Thanksgiving 2009

We had a lovely Thanksgiving once again this year. My immediate family and Justin's father, step-mom, and youngest sister joined us for dinner this year. This was the third time that Justin and I have hosted Thanksgiving dinner and I am sure it won't be the last. We have found that cooking and cleaning is way more fun and less stressful than traveling all over Illinois for the long weekend. Besides, if you do most of the prep work on the day before Thanksgiving, then you get to just relax with family and watch football on the day of. I decided to try a new turkey recipe that involved brining the turkey before roasting - a process that is highly recommended by Alton Brown and my Uncle Kurt. The brine is supposed to keep the turkey moist and flavorful during roasting. Alton Brown explains why this works on Good Eats.... you can see the clip below (this happens to be the same recipe that I used).



And here is the rest of our Thanksgiving menu with links to some of the recipes:

Appetizers
Frog Eyes (pickles wrapped in cream cheese and ham)
Cheese plate
Shrimp Cocktail
Veggies with creamy horseradish and dill dip

Main Course
Roast Turkey
Mashed Potatoes
Best Ever Green Bean Casserole
Cranberry sauce
Stuffing (Maggie's dad)
Maple glazed carrots with dill (Maggie's mom)
Corn dish (Joan)
Rolls (Joan)

Dessert
Pumpkin pie (Maggie's mom)