Random Thanksgiving Notes

Yes, as always I am obsessed with thinking about Thanksgiving. Yesterday I created a Thanksgiving survey (please take it). Now some people felt the need to ridicule me for this but IIIII found it entertaining. Ha! I learned that most of you don't put your stuffing IN the turkey. Hmmmm. Every year I don't put it in the turkey I think the hell with it, I'm putting it in the turkey next year. Then I read all the articles and figure I shouldn't do it in the turkey....and round and round I go....

I forgot to ask about cranberry sauce. In the can? Homemade? Relish?

I broke down and ordered a fresh Amish turkey because I didn't really like the taste of the one we had at Pretend Thanksgiving. I find this technique kind of intriguing:

What am I planning? Well, of course the night before we have to have tourtiere (meat pie) with a little cranberry sauce and some coleslaw. I know Debbie, we're supposed to have kidney beans too but I'm dropping that part of the tradition! For the meal, basic turkey (still deciding on seasoning/technique), mashed potatoes and gravy. Cranberry sauce? Recipe to be determined but definitely homemade. Sometimes I add port, sometimes just cinnamon and star anise. I tried one with vanilla that I thought was revolting...and cranberry relish never seems quite right to me....

I thought the Hugh Acheson recipe for Sweet Potatoes with Maple Gastrique sounded nice. I don't particularly care for sweet potatoes with additional sweetening but the gastrique might be tangy enough to balance the syrup. I usually do Brussells sprouts of some sort, but the Roasted Broccoli with Pickled Yellow Raisins and Pistachios sounded kind of nice. Then again something with raw fennel sounds good...gotta have something to offset all the richness. 

I think this year I need to pull out my mother's china and sterling....do the table up right....

Anybody trying something new this Thanksgiving...or tell me your favorite traditional recipe....