Our thanksgiving dinner this year was decided last minute, the night before the big day. We had planned to visit my niece and her new baby. Also planned to visit our old friends - but snow storms came in the way, literally! So we canceled our plans and decided to stay home.
After a long day at work, I went out to shop for grocery at 8 in the night. No one at home is a fan of turkey, so I decided to bake Cornish hens instead. I would be able to thaw, and marinate it in time for lunch the next day. Bough a bag of jumbo shrimp that I marinated in yogurt and spices overnight.
The morning of thanksgiving, after breakfast, I began prepping for lunch.
Preheated the oven at 350 degree F. Placed the marinated Cornish hens on a wire rack. Stuffed it with onions, lemon and tied the legs together. Around them added beets, carrots, potatoes, onions and mild spices. Drizzled a generous amount of oil and set it in the oven to bake. Timer set to one hour and 15 minutes. Next prepped the green bean casserole, mac and cheese and corn muffins, they went int the oven beside the chicken tray.
The oven was full. Made mashed potatoes, gravy and shrimp stir-fry on the stovetop. Cooked berries and made a thick compote to use as filling for a berry lattice pie. One the berries were cooked, left them to cool while I made the pie crust and placed it in the oven for about 10 minutes to get the crust golden.
By this time food in the oven was nearly done. I removed all the dishes from the oven, covered the chicken tray with foil and let it rest for 15 minutes. In this time I filled the pie with berry filling, made a quick lattice with remaining pie dough and got it back in the oven.
The oven was nice and hot, the pie got done in no time at all. Turned off the oven and lay the table. Prepped salad and lunch was served by 2 pm. I had just enough time to lay out all the food on the floor for a quick picture.
Shrimp, chicken and the mac'n cheese bake got over in no time. I personally loved the green bean casserole, especially the fried onion crust and bread crumbs!
I hope you all enjoyed family time and some good homemade food as well.