Hits: brine and spatchcock the turkey, with a compound herb butter rubbed under the skin. Roasted at 400 degrees and it was done in under 2 hours, with perfectly golden skin and the breast and thigh cooked through at exactly the same time. No overcooked white meat!

Made our normal pecan pie, but subbed out half of the Karo syrup for pure maple syrup. It was delicious.

Only miss was that I overcooked the green beans a bit. We just steam them with butter and salt, and i like them still a little crisp. They were softer than I like, but not a big deal. I just got distracted with the sweet potatoes while the green beans were steaming.

Anonymous wrote:A relative informed us of their no-salt diet a few days prior to Thanksgiving. Spouse usually brines the turkey, but this year, just marinated it (no salt whatsoever, essentially a fruit/spice blend). It was the juiciest bird we've ever had. Truly delicious.

Our current theory is that salt sucks the moisture out, but we aren't going back to brining. The unfortunate part is spouse just dumped various spices in the mix - he has no idea what he used, so the exact recipe of the best bird we've ever has is unable to be repeated 😂

Could the turkey have already been brined before purchase? Also, there is a limit to the timing of brining — my recipe says to brine for 4-6 hours, then rinse and store uncovered in the fridge for 24 hours.

japanese sweet potatoes were a complete failure in my bourbon sweet potatoes. Never got soft, looked pale and anemic, and had an odd taste. I never served it.

A relative informed us of their no-salt diet a few days prior to Thanksgiving. Spouse usually brines the turkey, but this year, just marinated it (no salt whatsoever, essentially a fruit/spice blend). It was the juiciest bird we've ever had. Truly delicious.

Our current theory is that salt sucks the moisture out, but we aren't going back to brining. The unfortunate part is spouse just dumped various spices in the mix - he has no idea what he used, so the exact recipe of the best bird we've ever has is unable to be repeated 😂

Mashed potato casserole came out meh. Not sure what went wrong it was 3 pounds of mashed potatoes, sour cream, butter, shredded cheese, 2 eggs and baked. Anyone have a better recipe for next year?

Things I tried this year that I'd repeat:

Stokes sweet potatoes in place of regular because they're purple and the color was lovely
roasted green beans instead of heavily sauced
Herbed mayo instead of butter before roasting the turkey, both under and on the skin. No basting, no opening the oven. 3ish hours later, it was PERFECTION. Golden brown, super juicy (after a foil-tented rest), and the flavor was fantastic!

Things I'd fix:

I didn't make enough greens, and after a single day of leftovers, I miss them. I should've done more beans and grabbed a spare bag of brussels sprouts. To me, salad is a summer food so I'm not real happy about cold leaves right now!

I kinda missed pecan pie this year. We did pumpkin, and it was plenty, but I did a bourbon pecan pie a few years ago and it haunts my dreams...

This vegan mushroom gravy was shockingly good! I used Penzey’s vegetable soup base to make the broth, and I used a half-Tbsp of olive oil to sauté the onions and mushrooms (recipe doesn’t call for any oil). It was delicious!

https://myquietkitchen.com/vegan-mushroom-gravy/

Hit: the bone in 4.7 pound turkey breast I got at Balducci's. I don't know the brand, just grabbed it (had migraine) and was stunned at the price checking out, 59! Yikes. But it was antibiotic free, organic and it was absolutely delicious. I just rubbed sea salt in it, stuck it on a rack in the bottom of a turkey roaster, put water in pan to stop fat from burning, and roasted at 325. Moist, great texture. DH wants it again. Hope they have it and I can see the brand.

Miss: Balducci's turkey gravy. Ugh. Too oniony. I don't know if it's different from what they give you in catering or if they changed the recipe but although DH liked it I didn't eat it.

I never bothered to do anything more than Peppridge Farms stuffing cubes, but it was just immediate family this year so I put my teen in charge of the dressing, supplying them with a sourdough bread and one of the recipes DCUM suggested.

Everyone loved it and I could taste a difference though perhaps its because they were very generous with the butter

I had a hit with the turkey-- the difference was sticking a total of half a stick of butter under the skin of the breast and a pat of butter into a hole I poked into the breast on each side. I also used a turkey bag. I put a cut up onion, 2 sprigs of sage, and two celery stalks in the cavity. And a lot of salt and pepper on the outside.

I made my own yeast rolls for the first time and they were a big hit.
Turkey breast in the crockpot per a NYT recipe was also a hit. It was very easy and very good. My son said it was the best turkey we’ve ever had.
Everything else was fine, but just our standard recipes. My family likes tradition.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/21261/yummy-sweet-potato-casserole/

My family all loves this pecan sweet potato casserole. I did it just as directed, but I quickly toasted the pecans before using.

Unstuffed mushroom casserole. Got lots of compliments. https://smittenkitchen.com/2019/12/unstuffed-mushroom-casserole/

This sounds delicious, thanks for sharing the recipe.

I used all the same recipes I've used before, so I didn't have any misses this year.
I cooked mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, honey-glazed carrots, turkey, yeast rolls, gravy, collard greens, sweet potato pie, and chocolate chip cookies.

https://www.foodandwine.com/melting-sweet-potatoes-11848027

I did this for sweet potatoes. Huge hit!

What were your favorite and least favorite dishes yesterday? Recipes for favorite dishes would be appreciated. I always like to try new things.

Favorites:
Unstuffed mushroom casserole. Got lots of compliments. https://smittenkitchen.com/2019/12/unstuffed-mushroom-casserole/
Corn casserole https://thecozycook.com/corn-casserole/
Chocolate pecan pie https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/dark-chocolate-pecan-pie/Pumpkin
Pumpkin cannoli https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/245169/pumpkin-cannoli/

Misses
Regular Pecan Pie - I started to cut it and realized that it was completely liquid even though the top nuts were golden brown. Had to stick it back in the oven but by the time it was done everyone had gone home. More leftovers for us now.
Hawaiian Rolls - used King Arthur recipe but the dough didn’t turn out fluffy and rise enough. I bake bread regularly so not sure what happened.