I'm Thankful for Food

My father is an excellent chef. (I say "chef" rather than "cook" because a cook merely repeats recipes and a chef makes his own.) He's incredible. Everyone loves his cooking.

Anyway, he and I have been cooking together for a while, and he gave me little cooking lessons over the summer to learn little things about cooking - little things that help a ton.

This year for Thanksgiving we tried something new. I decided I wanted to help out with the meal this year and my father obliged. The turkey was his game, but I helped out on everything else.



This year, we had my mother's recipe for Ritz broccoli casserole, a family classic and legend; brussel sprouts, sautéed with onion and local bacon; some steamed rice; turkey, soak in a brine with lemons and oranges added; and smoked mashed potatoes.

Blurry photo, but the majority of the food is shown (excluding the lovely turkey tray). 

The smoked mashed potatoes were a major hit. It was great. My father even told me the recipe would make it into the family cookbook (okay, this is a big deal for me... the cookbook is like the bible of our kitchen).

My father and I have also been working on a deconstructed pumpkin pie for the past couple of days. We finally finished it today, and all the relatives seemed to like it. My father also asked to add this one.

Deconstructed Pumpkin Pie - closeup

I'm ecstatic to have become a part of the family cookbook, and I'm looking forward to finding more great things to cook in the future - Christmas dinner, anyone?

Vegetarian by day, Turkey-consumer by Thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!