My last Thanksgiving post

For lunch I made a simple turkey salad with chopped turkey, a little mayo and a little mustard. I toasted some of the sourdough rye that my sister brought and laid down some roasted bell peppers. Then I spooned on the turkey salad and topped the sandwiches with my cranberry orange relish. It was pretty good.

Thanksgiving postscript: This year's buffet

My last post was dedicated to the memory of Thanksgiving 2011. So this is just a brief post with a photo of our buffet this year. The potato gratin turned out nicely. I thought it could have been creamier, but the capers added an unusual touch. Besides sourdough rye bread, my sister brought asparagus and fennel which we roasted in the oven before serving. My daughter and son-in-law brought stuffing and pumpkin cheesecake. He also helped me finish the gravy, which was very tasty.

I got the recipe from PBS Food. We had to modify it to use the drippings which we siphoned from the grill. Click here for that recipe. Scroll down to the next post for links to the potato recipe and the cranberry orange relish.

Happy thanksgiving to all of my readers.

Is Thanksgiving the ultimate Throwback Thursday topic?

I liked Frank Bruni’s Thanksgiving column: When Italians Meet Turkey. It’s about great family traditions and overwhelming feasts. It certainly called to mind some of my own fondly remembered Thanksgiving dinners.

For Throwback Thursday, I’d like to offer a reminiscence of Thanksgiving 2011. While it pales in comparison to Bruni’s 40-person extravaganza, at 27 people it was the biggest one my wife and I have ever hosted. It also was my 60th birthday. My blog post about the meal featured a recipe for squash lasagna. The post includes a photo of the entire buffet, which included:

• Turkey (roasted on the Weber grill)
• Cranberry Orange Relish
• Beef short ribs
• Squash lasagna
• Mashed potatoes
• Gravy
• Brussels sprouts
• Whole Wheat Date Rolls
• Apple pie
• Pumpkin pie

This year, we’re hosting again. We only have 11 people, and the menu isn’t nearly as extensive.

• Turkey (roasted on the Weber, of course)
• Cranberry Orange Relish (it’s a winner!)
• Sicilian-style potato gratin
• An unspecified stuffing from my daughter and her husband
• Gravy
• Sourdough rye bread (from my sister)
• An unspecified vegetable (also from my sister)
• A dessert from my daughter
• Apple crisp (from me)

It should be fun.

I guess it’s time to reboot my blog

One of the things I thought I’d do more of when I retired was writing, including – maybe especially – my blog. So I’m personally a little perplexed to observe that 17 months since I turned in my Land O’Lakes badge, Krik’s Picks has been grossly neglected.

I also observe that no one seems to be complaining. I thought about just pulling the plug, but before I give up on it, I decided to give it another try.The problem isn’t lack of material. Here it is six months after our fun and exciting trip to Italy, and I still have notes for at least four posts on our time in Tuscany.

I always said that while this blog would be mostly restaurant reviews, I also would be writing posts on other topics. So that’s my plan for rebooting Krik’s Picks. I’ve been posting a lot of commentary about food-related issues on my LinkedIn page. From now on, instead of LinkedIn, I’ll put more of those posts here on Krik’s Picks.

Maybe with some revitalized content, I’ll attract more followers. Anyway, it’s worth a try.