The Great Meal

The other morning I woke up laughing at myself after having my first ever Thanksgiving dinner anxiety dream.  I have those dreams all the time:  the ones where I am at the beach when I am supposed to be at work or the ones where I realize it's finals week and I've forgotten to go to class all term.  In this particular dream it was three in the afternoon and my kitchen was in its everyday state of chaos when the doorbell rang and it suddenly occurred to me that there should be a nearly-done turkey in the oven and a fridge stuffed with food and where were the pies?

There are plenty of things going on in my life right now to stress me out but you know what?  Thanksgiving dinner simply isn't one of them.  And that's why I was able to wake up laughing.

It feels pretty calm this year.  We will be spending the holiday with good friends. I am much more relaxed about cooking without gluten.  There will be no family drama, no need to measure up to the checkout line magazines' hyperbolic BEST THANKSGIVING EVER.  With wine and good food and a crackling fire I predict a very fine holiday indeed.

Of course my menu isn't 100% set in stone just yet but I can pretty much plan on the following:

• spiced nuts, good cheese, and maybe a light Campari-based cocktail, something like Nigella's Seasonal Breeze but cut with fizzy water
• A simple roast turkey (I fussed around with brining last year and was not impressed)
• Some variation on this stuffing. I'll pick up my GF bread from Happy Campers tomorrow.
• Cranberry sauce  
• Cranberry Orange Relish
• Mashed potatoes.  With lots of butter and cream.  
• Tzimmes
• Some kind of green salad with dark red lettuces, pears, hazelnuts, and a nice vinaigrette
• Crustless pecan pie (but I'll sub maple syrup for some of the sugar)
• chocolate meringues
• maybe one more dessert (hey, it's a holiday!)  with fruit

I hope all of you reading this will enjoy a lovely, relaxing holiday with good food and lots of loved ones.