together and let it bubble and cook.

You will continue with a series of bubble and cook, then scrape and mix, bubble and cook, scrape and mix, until you get to the color you desire for your gravy. The more you toast the flour, the nuttier the roux tastes. Once you have the roux to where you like it, remove half of it. You might not need it all, and you can add more to your stock as you go.

Aunt Jeanne had cooked down the turkey bones from the day before so we had a solid lump of pure goodness all ready for the gravy. (We could have used the drippings from the turkey...but we saved that since the soup hadn't yet been made!) Dad added the stock to the pan with the leftover roux, and mixed in the spices. Nathan Stepped in and rescued me, moving the pan to the (now free) larger burner and getting it up to the simmer point to help it thicken. Now, you just wait again, simmer, stir, simmer, stir, until it starts to thicken. Adding more roux as needed if you like your gravy spoon to stand in the pan.

All this time we are squeezed into a 3x3 foot space cooking together. Nathan working on the gravy, Dad carving the turkey, and I mashed the potatoes of course! Our gravy is always important to the family - but this Thanksgiving it had extra love, all four of us took part in it's perfection, Nathan, Dad and me - all while Brian documented it!! Thanks Brian!

11/25 Soup Brigade

Chop, Chop, Chop, Chop...

Celery, carrots, onions, peppers, a giant can of tomatoes, turkey stock, barley or pasta and then the secret spices. Dad cut 2/3 of the veggies, I cut 1/3. I was busy sniffling and blubbering over the onions. My fingers still smell like onion today.

We never did taste the soup, but the 2nd wave of holiday guests surely enjoyed it! Aunt Jeanne cooked 3 turkeys in all - one especially for this soup! A family tradition to eat the real meal for lunch then the leftovers for dinner in a giant pot of Dad's turkey soup - also know as Pepere's turkey soup.

Do you prefer your soup with pasta or with barley? You can have both - we are that picky so Dad makes 2 different pots! Spoiled. Yes.

Mama Dodge's Desserts

The other half of my family only cooks for a few - so this beautiful pie was more than enough! We have 2 more slices in the refrigerator!

(I know, we are very lucky!)

I have never seen such a pretty Apple Pie! It was at least 6 inches tall!

The hard work with the crispy apples paid off because it was delicious!

We arrived at the Dodge's around 2:30, just in time to eat again! Luckily they allowed us to enjoy their company without eating any more, then packed us SO many leftovers, we will not be hungry for a month - with proper planning! I had a slice of this for breakfast too! This time, it was my 10:45 pm on Thanksgiving night breakfast, before I returned to work.

Pumpkin Chiffon Cake...

Amazing for SO many reasons. It is basically pumpkin, egg whites, flour, a little sugar and spices. I would call it Pumpkin Angel Food cake. It is SO fluffy and light. You could eat this for breakfast or dessert. What a tasty recipe. Lot's of hard work went into this one too - whipping that many egg whites was a bit of a project - but the tidbit taken away from this one is - if I used my stand mixer, it would be done in a flash! I need to get this recipe!

11/25/10 Dad's Pies

It is important to remember that we have 2 shifts of Thanksgiving at Aunt Jeanne's house - so we need to have pie at least twice on this day.

Lemon Pie

Since Amy and Bill love this one so much and they asked... here it is!

Smooth lemony filling, thin crust.... mmmmm.... And it's pretty to look at.

Blueberry Pie

I think this one came about as a result of opening the freezer. The last time I opened Dad's freezer, there were at least 10 pounds of Maine blueberries sitting on the shelf just waiting for their job assignment. A happy day for these berries, a feature at the Dumas Thanksgiving table.

(Dad's oven is not healthy... this poor pie was almost boiling out of the crust when Dad rescued it!)

Pumpkin Pudding Pie

This is the lighter fluffier alternative to the usual dark, dense custard pumpkin pie that Dad is known for. I guess if you were looking for a pie that is healthier - this is the one. Pumpkin, pudding, and spices. It's easy, fast, and you can use a ready made graham cracker crust too. This one is made on a granola crust.

Dad's famous tried and true Pumpkin Pie

There were 2 of these pies at Thanksgiving. This one was actually served after we ate turkey. It's brother was eaten before we started boiling the potatoes!

Breakfast on Thanksgiving Day

Everyone probably knows that I work 3rd shift, and so I had to work from 12 am to 7 am on Thanksgiving morning. After stopping by Wicket's house for his tinkle break I went home to get Brian. Two showers later, and packing for an overnight, we got ourselves on the road.

