Thanksgiving 2011
This was a highlight in my otherwise crappy week. The Snook and I had planned to have a simple Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night after work. On Wednesday though, I decided it would be more fun to make it an impromptu dinner party. My American friends Josh and Jamie didn’t have anything planned, and Kunaal is always up for a gathering. So in the end we had quite a merry little party! I made slow cooker turkey legs, homemade green bean casserole, and gingery carrots. Josh and Jamie brought mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and bread rolls, and Kunaal brought fruit pies. And afterwards, we had a rousing game of Settlers of Catan. I’m thankful to have been able to celebrate the day with such good friends!

Read on for photos and links to the recipes I used.Here’s Kunaal, Jamie, and Josh just before dinner.

I’d never made green bean casserole before, so I figured I’d go all out with Martha Stewart’s recipe. Instead of canned soup, you make the mushroom sauce from scratch. I didn’t bother frying my own shallots though; we had a bag of them from the Asian store. This turned out SO GOOD. I should’ve made more of it since we devoured every bit!

I knew I wanted to have turkey, but it’s difficult to cook a whole bird when you don’t have the day off work. So instead I settled for slow cooker turkey legs. That morning I layered some onions in the bottom of the crock pot and then packed in six turkey legs. Each leg was drizzled with olive oil, salt, pepper, and sage. I also chucked in some sprigs of thyme. They cooked all day on low, and they were just about falling off the bone ten hours later. Not bad at all! The Snook also used the onion and pan drippings to make a quick gravy as well.

Jamie and Josh brought mashed sweet potatoes, which were very tasty. I believe this recipe was from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals!

For the other side dish, I made Gingery Glazed Carrots. They turned out pretty well, despite a minor hiccup with the recipe. (I think I had too much liquid, as it never quite reduced as much as it was supposed to.)

Kunaal and the Snook enjoying their dinner.

Jamie and Josh at the table. I surprised them by having the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on the TV. (It was a bit-torrented version from 2008, but still.)

After the feasting, we broke out Settlers of Catan. Kunaal and Jamie were new to it but picked it up quickly. Fun way to end the night!