Hi folks!
Thought I’d share my TG menu with you with links to most of the recipes, just in case you don’t already have your own plans well in hand. My mother-in-law and I usually work together on the menu, but she is having cataract surgery on Monday and will be under weight-carrying and activity restrictions. So I’m doing the whole thing. Here’s what the plan is:
My usual classic stuffing: “World’s Greatest Thanksgiving Stuffing”
Classic mashed potatoes, with lots of butter and cream. I’m not doing that make-ahead version with cream cheese and sour cream. It’s not all that fluffy.
Roasted acorn squash with chili-lime vinaigrette from the great, great Smitten Kitchen cooking blog–note that this post is 15 years old, back when Deb Perelman’s photography skills were not what they are now. The recipe itself, though, looks great.
Green beans with shallots, mushrooms and (my addition) bacon, from Bon Appetit
Classic cranberry-orange relish, made from the recipe on the back of the bag but also available here. Note that you really shouldn’t just throw the whole orange in the mix but should take the time to peel off the outer skin, the zest, and then remove and discard the bitter white pith. It’s only that outer skin that has the flavor. Then you can proceed as directed, throwing the outer skin, all the orange flesh, and the cranberries into your food processor. I’d start with an even lower amount of sugar–maybe 1/2 to 2/3 cup, then taste.
Two pies, one Melissa Clark’s brandied butternut squash pie and one made with apples and almond paste, always a winning combination in my book.
I’m not bothering with rolls. We have enough bread in the stuffing.
And what about the turkey and gravy, you ask? Well, I’m planning to use the method below from the great Adam Ragusea for boning out a turkey and thus being able to roast the white and the dark meat separately, while making the turkey broth ahead of time from the bones. I’m not, not, NOT going to do his sauce, though. I’m going to make conventional gravy, and I am going to use those wonderful drippings in the roasting pans that he seems to be ignoring. But I’m very excited about getting an evenly-cooked, easily-sliced turkey. We’ll see! Take a look and see what you think:
Well, folks—the old A1C has done its number on me again, reaching 6.3. If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time you know all about my struggles to keep that insidious number at a level below what is considered full-blown diabetes, 6.5. The A1C number is the percentage of your red blood cells that have glucose molecules attached to them. People with diabetic tendencies have higher blood-sugar levels than normal due to a condition known as insulin resistance. You may remember my striking analogy using the idea of a key (insulin) and a lock (on the door to the cell). A person with insulin resistance has cell locks that are hard to turn, needing a good strong key. (Hmmm. This analogy is already going off the rails.) In other words, more insulin than normal is needed to get the glucose out of the bloodstream and into the cells where it can be broken down (“burned”) for energy. Since excess sugar in the bloodstream is toxic, the best thing a diabetes-prone person can do is to avoid much in the way of sugar and other refined carbs in his or her diet. If blood sugar levels are kept stable and relatively low, the pancreas doesn’t get called upon to produce big surges of insulin to deal with the glucose spikes typically caused by ingestion of such foods.
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