in true thanksgiving style...

ok, first of all, I apologize.  As per usual, there has been a pretty giant gap in postings, but I have been extremely bizz...For a while there, we were a baker short at work and so that was eating up a lot of time. then, I had a test to study for/take, so that I may advance in my job, and then it was thanksgiving (which is one of our busiest baking days of the year (I was baking at a 500F oven for about 12 hours straight,  but, in true pilgrim form, we made it through.  To add to the list, my wonderful ladyfriend in crime, contracted mono and was seriously toast for a solid month.  
speaking of mames, check out this turkey finger puppet she made. pretty cute, huh? We invited a bunch of indians (holla!) over for thanksgiving (very pilgrim-ey, indeed), along with some other close friends who couldn't (like us) make it home to be with their families. We had such a blast and everyone was so hungry that we forgot to snap pics of the people and food, so these are just a few of the table that amy took in advance.
my wife can set a mean table.
so, on top of these plates we really did have food. we took the napkins and wheat off, of course, and enjoyed some autumnal fare.  Actually, I did something quite out of the norm this year and braised my turkey.  I bought a small one (10 lbs) and cut it up and braised it in a dutch oven with a little fat tire ale, some chicken stock and root veg.  I made the gravy the same way I always do (check out the roast beef post for info), and it turned out really great. It's going to be hard for me to ever roast a turkey again, given how juicy and tender the turkey turned out.  the skin even got crispy because of some dutch oven magic! 

this is the aftermath.  hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving and hope you all have a great holiday season.  I am planning to do quite an extensive scratch puff pastry post here in the next few days so please check it out and give the recipe a try. it is a really handy dough to have on hand and is so much better than anything that you can pick up in the stores, I assure you.  if you love, buttery, flaky, pastry, you will have to give this one a go.

psst: need some help finding the right gift for those on your list?  Of course you do!  then check out this great gift guide and spend, spend, spend away!

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