Thanksgiving Plans

Some day two weeks ago I was watching You Are What You Eat on BBC and was inspired to make a miso soup with onion, broccoli and edamame. I also added tofu, wakame and some ground pork in it for good measure. I pretty much ate it for quite a few days last week and then made it again this week because I had some miso and edamame left over. I don't understand why but all the sudden I get this strong craving for chocolate at night, it was so strong that drove me a little crazy. I passed by Whole Foods and they had seedless green grapes lying around for people to try and they were unbelievably good, so I got them instead. I don't normally make a conscious effort to eat healthy, but I prefer a balanced meal so when I eat meat I'd have to have some veggies and some starch. When the grapes didn't satisfy my sugar cravings, I gave up and got myself a box of Ferrero Rocher. It's not until yesterday that I realized I have mistakenly put myself on a low-carb diet with the soup, which explained my sudden sugar cravings. I've unknowingly lost 2 pounds. (lol.)



My mahjong friends A&Y had asked me to cook for them and their friends and families for Thanksgiving. Since I'm having so much fun with them, I said yes. But it's going to be 20+ people and I'm feeling the pressure that I've bitten more than I can chew. It's practically catering, which I've never done before.

I've decided the menu to be something like this:

Butternut Squash Soup
Herb Roasted Turkey
Turkey Gravy
Orange Cranberry Sauce
Sausage, Apple, Sage Dressing
Mushroom, Barley, Rice Dressing
Seafood Fettucine
Vegetable Platter - Sliced Potatoes, Caramelized Onions, Roasted Pepper, Asparagus, Haricot Verts w/ Shallots, Maple Glazed Carrots and an Aioli
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Tiramisu

I have no idea how much of each I have to make. I would love to do two medium-sized turkey or a turkey and a glazed ham than one huge bird. The orange cranberry sauce can be store bought plus a few things to make it unique, roast peppers can be store bought, so can the pumpkin cheescake. The caramelized onions, maple glazed carrots, the aioli and the tiramisu can all be made ahead.

I used to make the seafood fettucine all the time when I was living in New England. They sold gthe dish in Hong Kong's Pizza Hut and it requires a rare Campbell's Oyster Stew to make it taste right. I wonder if I can hunt it down in some bigger supermarket. If not, I'll do my baked mac & cheese. I'm thinking the total prepare and cook time will take about 6-7 hours, it'll be a busy day.



Since everyone attending are Chinese, I don't know if anyone have had a more traditional Thanksgiving dinner before. I realize that it gives me some leeway (like not making mashed potatoes or rolls, gasp!) and probably they wouldn't know any better if I've screwed up but I'm not planning on it. I'm testing my memory now by recreating some of those dishes and have it for dinner this week, I just hope everything goes well.


Reminds me of this movie