In my family, Thanksgiving is all about the food. Oh- and giving thanks, family, friends, yada yada blah blah....
Back to the food. Oh, the food. I dream about this meal all year long. This time of year I smell hot buttered rolls, candied sweet potatoes, and sage dressing in my nose, when there isn't any in site. I am anticipating our great feast.
(Don't get mad that I called it dressing! We've always called it dressing, not stuffing. We're kind of Southern.)
This year we will have roasted turkey, smoked turkey breast, gravy, mashed potatoes, more gravy, dressing, *cough* even more gravy, candied sweet potatoes with those tasty little marshmallows, cranberry salad, rolls from the place where I work, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and maybe we'll throw a vegetable in there. I think this year, I'm going to set up a little drink station and play bartender. Tips welcome.
My close family will be here-my dad, mom, sister Rachel and her husband Jeremy, sister Kristin and her finace Mike, my little sister Hannah, Grandma H, and our new guest: Baby Jayden. He has his own supply of food, this year.
Together we will sit around the fire, drinking big mugs of spiced apple cider, sharing jokes and stories, quilting, passing around the fiddle, and smoking corncob pipes. Well...not really...but close.
We drink beer and play pool.
Nobody likes apple cider, either. Except my little sister, and I. We drink it and shiver in all of its delicious glory.
Ingredients:
1/2 gallon apple cider
1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
A few strips of orange peel
1 cinnamon stick
A few whole cloves
1 star anise
Directions:
Stir together the apple cider and brown sugar, in a large saucepan, over medium heat. Add the rest of the ingredients, and heat mixture (stirring occasionally) until it starts to bubble slightly. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes, or until ready to serve. Ladle into mugs, straining out the spices.
Yield: 6-8 servings
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