Thanksgiving!

My little house in Orono, Maine - come for a visit!

Yes, I realize I am writing about Thanksgiving 2011 in January 2012, but I didn't want to overlook it...for the first time, both Susan and I went to our in-laws' homes for Thanksgiving. Because we were missing each other, Susan, Tim, and Andrew drove up here to the ends-of-the-earth Maine for an early November visit, and we cooked up an autumnal storm using ingredients from Massachusetts and Maine.

Chef Susan bastes The Bird.

Our menu featured a lovely Chestnut Farms turkey, which was butchered in Massachusetts mere days before we roasted it. Because the turkey was so fresh, the farmer instructed Tim to wash the turkey and its giblets each day - no mean feat with a 20 pound, lifeless bird in the kitchen sink, let me tell you. It was worth it: the turkey was succulent and we were all pleased to partake in the Chestnut Farms Thanksgiving harvest.

Our Thanksgiving table - yes, those are turnips with candles in them! Local decorating?

To round out the menu:

Mashed Maine potatoes, with Kate's butter and Maine milk
Susan's homemade stuffing with sage from the garden
Roasted farmer's market squash with Maine maple syrup
Maine apple pie with Geri's California quince, King Arthur flour,
and Kate's butter - lots of it!
Homemade Maine cranberry sauce
...and two items that are nearly impossible to make "local":
Bassett family salad (contains marshmallows!)
Green bean casserole

The last two items are standard on our Thanksgiving table and will never be lost, no matter how exotic or mass-produced the ingredients. We had a delightful weekend cooking, running, chatting, and drinking wine, and found compiling these local ingredients to be surprisingly easy. Happy holidays!

The most important ingredient!