Thanksgiving Snippets

Since it has now been several days since Thanksgiving, I thought it might finally be time to chat a little bit about what went on at my own celebration. I didn’t want to start blogging pictures the night of because all of you who celebrated the holiday as well were probably just as stuffed as I was. With all the food and commotion, I believe that Thanksgiving is one of those major holidays that we need some time to process. So, since everyone has had plenty of time to digest and eat as many leftovers as possible, let’s treat this series of snippets as a kind of Thanksgiving victory lap.

Obviously, to start off with one of the most important dishes of Thanksgiving, I present you with our turkey. Rather than go the traditional route, this year I opted to try an Adobo Turkey with Red Chile Gravy from Gourmet. Thanks to a deep, savory blend of ancho and guajillo chiles in both the marinade and the gravy, this turkey really amped up the warm, comforting vibe of Thanksgiving. Not to mention the fact that my family practically inhaled it within the immediate 24 hours surrounding that day.

I don’t know what it was about this year’s Thanksgiving, but I became hopelessly, deliriously addicted to green bean casserole this time around. While I’ve always loved this, my sister’s contribution to the holiday, I would usually stop after my initial serving, maybe with a taste of leftover the next day. They say your taste buds change as you age, so maybe there was something about my newly 21-year-old taste buds that decided to interpret the flavor of green bean casserole as omgthegreatesttastingfoodofalltime and fire off a volley of synapses that compelled me to eat it at every possible opportunity. Whatever it was, this was the year of the green bean casserole.

Before I move on to dessert, I want to quickly fill you in on the other side dishes we ate, seeing as I was too busy stuffing my face with them to bother taking a photo.

What? Don’t act like you’d have that kind of self control.

First and foremost, there was my mom’s yearly batch of Crawfish Cornbread Dressing. A combination of Louisiana crawfish (buying any other variety is sacrilege in my house); vegetables; sweet, homemade cornbread; as well as secret helping of other Cajun-y ingredients, I cannot (nor do I want to) remember a time in my life that this dish was not a part of Thanksgiving.

Besides the dressing, I made a pineapple cranberry sauce with chilies and we also had way too many rolls, thoroughly drenched with butter. It is a day of indulgence, after all.

Now, as we have completed the journey through mains and sides, we arrive at what is quite possibly a miracle tart. This Mexican Chocolate Tart with Cinnamon Pecans from Bon Appetit single-handedly restored my faith in Mexican chocolate. In the past, even though Mexican food in all shapes and forms was a constant favorite of mine, I just could not find the love for Mexican chocolate. The complex, cinnamon notes simply did not jive with me. However—I think it was partially in thanks to the mixture of Mexican chocolate and regular bittersweet chocolate—this tart hit is just right.

Don’t even get me started on the chocolate cookie crust.

With the aforementioned yum-tastic dessert, we can now conclude the tour of my Thanksgiving. For a word of sentiment in this season of thanks, I want to make sure say how thankful I am for each and every one of you, my readers—for visiting my blog, leaving comments, and being all-around awesome people. I hope you guys had a delightful Thanksgiving as well as continue to enjoy the holiday season surrounded by love, laughs, and more delicious food than you know what to do with.

By the way, what was your favorite Thanksgiving dish this year??