A Very Pandemic Thanksgiving

Hi! It’s been a while. Turns out there’s not a lot of traveling to be had during a worldwide pandemic. But we carry on.

Last year, we were able to host a Friendsgiving with something like 18 people piling into our house. We had kids playing in the living room, friends hanging out around the dining table(s), and even a visiting doggo. Unfortunately, this year, Covid-19 restrictions have made our plans…smaller.

Here in Germany, the current restrictions limit us to no more than two people from one other household. Ben’s work has been blowing up with cases of Covid though and we made the decision to limit our exposure, with the baby being only a couple of months old.

Since it is just Ben, Amelia, and me this year, I had plans to roast a chicken–maybe even a turkey breast–and make a pie. A sensible-sized dinner for two. But Ben really wanted a turkey. “Just get a small one,” he said. “The smallest one they have at the commissary.” Well, that turned out to be a turkey of over 12 pounds. Hope you like turkey sandwiches, my love!

Then we started talking about sides (because we know that’s really what Thanksgiving is about). We participate in a community sponsored agriculture box program and for the past couple of weeks, our boxes have been filled with carrots and sweet potatoes. So obviously, we need to make some kind of side with those. And we have to have mashed potatoes, since they’re a vehicle for turkey gravy. And I love roasted bacon-brown sugar Brussel sprouts which really say “THANKSGIVING” to me.

The menu just kept getting bigger. Our final menu is going to turn out something like this: a (12 pound) turkey, mashed potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, honeyed carrots, cranberry sauce, Brussel sprouts, and a German apple cake. It will surely be a feast too large for the two of us to eat, but it will be Thanksgiving-y.

Today, I brined the turkey. I used Pioneer Woman’s brine recipe and was surprised to see that it completely filled our stock pot. Realizing my plan to brine the turkey in the pot was ill-conceived, I recalled that I had seen turkey bags at the commissary (and didn’t get them because Ben wants to spatchcock the turkey to get the skin crispy delicious on all sides). This called for a trip to the commissary the day before Thanksgiving…in a country that doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving. Joy.

I made the trip in the first thirty minutes the commissary was open and was glad to see the lines weren’t too atrocious. As I left (via the express lane, woo hoo!), the lines were picking up though. Once I had completed our errands and a two month check up for baby girl, it was time to brine!

Let me tell you, wrassling a 12 pound turkey into a turkey bag, then topping it with roughly two gallons of brine one handed (because one hand has to keep the bag open and the brine from spilling everywhere), was a difficult task. The next time I brine the turkey, I will have to remember that it’s a two man job. After spilling brine all over the kitchen counter, drawer fronts, and floor, there is a turkey soaking up (what I hope are) delicious flavors in the fridge. I am also going to prep my Brussel sprouts and make the cake today in hopes of lessening the load for the morning/afternoon.

Tomorrow, we feast!