It was a lot of work but the party was a success. Prior to Saturday I had a few more people tell me I was nuts. I don't really want to cook for 18 people again, unless I'm getting paid, and this will make the turducken guest list for next year interesting.
Rory and I were pretty organized. The prep started on Friday with a trip to the store and some baking. The monster cookies turned out well. Four and a half cups of oats makea for a pretty chewy cookie. I thought they were ok, but others really enjoyed them.
The apple caramel cheesecake was incredibly easy and was probably one of the best desserts I've ever made. I had some doubts about this right before I made it, apples and caramel go together well, but I wasn't sure how it would work with the cheesecake. But it was great, the flavors melded together nicely. If you like apples and cheesecake you need to try this recipe.
On Friday I also made bourbon barbecue sauce. Bittman had suggested this as an extra sauce for Thanksgiving so I decided to give it a shot. It definitely had some kick to it, but it was a nice addition. I can't wait until the summer to put it on some grilled chicken.
On Saturday we tidied up and got ready. I put the turducken on around 2:15 pm and we peeled potatoes. I also blanched some broccoli for the broccoli parmesan. We put the potatoes on around 5 pm and they were done and ready to go before everyone arrived.
I wish I could have said the same about the turducken. It was supposed to take four to four and a half hours but it took five and a half. I let it rest for about 20 minutes before carving it, I know it should have been more but I had to get moving. And as you can see from the photos below I did cover it in bacon to give it a bit of extra moisture and flavor.
Once the turducken came out of the oven things started getting a bit hectic. I started making gravy from the drippings. At the same time I was putting stuffing that Sarah brought into the oven for reheating and then putting in some corn casserole that Ed and Karen brought. After that I had to take the broccoli and put it on a baking sheet with some butter and parmesan and get that ready for the oven.
And while it was hectic for a good 30 minutes or so everything turned out extremely well. Everybody had a great time. After all the food and desserts we ended up drinking till the wee hours. The last guests left about 4 am. I got to bed around 5 am after cleaning up.
It was a lot of work but I would do it again. I cook for myself, but I really enjoy cooking for others. And seeing how much people enjoyed everything really made me quite happy and realized that all the work was worth it.
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