No Thanksgiving Economies of Scale

Just a small family Thanksgiving sounded so easy, so restful. But I had forgotten that Thanksgiving dinner, like the Passover meal, is the same amount of work, no matter how many guests, because there are so many different dishes to prepare.

The menu includes everyone’s requests:

Pumpkin soup (a late addition by Dan which I allowed only if he would be responsible for making it)
Brined turkey with bread-mushroom-sausage stuffing (one person is still fighting the sausage)
Giblet gravy
Cranberry sauce with port and figs
Brussel sprouts with pecans
Asparagus
Mashed white potatoes with pureed fennel
Sweet potatoes
Pumpkin pie

Yesterday I made almost 2 gallons of chicken stock for the brining process. I baked a pumpkin and scooped out the tender orange flesh after it cooled. You can see this is a family that does things from scratch. I have been using canned pumpkin for years, but my organic SF daughter insisted on buying a pumpkin and roasting the seeds.


Today I picked up two big challahs at Best Buns and cubed the bread for the stuffing. (My mother always did it the day before so it could dry out.) I made cranberry sauce with port and figs. (I used fresh figs.) Rachel assembled the turkey in the brining solution. I cooked up the giblets. I made the dough for the pumpkin pies, which will be baked tomorrow. Dan found a recipe for pumpkin soup.

Tomorrow as the house fills with the smell of a roasting turkey, I have a plan that we will take Jake for a long walk in Congressional Cemetery to burn off some calories in preparation for the meal that always puts you to sleep.

Next year maybe I will invite an army of people. It’s almost easier when everyone brings a course. There are no economies of scale in a Thanksgiving dinner for four people!