Friday Quickies #8: Post-Thanksgiving

As noted last week, I cheated my way out of Thanksgiving dinner and settled on a Turkey Dinner from Whole Foods -- here's how everything turned out:

The bird: I got half a pre-cooked Diestel Ranch Turkey (almost four pounds); while I liked the free range & no chemicals fed/injected aspect of the bird, taste-wise this variety has gotten some unfavorable reviews -- which I confirmed. The breast meat was OK, but the fowl was overall too gristly and gamey for my liking. I can't even put together a decent leftover sandwich with the dry and chewy meat, even after I generously slopped on the gravy.

Gravies: We actually got two kinds - the original turkey gravy and the organic vegan mushroom gravy, my fellow diners & I actually liked the latter better, it was more flavorful and aromatic and lot less salty.

Starches: Another downer, the mashed potatoes were kinda mealy and an unappealing tartness (as if sour cream were mashed into them) and the rolls tasted unremarkably 'white bread' and bordering on stale.

Stuffing/Dressing: My second favorite dish in a Thanksgiving feast, the apple-mushroom stuffing I got was quite delish. I couldn't detect any apple, but there was a good amount of earthy mushrooms and the stuffing was well-seasoned.

Veggies: Green bean casserole (yes, fried onions included) and roasted vegetable medley of squashes, pearl onions and carrots - along with my homemade sauted brussel sprouts with truffle oil. All the veggies were delicious but not particularly outstanding.

Sweet Stuff: I only had a taste of the cranberry sauce (planning to save it for a dessert topping this weekend) but I loved it immensely, not too sweet and not too tart. For Thanksgiving night, our dessert was a gianduja torte that was wonderfully rich and bursting with toasty hazelnut-chocolate flavors.

All in all - an OK Thanksgiving meal ~ I don't think I would get a whole meal from Whole Foods again, given some major misses on major courses. But at least it lets me throw out some of the stuff with a clean conscience . . .

Oh yea, since this is the day after -- here's a good article on what to do with the leftovers.