Thanksgiving Dinner: A Bachelor's Contribution

This year, I'm trying to do a little bit more than usual for the family Thanksgiving dinner. Usually, I show up and eat. Maybe bring the rolls (to be cooked by others there). Well, last year, they asked me to bring pies. I showed up with a couple and shocked them by having actually "cooked" them. (Well, they were frozen ones, but I opened the box and put them in the oven myself ... honest!) They assumed I'd just buy fresh ones the day before at the store.

So this year, I'm trying to take the next step ... well, half-step. My girlfriend is actually making the pies (except for my Mom's favorite, mincemeat, which nobody actually knows what is ... Is it meat or is it fruit?), her mom is bringing a jello salad of some sort (and providing distraction in the first meeting of the parents), so I get to try something else. This is what I'm bringing (recipe from my Mom):

I had to make a phone call from the middle of the store today shopping for ingredients just to make sure I didn't go wrong. (Is salad oil the same as vegetable oil? Is "prepared mustard" the yellow stuff you squirt on a hot dog or some spice in a little bottle?) Mom started to explain the difference between "tsp" and "tbl", but I told her I had that covered.

It's sitting in the fridge now, made a day early so I can sample tomorrow and buy something else if it's horrid. Anybody else got recipes that might save my a$$ tomorrow if this falls through? (Or help others in a similar situation?)

 

Knowing where you live, this will be a big hit:

Key Lime Pie

4 large or extra large egg yolks

1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup fresh key lime juice (approximately 12 Key limes)

2 teaspoons grated lime peel, green portion only

Whipping cream for garnish (optional)

Use an electric mixer and beat the egg yolks until they are thick and turn to a light yellow. Don't over mix. Turn the mixer off and add the sweetened condensed milk. Turn speed to low and mix in half of the lime juice. Once the juice is incorporated add the other half of the juice and the zest, continue to mix until blended (just a few seconds). Pour the mixture into the pie shell and bake at 350F for 12 minutes to set the yolks and kill any salmonella in the eggs.

 

What I eat all day:
1 bowl
1 spoon
1 carton of milk
1 box of cocoa puffs

 

Mincemeat is actually fruit, and is damn tasty in a pie. It's a combination of Sultana's, Raisen's, orange and lemon peel and some liquor, usually brandy. At least that's my family's recipe.

My mum used to bake tons of them around christmas, but as soon as they'd cooled the other four of us in the house (Dad, two other siblings) would wolf them down very quickly.

 

Was going to buy a CHristmas pudding from Harrods just because.. decided against it when shipping would have pushed it to 40 bucks,...

 

As a bachelor myself, my contribution this year is that I'm in charge of the rutabega, which is a family favorite at Thanksgiving dinner, nearly as important as the mashed potatoes and gravy. I'm buying three of them and they'll be ready to be boiled when I get there.

 

What is a rutabega?

 

I'll be at work, and a turkey is being brought in -- hours before anyone arrives. We'll have to cut it and heat it up bit by bit once we get there. I just hope someone brings cranberry in a can. And a can opener.

 

As a bachelor who will be five hours away from my family on Thursday, I don't have a clue what I'm going to do. Leftover pizza seems like a good possibility.

Alabama served turkey, stuffing and sweet potatoes at the game Saturday, so I figure I've already eaten my Thanksgiving meal.

 

You weren't playing solitaire while you ate, were you?

 

You really don't know?
Kinda like a turnip only bigger and yellow-orange inside. Peel it, cut it into small pieces and boil it for at least a half-hour. Then mash it and melt butter, salt and pepper into it. Simply the best.

 

"The Portmanteau Book" has some good recipes.