Remains

(Thai-style pumpkin soup.)

(The blurry looking line you see in the middle of the soup photo is the steam rising.)

Yesterday’s vegetarian Thanksgiving meal came out well.  I can’t speak for anyone else, but I was so full by the end of the meal that I’m surprised I didn’t burst. I was also exhausted at the end of it all.  It turned out to be much more work than a regular Thanksgiving meal.

I remembered to get a photo of the soup befoe we started eating.  The rest had to wait until we finished.  Here are some of the remains of our feast.

(Quorn Turk’y roasts.)

(Savory artichoke and spinach stuffing.)

I probably won’t be making that stuffing again.  It was rich and delicious, but far too labor intensive for me.

(Cranberries.)

We sent some of the leftovers home with our friends and kept a little for ourselves.  Today I’ll be cooking a real turkey because M would like to have a real turkey with the traditional stuffing, gravy, and mashed potatoes.

I’ll probably be at least 10 lbs. heavier by tomorrow.

My thanks to those of you who made our Thanksgiving meal so much fun.  (I know you’re reading.)  We should do it again next year.

Pretty much on schedule

The house is ready.  I started the soup last night (roasted the hubbard squash I decided to use instead of pumpkin, but really, canned pumpkin is often hubbard squash so I doubt anyone will know the difference).  I’ll finish it off with the fresh veggies just before serving.  It’s one of those soups where you don’t want to overcook some of the vegetables.  Besides, I think if I had put the green onions and garlic into the soup last night it would have been overpowered by those flavors and none of the pumpkin and mango would have come through.

I’m about half-way through making the stuffing.  I changed one of the ingredients.  I’m using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.  Can’t have a vegetarian meal with chicken stock in the stuffing.  There are so many other flavors going on in that stuffing that I doubt anyone will miss the poultry flavoring.

I went out and picked the herbs I’ll be using for the Turk’y.  Just some sage and Greek oregano.  That’s about all that’s left alive out there now except for some of the apple mint.  I should have picked and dried the whole lot of it earlier, but I never got around to it.  I hope to do better next year.

As soon as my back rests up a little I’ll finish up the stuffing and start preparing the potatoes for cooking and mashing.  Then it will be time to get myself dressed appropriately (I don’t think a food-stained t-shirt is appropriate), and get the appetizers set up and ready to eat.

Break time is over.

Just one more thing before I go.  I have a lot to be grateful for, in spite of this being a not-so-very-good year in some areas.  So while I’m here, let me start with you.

Thank you to all of my blogmates for your friendship, your comments, and for the opportunity you give me to have a glimpse into your lives.  And thank you to all of you who lurk without leaving comments.  I know you’re there and appreciate your visits.

P.S.  It’s sunny here today!  Yay!

P.P.S.  For those of you who want photos of today’s feast, I’ll see what I can do.  Trouble is, things get busy when I’m trying to pull the whole meal together so it’s ready all at once.  I’ll have to see if I can get folks to refrain from digging in immediately.  Don’t count on it, though.  If they’re anything like M and I, they didn’t have much breakfast because they’re saving room for the feast.  That means we’ll all be pretty hungry by the time the food hits the table.