ok. we all know i go crazy when i'm hosting a dinner. so you can imagine how absolutely insane thanksgiving is here at la casa de gaio. it doesn't matter if we only have one guest, or two dozen guests, i always make WAY too much food. but i can't help myself. i want all the wonderful things all at once. and besides, my second favorite day is the day after thanksgiving. the day i like to call "sit in your jammies and stuff your face with leftovers day". so i like to ensure i have plenty of options.
to give a run down of our feast, let's start with the heavy weights-the meats. personally, i feel it's a moral obligation to have turkey at thanksgiving. since we had a smaller crowd this year, i just got a breast. brined over night and roasted in the afternoon. i highly recommend brining to anyone who has issues with dry turkey. this technique has always served me well. i also make a rub of butter, sage and thyme that i work UNDER the skin of the turkey before i roasted it. this beautiful bird was amazingly tender and juicy. and super flavorful too. and bonus, the herbed butter made for very tasty drippings that went into a gravy!

for tony's birthday this year i got him an electric smoker. which is the perfect vehicle for his favorite....brisket! we've had many a trial and error with this tricky cut of meat, but i think we've figured out the best way to get the right flavor and texture. i give this sucker a nice dry rub of spices (mostly black pepper, salt and paprika) the night before, and smoke it low and slow for the better part of the day. i always harvest the drippings and mix them with cider vinegar, stout beer and apple cider to make a sauce. it's similar to a barbecue sauce, but with the flavors of the smoke and spice.

i fully admit that the turkey and brisket were more than enough to feed our dinner crowd, but, i've been craving ham. so what the heck, i added that to the menu too! to save oven space, i cooked a quarter spiral ham in the crock pot. very simple. a rub of brown sugar, honey and dijon. and then a 1/2 cup of ginger beer in the bottom for moisture. 4 hours on low? and a third very tender and tasty option for the carnivores. i'm not sorry for my gluttonous decision to add this dish. it ended up being my favorite!
instead of mashed potatoes, tony has introduced me to a different tradition for thanksgiving spuds. pirogues!
and these aren't your freezer aisle Mrs. T's nonsense. each of these little pillows of love that are filled with mashed potatoes and cheese or sauerkraut and onion are lovingly crafted by hand. this comes from a recipe that tony has from his grandmother. and i will forever be grateful to him and his family for brining it into my life!
tony and i spend an entire day getting these assembled and lined up for the holidays. it's like a small army. an army of deliciousness. we always make a second batch and freeze them for christmas!
call it dressing, call it stuffing, call it whatever you want. it's one of my favorite thanksgiving sides. i made mine a little on the sweet side this year, to compliment my ham. for the bread i used toasted hawaiian rolls. and added a few diced apples (lovingly diced by my mom's hand...thank you mom). then the usual celery, onion, sage and thyme for that quintessential thanksgiving flavor!

one of my "absolutely, no question, must have" side dishes is macaroni and cheese. seriously. if i am given a last meal on my death bed? it will be macaroni and cheese. i have a bajillion different ways of making it. with buffalo sauce and chicken. with brie and figs. with bacon and pears. but my be-all-end-all-favorite is the recipe i make for thanksgiving. three different kinds of cheeses: gruyere, smoked gouda and sharp cheddar. all melted into a sauce of milk that has been thickened with a roux of butter and flour. a little salt, pepper and nutmeg (trust me, it's subtle but makes a difference). i add about a 1/4 cup of tomato sauce and a pinch of sugar to the mix. and top the entire thing with crispy onions. you know the kind you put on green bean casserole? the whole thing tastes like a hug. a big, warm, comforting, "everything will be alright now" hug. this dish may be the reason we keep hosting thanksgiving. so i can have the excuse to make this.

speaking of crispy onions.....i do love me a green bean casserole. i mean c'mon. let's look at the name of the blog. it's sort of a given that i would make this classic for our meal! nothing fancy, i pretty much just follow the recipe on the back of the little crispy onion container. but i do make sure to use fresh steamed green beans, not the canned. i just think the color green is so much prettier when i do!
and last but certainly not least, the rolls. not that they're needed with everything else...but i feel they are sort of expected. and they make such a wonderful vehicle to soak up that gravy made from the turkey drippings. and they smell so wonderful when baking!!! which reminds me, a HUGE thank you to tony for the addition of the double oven to the kitchen. it made preparing so much easier this year. i was baking my rolls and roasting my turkey....AT THE SAME TIME. mind. blown. dinner. saved. stress. reduced.
as if this wasn't enough, one of our guests brought sweet potatoes and a cranberry/blueberry/cabernet sauce (which i need to get the recipe for). and another guest brought lil smokies. which.....holy cow...those things are addictive. i ate like twenty. all in all it was an meal of epic proportions. and i regret nothing!!!! though by the end pretty much everybody was in food coma. even the princess.