A month of gratitude - part cinq, Thanksgiving

As I’m elbow-deep in preparations for Thanksgiving, this will be a short post. The turkey has been brined and is now “drying,” the pecan pie is on the counter next to the cranberry sauce, the stuffing is cooling its jets in the fridge and I think I have everything I need from the store to pull this off.

 
My sister Anna and her husband sent me these adorable pie topper stamp things that I will probably be using year round. I’m thinking they’ll make pretty cool piparkūkas too!

 

I’m following this year’s Thanksgiving issue of Real Simple for dinner (except for the brine, cranberry sauce and green beans), I’ll let you know how that goes. All the recipes are relatively straightforward, completely necessary for a novice like me. Yep, I said it, a novice - I’ve never cooked a turkey before. As I’ve cooked everything from a chicken to duck and squirrel, I hope I can handle a turkey. (Maybe I should wait to admit this until after our guests show up?) As our families are all far away this year, I decided to invite an expat family from Britain; I thought it would be great to share this traditional American holiday with them. Kind of funny, a Latvian-American who has lived in France the past two Thanksgivings and never actually cooked a turkey is going to show ‘em how it’s done! (Please keep your fingers crossed!) Although I guess it’s not any more strange than having my first traditionalThanksgiving in France…

 

Wishing all those celebrating Thanksgiving a wonderful holiday!
 
 
* Today I’m thankful for the recent extra time in the kitchen. Before Lauris and Mikus joined our family I took that time for granted; there is a lot less time for new recipes, complicated dinners and my favorite – desserts now that I’m chasing after two macaroni-eating, cheerios-snacking, applesauce-devouring, banana-smushing kids. However while my mother was visiting, and now with the holidays, I’ve had some time to try my hand at a few new recipes and use all those pots and pans for something other than mashed potatoes and rice!