Thanksgiving! part one

MMMMMMMM. Thanksgiving is my favorite. This year, I attended 2 Thanksgivings, but only one of them required me to cook for two days. I decided that I didn't want to freak out and rush on the day of the feast, so I made what I could ahead of time. I got preparations for the stuffing done, all this included was toasting some walnuts and cutting up a loaf of bread so that it could dry overnight.

Next, I made the cranberry sauce. I never really liked cranberry sauce too much, until I tried this recipe a few years back. You simmer the cranberries for a half hour in sugar, water and oj, with some orange and lemon zest. Since I made it a day ahead, it set up really nicely by the time dinner rolled around.

Third, I made the dough for the crust of an apple pie. I ended up finding out that one of my guests was planning on bringing 2 desserts already, so I wound up making this pie later in the week. Still have half of it in my fridge, but it is killer. There are 3 lbs of apples in this sucker! And the top "crust" is actually an oat streusal. Yum!

Last, I made the filling for the vegetarian part of the feast, mushroom and lentil pot pies. There is a vegetarian in my midst and I feel bad when he always just gets stuck eating side dishes everywhere he goes. All that is in it is lentils, mushrooms (fresh and dried), carrot, potato, broth, and spices.

I spent a long time cooking, and this was just the preparation for the official day! Continue on to part two for the rest...