A bird in hand . . .

Our Thanksgiving Lite buffet for blogfriends Saturday -- the day after tomorrow! -- flashes a bit of ankle above, as we set aside to cool a perfect batch of sugar-glazed white onions (left) while the secret ingredient of all Thanksgiving triumphs -- sweet butter -- lends a note of color and excitement. To make the onions, we boil 'em in batches of 18 or so for ten minutes, drain and plunge into cold water. Then it's a piece of cake to remove the roots with the twist of a thumbnail and slip off the outer parchment. Finally, we melt sweet butter in a large heavy pan and saute the onions for a few minutes, sprinkle with white sugar, cook until nicely glazed and add some heavy cream to top it off.

After last year's "new-bride moment," when a supermarket Butterball "fresh" turkey turned out to be half frozen, we were still a bit wary in the countdown to Saturday afternoon's Thanksgiving Lite gala for blogfriends. The totally awesome online Butterball Hotline, which we put off visiting until today, says you should purchase your "fresh" Butterball turkey three to four days ahead of roasting day to allow the inner frozen parts to thaw in time. Although one overnight sufficed last year, we were still uncertain. 'Should have bought that fresh one, with its pop-up thermometer, at Stop & Shop Tuesday, and now here it is Thursday, and self-doubt once again comes home to roost. [If we didn't allow ourselves such trivial anxieties, the terrorists would have won!]

Another glimpse of what's in store for our blogfriends. Chopped apples and scrambled sausages will blend with sauteed chopped garlic and onions, store-bought bread crumbs, chicken broth and cider for the stuffing that makes meat eaters of vegans. Sweet potato puree with miniature marshmallows (bottom center) will be transformed by the addition of gingerbread Peeps into a Thanksgiving version of our classic Sweet Potato aux Peeps.

Enter, stage right, Mayflower Poultry Company, the sweet bird source of our youth. For those glorious Thanksgivings of yore, a call to Mayflower weeks ahead to order our turkey and then a pilgrimage the day before are legendary. We put in a last-minute call this morning, and although they're getting deliveries for hotels and restaurants this week rather than for home-based cooks like ourselves, Jim at the other end of the line located a bird now in transit that will be ready to be picked up tomorrow morning. We're going for a 20-22 pounder to allow for plenty of leftovers . . . It should take about 5 hours to cook, says Jim. Take that, Osama!

Comments

[goomp]

The food fantastic in an expected place. My mouth is watering.

[Gayle Miller]

My imagination is watering!

[hnav]

"If we didn't allow ourselves such trivial anxieties, the terrorists would have won!"

hehehehe...

so tasty...