Thanksgiving Dinner

Let me recommend wine to go with turkey. I recently discovered this and it's almost too good to share, but I will anyway.

Try some New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region, such as Cloudy Bay. You really can't go wrong here, it is great on its own and stands up perfectly to the turkey.

Thanks, CJane... They're good eaters. I know you said you don't like turkey, so I'm hoping you'll share your menu with us. A goose? Pheasant?

chjsa -- Thanks for the wine tip -- I'll look for that. I've been reading the brining recipe -- looks easy enough. I wish they'd said something about a bird with stuffing. I imagine everything is similar, but with a longer roasting time. (Have never heard of scented garbage bags. I'm so out of it.)

Heh -- that green bean/ dried onion thing... I don't get it. Glad it's not my tradition.

Beth -- I am going to try those crackers. Cool website, too.

This is a great thread. I am sitting here at work starving though...

Piffka, I haven't made up my mind yet, if I want to be a "lady of leasure"
and make reservations, or cook the Goose. I've had only once the
pleasure of cooking Pheasant - not many groceries carry these birds.
Pheasant is tricky as the meat tends to get dry and wrapping it in
bacon helps, but not always - it always depends on how old the sucker is

By the way, turkey has a high amount of L-Tryptophan, an amino acids,
that makes you sleepy and in combination with a heavy redwine
makes your company retire early - just in case they're glued to the Sofa

Recipe for Wasabi-Cream Cheese Filled Shrimp Hors D'oeuvre
You asked for shrimp---you got shrimp. This is one of my favorite recipes:

Wasabi-Cream Cheese Filled Shrimp Hors D'oeuvre
By BumblebeeBoogie

There are no proportions specified for this recipe. Use the largest cooked and cleaned shrimp you can find. Split the shrimp with a sharp knife to create a long stuffing pocket.

In a bowl, mix sufficient cream cheese to stuff the number of shrimp you are preparing. Whisk the cream cheese until it is soft and fluffy. Add a little chopped chives or finely minced green onions. Add the Wasabi mustard (that very hot pale green mustard you find served along with Japanese food) to your taste, starting with a little at a time until you reach the perfect mixture that is not too hot. Be sure the Wasabi is thoroughly mixed in to avoid any hot chunks.

Spoon the Wasabi-cream cheese mixture into the shrimp pockets. One time when the cream cheese was a tad too thick, I thinned it down slightly with a few drops of lemon juice. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Present the stuffed shrimp on an attractive plate and then get out of the way of the impending stampede. A wonderful and unusual appetizer that couldn't be simpler to make, even to transport to a party.

Yeow, that sounds good, bbb..

Osso -- I've been getting hungry all day. Finally I'm making dinner, wishing it were turkey.

C-Jane -- I expect everyone to fall asleep and leave me to the dishes. Tradition!

BBB -- Sounds like a yummy appetizer. I love wasabi and shrimp. No proportion recipes are just fine with me.

You guys are making me hungry!

Did anyone mention mince pie? That's always been a tradition in my family. In fact we used to have apple, pumpkin, AND mince pies.

My late fiancee' used to make a stuffing that was more or less like a traditional bread stuffing except it also had chopped walnuts and chorico (portuguese sausage) in it.

This year I'm cooking Thanksgiving dinner in my new home*.
I'll have to delete the chorico though as my stepdaughter doesn't eat pork or beef.










* However, we are ready cancel everything at a minute's notice and all fly out to Washington for a chance to eat at Piffka's!

Mince pie... that's a good tradition, Jjorge. My mom used to make them. I've done it a few times but nobody seemed interested. I think they're delicious.

And hey...I'm looking forward to your next visit to Puget Sound, too. I do have enough plates for three more guests....

[size=7]I love that green bean casserole wit h Durkees onion rings...I guess I'm a hick.[/size]

I've never eaten mince pie - should I start now?

btw, jjorge, your avatar is just precious

I confess to loving the green bean, cream of crap, and onion ring thing the first time I had it a couple of years ago.

I can say it out loud. I thought it was yummy.

<shielding eyes in horror>

Yummy!

I shout it from the rooftops!

Oh, go ahead and shout it! LOL. You and Beth can eat my share.

I'm not a food snob... I just didn't like it. It had an Elmer's Glue feel in my mouth. <shudder> Maybe it was made wrong (but I don't think so).


C-Jane -- Mince pies are nice... very spicy and full of apples, nuts & dried fruits. They used to also have beef in 'em... but most don't anymore -- sometimes they have beef suet but many use butter instead. It's just a very spicy, nutty apple pie... with brandy flavoring. Yummy. Especially good as little tarts with whipped cream.

Didn't the onions crunch on the one you had, piff?
Oh, and the green beans were still kinda snappy, too.

No, no crunch, no snap. Just mush, it had all the texture and excitement of the mushrooms in the cream of mushroom soup. I think it had cooked in the oven for more than an hour... and it was goopy.

I'm fairly certain it shouldn't be mushy. If it is supposed to be mushy, then I'm glad the person who made the one I tried got it wrong.

Now, mince pie. I've got some problems with that. I've only ever had it in a very lardy pastry, which kind of makes me squinch up my face. Beef fat and fruit aren't a natural match to me.

err...thanks Jane

Mince pie has its devotees (like me) everybody else seems to say ho hum.

Now, you could try raisin pie. It's another old fashioned thing.
My grandmother used to make it.

Hmmm. Does raisin pie have apples? I ought to look at my mom's old recipes and see just how she made 'em. She promised me there was no meat.