put a bird on it

games: cincinnati vs buffalo
green bay vs baltimore
new england vs new orleans
dallas vs washington
escape: dinner party
on the menu: thanksgiving dinner [see menu]

To many football fans, the Super Bowl is the most anticipated Football Sunday of the season. I may not be a huge fan, but Super Bowl Sunday is my #2. [Canadian] Thanksgiving Sunday takes the ~~cake~~ pie; a conclusion drawn with heavy influence by the presence of a turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce.

Throughout the week leading up to Sunday, I’ve been privy to earfuls of turkey talk. Perhaps what I’m most thankful for this Thanksgiving is the that fact that Mike and Kial talked themselves out of deep-frying a whole turkey. When the deep-frying topic first came up, all that came to mind were eyebrow-less men [in football jerseys] and a condo burnt to the ground. When that topic died, they turned to the next best thing; a turducken – a duck stuffed into a chicken stuffed into a turkey. Our guests were in for a gluttonous treat!

Along with all the prep work, the turducken was a multi day process. All 3 birds were deboned and then brined for 24 hours. Once the brining was complete, the birds were stuffed into each other and the turkey was sewed up and tied back together. The graveyard of bird bones lived on in a stock pot that simmered on the stove top for 10-12hours. This aroma of “bird” filled every room in the condo and marinated in my skin and hair as I slept in it’s bouquet.

SIDE NOTE |There’s nothing like going to yoga the next day and realizing, while in up dog, that that interesting scent you were smelling all class was actually coming from your yoga mat that happened to be next to the kitchen, and therefore next to the stock pot, all night long.

I was home cleaning and prepping for the dinner party all day while Mike was in the kitchen [later joined by Kial] cooking and while both TVs were turned to football. There was no escape this Sunday, only distraction. But before I knew it, guests were arriving and turkey dinner at the Kowbel’s was under way.

Like all holidays synonymous with food, this dinner started with a room full of chatter and hungry tummies then gradually transitioned to silence brought on by food comas.

leek + gnocchi poutine vegetable casserole Anticipating an action packed game day kitchen, I did my macaron baking [for desert] and spiced nut making [for pre dinner snacking] on Thursday and Friday. With the turducken taking longer than expected to cook, I was glad I made bowls full of spiced nuts to munch on. They were an easy snack that went a long way. To fit the holiday, I made pumpkin spiced macarons. To date, they are my favourite flavour. The ganache was flavoured with pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice which gave it a smooth texture and festive flavour. Comparable to Tom Brady in the NE vs NO game, our guests were loosing steam, but the macarons brought them back to life in the last 1 min 30secs; down by 4 to score a TD for the win. They were hands down a crowd favourite!
In anticipation that you’ll inquire, here are the associated macaron recipes