Show us your pandemic Thanksgiving spread

[Dommy]

My immediate family has been my pod since we all have been isolating to a huge extent… so we all made our favorites over the course of the last few days…

To get a jump on the days cooking we arrived to Rancho Gonzalez yesterday afternoon to Doña Connie’s famous Cochinta. Abuela would be the designated tortilla maker but @Mattapoisett_in_LA took over that role. Of course some of had to have it in a torta…

For T-Day we were doing a super low and slow eye of round roast. So that we were not starving of it our experiment turned out to be shoe leather (even our butcher was like… THIS is for Thanksgiving😒) I bought the Compton BBQ company Cajun Fried Turkey to make sandwiches. The Turkey turned out to be really good. Great texture. LOVED the skin. The breast meat was a bit bland but that is why you make sammiches. With the tender still juicy Turkey…: No moistmaker needed.

Finally the main event. For apps we got traditional and Turkey and Sage Gravy Potato Balls from Porto’s the night before driving in. Not sure how it is in any of their other locations but the pick up at West Covina is a system to behold! So quick. Super painless. Wish this was an option in the before times!

As for the roast… it turned out amazing. We did not miss fancier fattier cuts especially with super good gravy (thank you Trader Joe’s Mushroom Powder!) and popovers. We loved baked mashed potatoes way more than we ever thought we would. Brother made his famous Mac and Cheese spiked with Rancho grown dried Thai chilies and dessert was cheesecake brownies I had made the night before and Trader Joe’s coffee ice cream which doesn’t skimp on the buzz…

Usually for the holidays I would go to 10 different purveyors get the absolute best best bread. Ice cream. Pies. Sausage. Have a huge spread of apps and fancy sides with cheese from this place and butter from that place, produce from this stand, fruit from that stand…

But we purposely limited our shopping to two places (yes… one being Trader Joe’s) and limited all the ingredients and recipes. I have NEVER done T-Day shopping so quickly and cheaply and with room to spare in my fridge… and it was all so we could have today. And I would not change it for any of those previous fancy dinners at all.

Well… maybe except that one where we have California Lobsters on the grill… ah well… more to look forward to!!

—Dommy!

[TheCookie]

Oh my yum @Dommy! That was the Gonzalez family’s Covid Tday? I can only imagine the full one. Incredible. I had deep fried turkey on the brain but didn’t pull the trigger fast enough. Looks great! And how have I missed TJ Shroom Powder? You’re a professional TJ food finder!

Beautiful looking birds Food Talkers!

[cookiemonster]

Had a mostly ordered in dinner for two and it was pretty perfect.

Butternut squash soup from Gelson’s:

!

Dinner for two from Playa Provisions:

Cranberry buttermilk cake made by me because everyone needs a supplemental dessert:

[paranoidgarliclover]

@cookiemonster

Playa Provisions

So you did enjoyed it? Looks very traditional (in a good way).

[cookiemonster]

Yes and yes! Traditional dishes taken up a notch, which is just what we wanted. Here’s the menu from the order form:

Everything was really well executed, down to the gravy and cranberry sauce. I’m not a fan of yams with sweet stuff, but even those I ended up eating a bit of. I could’ve done with another something green like Brussels sprouts. Nicely packaged with clear reheating instructions. And a bargain I think at $80 for two people. We have leftovers of everything except rolls, green beans and pie.

[BHAppeal]

The TJ Mushroom Powder is a game changer for sure. Amped our gravy big time!

Doing Robert’s sweet potatoes this weekend -the recipe looks terrific.

[BHAppeal]

Late posting --we hosted a four person, socially distanced, outdoor Thanksgiving. Broke down a whole turkey and served the breast --wings and drumstick/thighs will be smoked this weekend. Homemade mashed potatoes, Mrs. Cubbison’s stuffing (shortcut due to limited time), homemade gravy (TJ mushroom powder rules) and TJ Brazilian style cheese rolls. Everything was tasty, if not totally traditional. Highest compliment from Monty, who took advantage to exploit the use of a short table

[JeetKuneBao]

Good boy/girl

[JeetKuneBao]

Show us your leftovers meals/thanksgiving leftover sandwiches!!!