I had an english muffin at about 3:30 am and so I was starving! All I could think about all night long while I was at work was having a slice of Dad's pumpkin pie. I told Brian not to eat breakfast because we were having pie! We arrived at Aunt Jeanne's around 10 and Dad arrived at 10:30. This photo was taken at 10:35 as I dove into a slice of the perfect pumpkin pie.

Brian, Aunt Jeanne and I, all had a piece of pumpkin pie, then got to work.

PS - by the time we left at 1:30, I had tried all of the pie with the exception of Blueberry! They were all FANTASTIC!

Heinz 57 Hotel

Marco's Room

How many bottles of Heinz

Ketchup are sold around the world each year?

650 million bottles in 140 countries...

How fast does Heinz Ketchup leave it's fancy glass bottle?

If it is any faster than .028 miles per hour - the Heinz company will not sell the product! I guess this is why they have created the squeeze bottles for those of us in a hurry.

What does "57 Varieties" stand for?

I'm happy to clear up any rumors! It is simply Mr. Heinz's lucky number. He saw another company was boasting "21 Styles of Shoes" so he decided that he would use 57, since it was lucky, to advertise his products.

There is a special purpose for the 57 on the Heinz glass bottle - you tap the bottle there to get the ketchup flowing! Oh the wonder!

Marco loves his new Heinz 57 Hotel! Thanks Dad - for his lovely new toy!

Breakfast special for Brian... and a taco lecture.

This might be crazy - but it was crazy delicious. Easy too and a good user-upper of leftovers. I find breakfast is a fun place to dump some leftovers and see where you end up. Lately "taco" has been the word around here. How can we eat some form of tacos every day of the week and still not be tired of them?

Here are a few of the ways to do that... starting with the photos above:

1. Soft tortillas to line bottom of dish (2 layers), left over chili next, a few scrambled eggs, then of course, the cheese to get all crispy and brown. We put a little fake sour cream on top... that's how we roll I guess.

2. Left over roasted turkey, peppers, onions, garlic, all sauteed together then some taco seasoning. Mix in a little elbow macaroni, top with cheese and voila! Taco-Noodle-Casserole. (That was Saturday night dinner)

2b. Forget the elbows - and have turkey tacos! These are nice with some grated sweet potato as another filling.

2c. Sweet potato tacos! (You get the idea!)

3. Tempeh Tacos: 1 package of your favorite tempeh, veggies that you enjoy, season it up, and toast your taco shells.

4. Tofu Tacos: Extra firm tofu - that I first cook on high heat with some olive oil. This helps it have a crispier texture. Usually with Tofu - I add extra veggies and "lot's of spicy" every time. Since it is in Tofu's nature to lack flavor - it is fun to add different ingredients to change the flavor.

Finally - when you had tacos for dinner yesterday and you only have a little left over filling - the answer is a breakfast quesadilla. I make a scramble of the taco filling with some eggs - and I cook it more like an omelette. This way it is in one piece and is easy to place of the soft tortilla.

Either bake the whole thing on a cookie sheet or in a pan - either way works - depending if you need to warm up the house with the oven or not... I am almost always looking for a reason to turn on the oven!

Pumpkin Pie Muffins

Calling these pumpkin pie muffins is no lie. Having already mentioned the apple tradition and my Dad's mission for the perfect pumpkin pie - you can guess how passionate our family is about great fall flavors.

In November in Maine we often enjoy winter squash, picking and eating apples, opening a jar of summer pickles, and turning on the heat for the first time. One treat I often forget in the fall is cranberries - fresh, dried, frozen, any of the above!

Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, molasses, pumpkin, and cranberries. Adding some molasses as a substitute for the honey, and using the exact measurements of spices from the family pie recipe, it is like a little trick you have played with yourself... this tastes like pie!

The muffin recipe is already fool-proof and as a result - you can make many changes and wind up with a great muffin every time.

My pantry is always stocked with honey, oil, flour, canned pumpkin, and at least a dozen eggs in the refrigerator. On any day I can pull out this recipe and make muffins. It is really great to pull out Dad's recipe at the same time and find that the perfection in the flavors can be passed though me into the muffins!

Thanks Dad - for the can of pumpkin, the recipe, the creativity, Pepere's cookbook, and the love of cooking!

Here is a life sized photo of the end result!