So there’s a vegetarian, a meat lover, and several people with allergies at a Thanksgiving dinner…
Ok, so there’s no punchline, and my poor attempt at a joke really isn’t that funny. But, it does accurately represent our unique family’s dietary dilemma anytime we all get together for a meal. But this Thanksgiving, we decided to do something completely different and perhaps start a new tradition that would hopefully keep everyone happy & healthy.
Instead of the traditional Turkey Smorgasbord (which usually costs a fortune and leaves us all bloated, full and in a food induced coma), we decided to have a ‘Make Your Own Fresh Juice’ bar with a variety of anti-pasta (veggies & dip), along with my Gluten Free Chicken Pot Pie & Pumpkin Pie.
We invited a few friends, warned them about the non-traditional menu, and they showed up anyway! It was a very casual gathering – as most meals are in Hawaii – but we really aren’t fancy people anyway (as you can tell from the picture).
Everyone brought something to share and were encouraged to bring an item to juice if they wanted. I made the Gluten Free Pies and prepped some of the veggies, while my folks brought their Breville Juicer (which I love!) along with some fruits.
We juiced, ate pies, laughed hard, and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Everyone, including the kids LOVED the juice bar, and we all agreed that this new tradition is here to stay! The entire meal cost a fraction of a traditional meal and all of us left the table full, but feeling alive & well… Which is something I am very thankful for!!
How about you? Did you do anything unusual this year or have an unusual Thanksgiving tradition?
P.S. It’s 11:00 pm & I just ate a leftover piece of Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie while typing this! ;)
Thanksgiving is behind us but for those who like turkey for Christmas coming up or even for any meal I’ll share about the yummiest turkey I have ever cooked.
I usually have to buy the cheap industrial birds from grocery stores that reduce the price to get you into the doors. But this year the prices were so high here in central Oregon I decided I might as well splurge and go to Whole Foods (or Whole Paycheck as Erika’s hubby calls it)
Since this was not an industrial bird and had been allowed to wander some pasture somewhere to eat bugs and real live green food I knew the guy had gotten enough exercise that he might be a bit tougher than those dudes with breasts so big they can’t walk. (oh and by the way there wasn’t one of those modern plastic buttons that pop up when he’s done) I got to thinking that when I was a kid…. probably many years before most of you were kids, my grandma and mom were cooking turkeys all night. So after provoking my memory and googling internet ideas I decided to do the all night thing.
I put butter, fresh Thyme and Rosemary between the breast and skin. I stuffed him (not sure if he was a her or a him so named him Tommie the Turk) with lemon wedges and onions, bathed him in white wine and gave him a foil tent. Set the oven at 225 degrees put him in a midnight and basted him in my PJs at 3 and 5am and every two hours thereafter. At 2 pm I took off his tent turned up the oven to 350 degrees to brown him and by 3pm his wings were ready to fall off.
Everyone said it was the best turkey they have ever eaten. And coming from my adopted Hawaiian kids who would rather be eating Lumpia or musubi that is saying something!!! I even ate some too even though I tend more towards veggies for my mainstay. And no one seemed drugged and needing the traditional tryptophan holiday nap either. Guess what? I’ll never buy another industrial big breasted beasty. In fact next year…. we are going to grow our own and maybe some for some friends too. We have done that twice in the last 30 yrs both ending in disaster…. I’ll save that for a later story.
Oh PS, if this is full of typos and illegal grammar they are due to multi-tasking and managing the coloring project of one of my three year old grandsons, yep I have more than one 3 yr old grandchild, 3 or 4 of them I think, but I don’t keep track of specific ages of all 22 grandkids.
LOL! Love it! They were giving away free turkeys this year at Foodland, which we gave to the Salvation Army since we knew we wouldn’t be making it. But, your free-range, natural bird sounds wonderful! P.S. Perhaps it’s envy, but I’ve always had something against those big breasted birds! ;) xo