I didn’t get out shopping today. Out Thursday and yesterday, and I knew I needed to cook the turkey I got. It does look good, doesn’t it? A Maple Lawn Farm turkey, not brined. Convection baked. Simple, elegant, so full of flavor. Why did I ever buy Butterball?
My small business shopping will take place tomorrow and Monday. Tomorrow for Christmas greens and poinsettias at Greenway, and Monday to Atwater’s for bread, and the antique stores in Catonsville for inspiration.
Besides, next Saturday is the natural crafts sale at the Conservancy. The info:
Dec 1 – Saturday 9 am – 3pm Natural Holiday Sale and Crafts FREE! Browse tables of natural gift items, create critters from seed pods and natural gatherings. Enjoy beautiful music with a cup of tea. Watch Master Gardener demonstrations (creations to be raffled off), visit with talented local craft vendors, local farms, and nature critter crafts for the children of all ages. FREE
Last year I won the centerpiece for our holiday table at the Master Gardener raffle. This year I am looking to get local honey for gifts, and to replenish my stocks. I think I can pass on shopping today since I spend so much time supporting our local businesses and farms.
As for the Thanksgiving meal today, it was mostly local and almost all small business, so I did support the local economy heavily. The dressing contained Boarman’s sausage and veggies from my CSA. The bread was a baguette from when I went to Linden. They buy them locally and bake them. We bought one extra so I could cube it for my sausage, bread, celery, onion, sage dressing.
The wine was local, as well. Black Ankle 2008 Pinot Noir. OK, when we bought it, it was good. Today, it was stellar. Rivaled any Carneros pinot. Not quite Burgundian, but not bad for young vines.
Not a bad meal. Our personal private Thanksgiving, after the family feast on Thursday. Almost all items on the plate from CSA, Roots, Boarman’s, Maple Lawn, and England Acres. My local resources page provides links to most of my sources for this dinner.
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That looks absolutely delicious! We had a Maple Lawn Farms turkey too, brined though. I’ve been buying them for the past couple of years and now I won’t get any other.
This year I read where you didn’t need to brine a fresh turkey. I decided to try it this way. With convection baking and butter under the skin, it was incredibly moist.
I guess that means I save quite a bit of time.
We had our Thanksgiving at home tonight too! We cooked our turkey from South Mountain accompanied by farmer’s market veggies. It was a wonderful way to spend a chilly Saturday.
Interesting. Is that sriracha on your turkey and dressing?
Liz, I also saw heritage turkeys at England Acres this year. They are huge though. A thirty pound turkey wouldn’t fit in my oven. With Maple Lawn, I ask for 12-14 pounds. This one was 14 and positioned on the lowest rack, it just cleared by maybe two inches.
Tammy, my gravy turned out really dark, as I deglazed the pan with a bit of red wine, then to make the gravy, I used some of my whole wheat pasta flour. I was using it up. It is from last spring. Finer and darker, paired with red wine, it really gave the gravy a deep red color. The gravy this year was probably the best I ever made.