Thanksgiving in February

Kevin's company gave him a turkey for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I went to Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving and Kevin and Ian went down to Uncle David's house (Ian still talks about going to Unka David's. He always mentions that Unka David has a fireplace and we don't). So the turkey went in the freezer and sat there for 2 and a half months. I got it out this weekend and made it. I found a menu on epicurious. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/menu/views/cometogether

This was a southwestern style turkey dinner, which suited me perfectly since I didn't want anything too traditional. I didn't make every recipe in the menu. Here is what I did make.

Adobo Turkey with Red Chile Gravy: The adobo sauce was really good. Toasting the chiles gave off a noxious gas that caused our eyes to sting. Kevin hustled Ian out of the room and I turned the fan on. It eventually cleared. At least you soaked the finished chiles in water and then pureed them. When I have to grind chiles in my coffee grinder they never seem to get fine enough. The instructions for the turkey were very exact, so it was easy to make. I made the adobo and slathered it on the turkey the night before. The gravy was good, but it would be a little hot for a lot of people. (I didn't even try to give it to Ian.) Next time, I would use half of the adobo sauce.

Clementine Jicama Salad: This was very good. The red onions took over a little bit, so I would use less next time. Note to self: Kevin will not eat anything with pumpkin seeds on top.

Cornbread Chorizo Stuffing: Technically "dressing", as Kevin pointed out, since it didn't go in the turkey. This was great! I would make this again with other turkey recipes. And yes, I did make the cornbread a day ahead. Their recipe used only cornmeal, no flour. It was a little rubbery to eat by itself, but it was fine in the dressing.

Roasted Chayote Squash: I'd never had these before, so this was something exciting. This was really easy to do. Take the squash, peeled and cut into wedges and toss with olive oil and salt. Roast for 30 minutes and then toss the garlic in and roast for 30 more. They are juicy like summer squash, but without the seeds. I would definitely make these again. Since they roasted at 425 degrees, I had to make them in my Cusinart toaster/convection oven. (The turkey and stuffing cooked at 350.) They got done a little quicker than the recipe stated.

Sweet Potato Coconut Puree: This was very good too. I had to cook the sweet potatoes in the microwave, since I was all out of oven space. This was a nice change of pace. The coconut flavor was there, but not too pronounced. Kevin made these. He added cinnamon. I think that was a good call.

Desserts: Since this was Valentine's day weekend, we had plenty of sweets hanging around. Two kinds of brownies, vanilla iced cookies with pink sprinkles, gingerbread cake from Zingerman's and Fran's chocolates and caramels (my gift from Kevin. Yum!)

So that was my big turkey dinner. It took about two hours the night before and then from 10 am until around 2 pm. No wonder I hate Thanksgiving (okay, maybe "hate" is a little strong.) We have tons of leftovers. It's going to be up to Kevin and me to eat them. Ian has decided that he "no like turkey". He ate a little of the cornbread dressing, but he wouldn't touch the squash, sweet potatoes or the salad. Oh well. I guess he's a traditionalist.