Pantry shopping

Here we are back in the pantry. This month was so
busy and hectic I'm surprised we even had time to eat. As some of you may remember my turkey was a tad too big for my 9 Thanksgiving guest[32lbs].Not wanting to be wasteful I cut him in half to be used at a later date. February was it. Our starter was local shrimp blended with my home canned smoky salsa and cream cheese. The shrimp are from my husbands first trip EVER to the Farmers market.It's important that everyone be involved in a meal.I had a baguette that we thinly sliced and toasted.A fine wine brought by a guest was all we needed to round out our first course.

Unlike Thanksgiving we had no stuffing.Yes Jiggy was also chagrined about this fact,but,we are
trying to make use of what we have and that did
not include meat stuffing. A filling similar to the french Tourtiere pie is this families preference.I think it has something to do with our Canadian heritage. I did have lemons, garlic, and fresh thyme. I spread all of them liberally around the bird and popped him in the oven to roast. In the meantime I did the usual running around trying to make sure everything was happening on schedule. You know how awful it is when your guest arrive and you haven't come out of the shower yet. I hate it when that happens.

Choosing which veggies to have was an easy decision. I looked in the grade 2 bin at work and discovered a bunch of broccoli and a too small head of cauliflower. Did you know a vegetable can be
discarded because of it's size. Lucky for me I also had a jar of Hollandaise sauce that would be the perfect accompaniment with these two vegetables. I don't usually have something like this on my pantry shelves. Jiggy and I took a trip to Trader Joe's ,our first ever,he spotted this sauce and thought it would be the perfect excuse for eggs Benedict. Such a dreamer. The sauce was pretty good . I was pleasantly surprised. Don't tell him I said that. We also had the usual platter of mashed potatoes topped with gravy of course. Oh and I mustn't forget cranberry sauce. It's the first thing my family looks for when turkey is being served. When someone offers to put the condiments on the table what they are really saying is" OH MY GOD !I don't see the cranberry sauce,I hope she didn't forget it."
In the end a good time was had by all. Some invited guest couldn't make the first seating so
we had two. Now that she is back on track in the arts

daughter #2 was doing new choreography with her dance group and came in about the time we had dessert. Oowy gooey brownies provided by son #2 topped with ice cream and home canned peaches Now that's a great ending to a super day. Sorry we have no pictures of the peaches. I was in the work-kitchen warming up the leftovers for the second shift and they were in the dining room serving up dessert. When I came in everyone had decided we needed to can more peaches next year. Shhh![There is another jar hidden in the pantry] I'm saving it for something special. Hmmm I think tomorrow could be a very special day..............said the hobbit