[JRSD]

Leftovers en croute with Taco Maria Michelada

[Dommy]

@TheCookie

I had deep fried turkey on the brain

This was pretty good! However, we did not realize that Earle’s was doing a drop your own until we committed… Thinking about doing this next year!!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CHyLVz6jGjk/

[moonboy403]

No turkey but we had a giant claypot rice with eel, chinese sausage, mixed preserved , and shiitake.

[robert]

You can substitute anchovies for fish sauce. I corrected this year’s with saba instead of apple balsamic.

[TheCookie]

Cocktails & Dinner by Commerson - La Brea Ave.

Thanksgiving dinner at home for two. We decided this was the time to indulge a onetime Tday fantasy of having a restaurant mix the cocktails & do the cooking. No social-distancing guidelines. No cooking. No stress. Just very thankful.

Clarified Milk Punch w/Rye Whiskey, Cranberry, Spices

The Spread

The Bubbly

The Plate

Is it possible to have a small amount of food on a Tday plate? Okay, I guess it is, just not in our house. Heaven help those who don’t like their food touching.

He didn’t even break a sweat!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year which also makes it my favorite meal of the year. We like the traditionals and Commerson did a great job! The turkey was moist with healthy portions of white & dark, savory gravy w/turkey drippings, mac & cheese got ooey gooey (i added a skosh of half & half for creaminess) and the stuffing was moist and crisped-up nicely in the toaster oven. We ordered two servings and believe it or not my photo of “the spread” is just one of the servings. Lots of leftovers.

Apple Pie + Antico’s Honeycomb Ice Cream

Kudos to the pastry chef - crust was perfectly flaky w/perfectly cooked, perfectly textured apples &
not too sweet filling.

Chocolate Chunk Sea Salt Toffee Cookies

These won’t win a death match @rlw but very good.

Not to to talk about money, but at $39.00 per serving I think it was more about reintroducing themselves to the neighborhood than making a real profit. Pickup was easy and they were super friendly and appreciative.

The entertainment was 70s & 80s R&B on KCRW and what’s a Tday without a marathon…

I want those chairs!

This was a perfectly chill day and I really don’t understand the fuss about what a sacrifice it is spending one Thanksgiving without family. Not criticizing the pods… we have a pod too whom we’ll hopefully see for Xmas. But compared to what others (sick, needy, elderly, healthcare workers & hospitals whose limits are stretched to the max) are going thru this was not a sacrifice. Thanks to family text threads and FaceTime we had fun communication with loved ones - chatting & sharing photos of delicious meals along with the usual holiday mishaps. It was a great day.

Happy Holidays! Stay Safe!

[TheCookie]

I knew you’d have the goods @Dommy and I should’ve reached out to you for fried turkey recs.

If Commerson hadn’t come thru for us at the last minute I would’ve Mrs Cubbison-ed my way thru some stuffing this year too @BHAppeal.

[boourns]

Takeout Thanksgiving for 2 from Charcoal in Venice. Enjoyed it overall, with plenty of food and leftovers. Only thing I can ding them on was the pie slices were teeny tiny! Didn’t last long enough for a picture.

Menu

Salad

Charred Cabbage

Green Bean Salad

Main Event (that’s only 1/4-1/3 of the proteins they gave us)

[TheCookie]

@NYCtoLA

Fat n Flour sweet potato pie. Nothing else needs to be said about these.

I was so tempted to go downtown and get this! Hopefully, they have it all season.

P.S. Your spatchcocked turkey looks perfect.

[aaqjr]

Love charcoal definitely one of my favorite restaurants. Was hoping to get down there before the shutdown but it didn’t work out

[butteredwaffles]

Thanksgiving pickup from Orsa & Winston.

Picked up the wrong knife and sawed through the duck wondering why I couldn’t get a clean cut. But so delicious. And that stuffing is my favorite I’ve had in a long time.

Roast Duck Porchetta

Apple-Kumquat Crostata with Whipped Mascarpone + Vanilla Gelato and Blueberry Sorbet from Ecco un Poco.

Wonderful non-alc option that was so cool to see stocked.

[J_L]

Wow! Thanks to everyone who posted! I have a bit more time today to check the feed. Super hungry now - gonna go support some small businesses. Stay safe!