Thanksgiving 2011 will certainly be a feast to remember. Not only was the food delicious but the company was great, too. Slip and I traveled to NYC to spend Thanksgiving with my family at my Cousin Ann’s gorgeous apartment on the Upper East Side. After a night in Brooklyn with my brother and sister-in-law, Thursday morning we hopped the F-train uptown to enjoy some family, food, and football.
We started with an early lunch/antipasto/grazing while we watched some football. I myself am not a football person, but my parents/aunt and uncle/cousin are from Detroit, so it is traditional to watch the Lions play their Turkey Day game. During the game we nibbled on some crudites and antipasto, along with some of Eli’s delicious rye bread, Italian cold cuts, and Cape Cod kettle chips.
Several hours later we started in on an elegant dinner which was served buffet style, with all of the Thanksgiving fixings you could ask for. My dad masterfully carves the turkey every year, and this 20 pounder was beautifully cut, juicy and flavorful, with the perfect crispy skin.
The buffet took a while to peruse but had everything you might ever want in a Thanksgiving dinner…
From front to back: my grandmother’s brandied sweet potatoes, glazed carrots with pecans, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, green beans almondine, creamed spinach, and my cousin’s amazing corn bread stuffing with sausage, apricots, and prunes.
And, of course, don’t forget the cranberries:
We had Ann’s cranberries, which I helped my cousin prepare a few weeks ago, as well as a cranberry relish made with orange zest. Dinner was accompanied by fresh rolls, too.
After taking a little break for discussion, we delved into dessert. Which was almost overwhelming— there was so many sinful sweets we completely neglected the pecan pie and only took a bite out of the chocolate cake. All of our energy went into the pumpkin pie (a Thanksgiving must-have for me) and my cousin’s amazing (and famous) cranberry torte (center).
