1. Turkey and gravey
2. Potato Gratin
3. Roasted Parsnips and Carrots
4. Autumn Salad with Cider Vinaigrette
5. Cranberry Sauce with Orange and Fennel Seeds

I thought it might be a good idea to dissect my Thanksgiving dinner, dish by dish. Over the next week I will be posting the recipes for each component of this meal. Hopefully you’ll be able to replicate some of the dishes for an upcoming holiday dinner or for any meal. The good news is that everything was great. No duds at my Thanksgiving dinner! I’ll confess from the start that I didn’t cook the turkey myself. I rarely cook meat, and turkey seems like an unsatisfying project, so I ordered it from one of my favorite gourmet shops. It was good and satisfied everyone’s need for turkey and gravy. It has become a nice Thanksgiving tradition that Bryan and I go for a walk to pick up the turkey on Thanksgiving morning. It was a pretty morning so we also stopped and picked up a baguette at the bakery. This is one of my favorite things about living in the city! I love that things are open on holidays! Life goes on!

With turkey in tow, I headed home to cook. I had started cooking the night before, but the bulk of the prep was scheduled for Thursday morning. It was a relatively easy meal to prepare and I think it all worked well together.

Thanksgiving 2008 (the complete menu)

• Turkey and Gravy
• Potato Gratin
• Roasted Parsnips and Carrots
• Cranberry Sauce with Orange and Fennel Seed
• Autumn Salad with Cider Vinaigrette
• Apple and Celery Granita
• Cranberry Almond Caramel Tart
• Crème Fraîche Ice Cream

Stay tuned for details and all of the recipes! It is officially the start of the holiday cooking season.

And finally, thanks to all of you who have helped get this site rolling and to those of you have been supportive in this endeavor. I think Lottie + Doof is off to a pretty good start, we’ll see where it goes. One of my biggest and most favorite supporters sent me this photo of the Cranberry Upside-Down Cake he made for his family’s thanksgiving dinner. I hope it tasted as good as it looks! It makes me so happy that you all are trying these recipes out and sharing them with friends and family. Thanks to all! (and especially Jonathan)