Nov 26: Happy Thanksgiving 2009

Of all the holidays, Thanksgiving is the one holiday that represents, to me, family and family time. Also, it's a big food day for me too! lol!

Today, I had the time to spend with the next generation of foodies. Little M, a 5 y.o. budding cook...

The recipe for today Deviled Eggs.

The eggs were cooked and peeled.
I cut them in half and Little M did the rest.
He mashed and carefully added salt. I added a little mustard and mayo while he mixed and mashed.

Of course, we carefully tasted to see if we needed more something something.

Next, came the filling.
We used a plastic bag to pipe the filling into the halved egg whites.


The finished results pre-paprika.
The eggs looks like Modern Art, but they tasted good. :-)


However, the main thing was happiness and the BIG smile for making a dish to share.


My contribution...
Last year, I made gravy. Apparently, it was good enough that I was asked to make gravy again.
However, most of my recipes are improvisation with ingredients available at the time. Also, I don't remember what I did last years. I should have blogged about it. This year I will...

Gravy T-Day 2009
4 C Homemade Turkey Stock
4 C Turkey drippings/pan juices... The turkey was cooked in a turkey bag which saves all the juices.
1/3 C Celery, chopped
1/3 C Carrot, chopped
1/3 C Onion, chopped
1 sprig of Italian Parsley
1 sprig of Thyme
1/2 sprig of Tarragon
1 stick of butter (8T)
1/2 C Flour

1. Sweat the veggies in the butter for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the herbs and continue cooking about 2 minutes.
3. Add the flour, mix the flour and cook about 5 minutes.
4. Slowly add the stock and continue stirring to minimize lumps.
5. Add the turkey pan juices and continue to simmer to reduce... about 30 minutes on low.

Note... I used 1 T of flour for 1 cup of liquid, the resulting gravy is slightly thickened and loose. If a thicker gravy is desired, use 2 T of flour per cup of liquid.

Personally, I believe the secret to the gravy is the juices from the roasted turkey.