I could have put a serious dent into the 850-pages I have left to read of Dickens’s Bleak House. I could have (finally) finished my friend, Eldon Farrell’s latest novel, The Last Goodbye ( It is, after all, dedicated to me!)
I could have spent an hour (or a couple of them) staring at the Twitter and Instagram posts from the Palm Beach Book Festival (@pbbookfestival) where Fool Her Once was just named as the thriller of the year!
Yes, I could have spent the time in many different ways. Instead? I spent all those hours planning, shopping for, preparing and cooking a Thanksgiving meal for me and hubby, Joe. Not that it turned out to be a big disaster. Except for the Brussels sprouts.
Thanksgiving Timeline
I don’t regret it. Cooking for Thanksgiving, I mean. I love Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday ever. I love cooking. For the last decade or so –when we’ve eaten at home — I have used notes and recipes from when I cooked my first-ever Thanksgiving in our first Palm Beach condo (where I had none of my favorite cooking utensils or pots and pans, and the stove was a crap electric one — not gas!)
I made copious notes back then and printed them out. I even had notes on how to make “ahead” gravy from scratch; a recipe which included, among many other ingredients, 12 cups of chicken stock, 2 cups of dry white wine and 12 sprigs of thyme.
Keep It Simple
Nowadays, I stick only to those pages that are titled, Simple Thanksgiving. Even so, I break down those pages into shopping lists, and a step-by-step, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute itinerary that instructs me on how to make cranberry sauce ahead of time; when to put what in the oven; when to take it out of the oven; when to put other things in the oven; when to brown things on the stovetop; when to peel the potatoes; when to measure out the golden raisins and broth and diced shallot that are supposed to make the Brussels sprouts palatable.
I love the simplicity of the Thanksgiving meal.
No. Seriously!
First, it’s just a roast turkey. For Joe and I that means a turkey breast. Nothing to it. Remember to take out the plastic package of turkey gravy from the cavity, brush the breast all over with some olive oil and shove it in the oven for a couple of hours. (Just make sure you have a jar of Heinz Homestyle Turkey Gravy on hand in case your turkey breast doesn’t produce enough drippings to mix with the packet of ready-made gravy!)
Mash is mash. For the stuffing, follow the simple directions on the Pepperidge Farm package, adding Jimmy Dean premium breakfast sausage, chopped celery, onion and sage leaves to the seasoned bread cubes, and drown it all in chicken or vegetable broth.
Then, it’s just one veggie — and voila! But why does that one veggie have to be Brussels sprouts?
#1 Holiday Veggie! WTF!
My research into that very question revealed that Brussels sprouts are named after the capital city of Belgium where they were discovered around the 16th century. That’s why they are called Brussels (with an ‘s’) not Brussel sprouts — even when it’s just one Brussels sprout. They’re a favorite during the holidays season because they can be grown in very low temperatures, and even in temps which are a little frosty.
It’s the #1 Christmas holiday vegetable in the U.K. Probably #2 veggie here in the U.S after yams because what can beat sweet potatoes coated with a topping of gooey marshmallows?
Indeed, scrolling through a blog titled “42 Brussels Sprouts Recipes even Haters Will Love” one fact becomes clear. To make Brussels sprouts palatable you’ve got to smother them in something sweet or sticky or cheesy — unlike scrumptious veggies like spinach or kale or cauliflower or green beans or corn or asparagus which you can eat without adornment.
But, of course every year when I’ve cooked for Thanksgiving I’ve proven my insanity by attempting to produce an edible Brussels sprouts side dish when I know it can’t be done. As you can see from the leftovers (below) — which were tossed before they even grew cold.
Lesson learned. For this holiday season, anyway!
Hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving Joanna!! I agree nothing can be done to make Brussels sprouts taste good. Yuck. The rest of your meal looked yummy though. And congrats on winning thriller of the year. Well deserved 🙂
Thanks Eldon. I think I’ll try green beans next year (if I’m cooking) I almost went with the green beans this year but it was that stubborn/insane streak in me. I was DETERMINED to make the Brussels work!!!
Congrats on the award! I actually like Brussels sprouts a lot when they are appropriately gooped up with balsamic vinegar, bacon and butter of course, and maybe some miscellaneous other stuff, – and when I’m lucky enough not to have them overcooked (mushy!) or undercooked (inedible).
Yes, you hit that nail on the head! Brussels do need to be gooped up, for sure. Which is something you rarely have to do with any other great vegetable!!!
Congratulations on winning “thriller of the year “
Your Thanksgiving dinner looks delish!
This is the first year I did not cook a Turkey and sprouts. Instead, we had prim rib and
I must say it was very good.
We attended a Thanksgiving Turkey dinner
On Friday, still no sprouts!
Great to hear from you Sandy. I must say, for me it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without the traditional turkey and stuffing and mash drowned in gravy! But never say never!