Ann’s Thanksgiving
Ann says
Sorry this took so long!
It was honestly a little strange having my grandpa gone for the first event after his death. He always used to say a little something, although he wasn’t really religious, to start off the meal. He was so intense and earnest about it. My dad tried to fill in and although he really did say some sweet things, it just wasn’t the same. But he did well and the food was great. Everything really came out just lovely this year, even after I sort of burned the candied pecans for the sweet potato dish. My cousin Guntis and his wife Zinta and sons Alnis and Imants (I think 5 and 7 years old respectively!) all came over. They shall all be referred to here on out as, “my cousins,” because they are the only ones around here and they are awesome. Adorable pics of everyone follow.
The day before Thanksgiving was spent making pies and preparing the sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts and cranberry sauces. I took over orange-food-duty as soon as I could, as I seem to have some sort of horrible vitamin A deficiency in that I LOVE all orange foods. Give me a sweet potato, baked in the oven, split open with a tab of butter and a tiny pinch of salt, and I’ll love you forever. I even got a non-pumpkin pie eater to like my pumpkin pie. Abe too, for that matter! Hah! Two converts to the realm of the winter squash! A glorious, sweet and comforting part of Ann Land where it is fall forever!
I like me some root veggies. Anyway. Here are some picks and a quick recipe for how I like to eat my brussels sprouts!
The table
Mom makes the dressing
Ginger waits for fallen food
Guntis, Dad, Zinta, and Alnis
Dad helps Alnis carve the turkey
Everyone watches except grandma
My delicious plate
Imants shows off his mad drawing and writing skills
Both show off their silly faces
Ze pie and one of Zinta's wonderful tortes
Sauteed Brussel Sprouts
Ingredients:
1 pound brussel sprouts, cleaned and cut in half
two or three slices of bacon
pepper, salt
Render the fat off of your bacon until bacon is as crispy as you like it to be in a large saute pan. Remove the bacon but leave the fat. If you feel the sprouts will need more fat add some butter at this point and let it melt at about medium to medium high heat. Throw in your brussels sprouts and add salt and pepper to taste, keeping in mind that the bacon fat will be a little salty. Cook until well browned on both side and fork tender. EAT!
That sounds like a lovely Thanksgiving! I wanted to try making brussel sprouts but the supermarket was OUT of them by the time we went shopping! Bacon with them sounds Yum.
I already like pumpkin pie but how about the recipe for yours? :-)
It was! I can totally put up the recipe for pumpkin pie. I think the main difference is that it has dark brown sugar, heavy cream, a bit of maple syrup, and a splash of bourbon. Hooray for alcohol in food!
Yeah, we had trouble with our brussels sprouts too! There was some kind of bug infestation and we had to clean them like MAD. They were fine in the end…no bugs in our food at the table. Did you have Thanksgiving with friends or family..or both?
Our Thanksgiving was w/ friends.
Blech, bugs! Though I don’t mind a few bugs, a whole infestation on something as tiny as brussel sprouts is just too much work. I think I’d seriously consider dumping the batch.