Happy Thanksgiving

A couple of weeks ago my husband and I agreed that we were going to stay home this Thanksgiving (we usually travel) and we also both agreed that we would have a nice rib roast for lunch. It sounded like a great plan.

Two days ago my son found out that we wouldn't be having turkey on Thanksgiving. "WHAT?!! But then how are we going to have a Thanksgiving FEAST????" With all this talk he'd been hearing at school about the upcoming turkey day, I shouldn't have been surprised. I should have homeschooled him. Too late for that.

And that is how I ended up planning a Thanksgiving Feast for Three. Yesterday.

We had homemade cranberry sauce, with fresh cranberries and cognac and candied ginger and orange zest.

Of course there had to be mashed potatoes, Yukon Golds whipped fluffy, and green bean casserole, not quite like my Tita Nancy's but close enough.

The requisite turkey appeared as a roulade, inspired by Mamy, our family's turkey roulade expert. My son and I went to the grocery yesterday afternoon and I snagged the last turkey breast. Phew. Actually, he wanted a whole turkey but I put my foot down on that one because, c'mon, even pushovers have limits.

And then, my oh my, we had roasted sweet potatoes. It was a last-minute addition. So impromptu, in fact, that I went to get the tubers just this morning. The trip was well worth it: I still cannot believe that I waited all these years before roasting sweet potatoes. We'll have these again, many times, before the next Thanksgiving feast. My son very candidly remarked, "Mommy, these really don't look very good, but I love them best of all." Amen to that.

Dessert? Pecan tassies. These are very welcome guests at our table every year around Christmas, but I thought that they would suit the occasion since, you know, we were having a FEAST and all. We made them last night and we were very glad we did.

And so ended our Thanksgiving Feast. The boy was very pleased, and very thankful. I think that from now on we will be celebrating Thanksgiving twice each year - with our fellow Canadians in October, and with our American friends in November. After all, this is our home now, and there is much to be thankful for.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Adapted from More Best Recipes, from the Editors of Cook's Illustrated

There is not much else but sweet potatoes in this recipe, but we don't ever feel like there's anything lacking. Roasting time is about an hour and a quarter (no preheating necessary) and the potatoes need to be pulled in and placed back in the oven a couple of times but it's not labour-intensive so don't be intimidated!

Peel, trim, and cut crosswise into ¾" thick discs:

  3 pounds sweet potatoes (about 4 medium)

Toss the sweet potato discs in a large bowl with:

  2 Tbsp vegetable oil

  1 tsp salt

  ground black pepper

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray with oil cooking spray. Arrange the potatoes on the sheet in a single layer. Cover the baking sheet tightly with foil.

Place the sheets on the middle rack of the (not preheated) oven and turn it on to 425°F.

Let the potatoes stay in the gradually-heating-up oven for 30 minutes.

Pull the sheet out of the oven, remove the foil cover from the baking sheet, return the sheet to the oven and let the potatoes continue to cook for about 20 minutes. The bottom edges of the potatoes will be golden brown.

Once again pull the sheet out, and with a thin metal spatula turn each potato disc over so that the browned bottom is up. Return to the oven and roast for about another 20 minutes.

Let the potatoes cool 5-10 minutes before serving.