Thanksgiving Round-up ...

I know I said I'd do a better job with the turkey photography this year. The reality? It wasn't even on my radar screen! In the mad rush to get everything on the table any ideas I'd had about taking the perfect turkey picture flew right out the window. What you see here is *half* of our turkey ... the half we didn't devour. It was a fresh, organic, 18 pounder and it was spectacular! The smell of it roasting turned us all into ravenous animals. So eager to dig in was I, that I didn't even stop to take a picture of my groaning plate. Yikes. Sad too, because it was a thing of beauty. And really sad because I'm running a food blog here. Duh! Oh well, I'm in this blog thing for the long haul, so there's always next year. ~sigh~

You'll have to take my word for it, but our feast was magnificent. The turkey was tender and moist, the pork stuffing was the best its ever been, and my gravy was so good I decided it should be bottled. Really. The rest of the sides were perfect as well and the whole meal came off without a hitch. Mad props go out to Papa Diva for procuring the excellent bird and for all of his help this year, and to bro for the last minute inclusion of brussel sprouts, fresh from the garden. Additional mad props go out to my amazing sister-in-law, Kath, for that magical crock-pot stuffing, the delicious butternut squash, the crisp and savory green beans with bacon and, of course, for her always-in-demand sweet potato pie. Last but not least, further props to the husband for his carvery skills, and especially for dealing with the raw bird - a task I am happy to delegate! I couldn't have done it without you guys.

Naturally, we indulged in a holiday classic on Friday afternoon ... the "Day After Thanksgiving Sandwich." Similar to the turkey slider that was offered at the October Foodbuzz event, this yummy treat is a Diva favorite. I was making this sandwich long before I knew what it was called and its the perfect way to enjoy the meal all over again, albeit in a much smaller dose.

The Day after Thanksgiving Sandwich:

• some sliced turkey
• some warm gravy
• a bit of bread stuffing
• a bit of meat stuffing
• a bit of cranberry sauce

The instructions are simple, the choice of bread is complex. Papa Diva prefers white bread - and frankly, he truly prefers a sandwich of sliced turkey on buttered bread - but that's a subject for another post entirely! Personally, I like to use a left-over whole wheat roll for my sandwich - its tasty and the petite size of the roll serves as much needed damage control after a day of indulgence! But, I digress. Simply heat your gravy until hot. Choose your bread and top it with some sliced turkey, the stuffing (or multiple stuffings if you're so blessed), spoon on some gravy and top it all with a dollop of cranberry sauce. Gingerly place the top of the roll on the sandwich and do your best to take a bite without covering yourself in Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

This year Papa opted to go with a left-over Snowflake roll:

... and this picture doesn't do it justice at all. I'll do better next time, and maybe we'll have him write the "Minority Sandwich Report" next year so he can explain that mysterious turkey/butter combination in detail!

Suffice it to say the Diva Family enjoyed a wonderful holiday and we hope that you did too. You may have noticed that no formal props went out to Mama Diva here. This is not an oversight. She's milking this surgery thing for all its worth (I kid, I kid!) and was happy to play Queen for a Day as we hovered around her. And that's as it should be! She gets all the props in the world just because and we were all happy to dote on her as she's doted on us over the years.

So, how did your holiday go? Curious Diva wants to know.

Bon appetite!