Theres a Whole Lotta Chopping Going On

Around here...


We've got a pretty delicious Thanksgiving meal planned this year. However, it seems that it has a lot of pieces. Vegetable pieces that is. So my Dad picked up my daughter this morning so I could spend the day chopping. Tomorrow we can start the actual cooking, but today I'm just working on getting the food to the point where we can cook it. On my list of things to chop-Shallots, Leeks, Garlic, Butternut Squash, Brussels Sprouts, Mushrooms, Bread (which I need to first bake for stuffing), herbs & bacon.

I really like this kind of meal prep when I have the time. If I do it this way, then the cooking goes much easier for us. Tomorrow I will bake desserts and assemble the side dishes that I can. By Thanksgiving much of the work will be done and we can just pop the stuff in the oven. My husband is completely in charge of the turkey, although I just made a pancetta sage butter for the outside of it. My fridge is filled with lots of butter and enough heavy cream to give anyone a heart attack.

Today I've got a fall scented candle burning and Christmas music (uugh, I KNOW) playing and I'm in a Zen chopping mode. I'm thinking of my family who will eat this food and thinking of it all as an act of love. I'm not at all bothered by the fact that I'm spending days on this meal that will be consumed in 30 minutes. That's the complaint of so many a woman who has slaved over something all day long only to see it completely devoured isn't it. I think if I was rushing to get it done and had to produce it in one day then that IS how I would feel. This way I get to enjoy the process of it without that feeling.