Last weekend, Tim and I went to Findlay Market. As we were waiting for our made to order breakfast from Helen's Grill, we started talking about Thanksgiving. We chatted about what our plans were, what houses we were going to be visiting, and what we were supposed to bring. As if he were struck with brilliance, Tim suddenly suggested, "How about we have Thanksgiving at our house?"
And, in other great coincidences (or not coincidences), right next to Helen's Grill is Luken's Fish, Poultry, and Seafood, who had one beautiful turkey left in the display case. We had purchased some excellent scallops from Luken's a few weeks prior and have heard great reviews about the quality of their products. So after we finished eating, we walked out of Findlay market with, among many other things, a turkey.
Since then, I have been brainstorming with the Dayton branch of Tim's family about the menu. We've gotten as far as Tim vetoing roasted brussel sprouts, Tim's brother offering to bring all starches, and I know I can count on Tim's mom to bring some amazing Amish bread. That leaves me (and Tim...but mostly me) to prepare the vegetables, appetizers, and desserts.
There will be just 8 of us, including 1 teenage vegetarian and 2 littler kids, which means the choices need to be sophisticated but still approachable. I want to make sure no one feels like our interpretation of Thanksgiving is too far from what is expected from Thanksgiving. It's sort of a fine line between traditional and unconventional. I want to find the middle ground--or more precisely, the middle menu.
AMEN to the middle menu. The NYTimes actually has a whole feature on a vegetarian Thanksgiving, and I definitely plan to steal some of their ideas to go alongside the turkey. The best part is that, while there are some very "vegetarian" things (tempeh and wild mushroom fricasse, gluten free pumpkin dumplings), most of it is pretty traditional stuff that meat eaters would love as side dishes.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/11/08/health/20101108_thanksgiving.html?ref=dining
Seriously, check it out. Even if you end up skipping the main course options and going straight for the Chocolate Pumpkin Bread Pudding. Or leaving it all off your dinner menu but having the Pan Seared Oatmeal (WOW, right?) for breakfast.
Thank you SO much for that link, BMBC! I am going to go there and work on my side dishes. I've been testing some stuff out, but I think the flavors will be too strong for some of my guests, so I'm back to the drawing board.
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