apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

For Thanksgiving, I'll be in staying in a rented apt in Prague with friends. We are going to do a local, possibly, non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner using what is around (chicken, pork, turkey if we are lucky, and, potatoes and veggies). We did this in Budapest two years ago and ended up having paprika laced chicken, roasted veggies, salad, and, rice with Hungarian wine. It was a smashing success. At a minimum, we will depend heavily on the apartment's roasting pan. Everything else is optional and we can do without!

What gadget will help the most this Thanksgiving? My Mom's reading glasses. Normally Mom rubs the turkey's skin with butter before putting it in the over to give the skin a nice finish. One year she completed this task but told me, as the bird was roasting, that my butter was in an odd packaging, and where had I bought it? I checked the relevant part of the fridge to discover that Mom had used the cream cheese instead of butter because she had not been wearing her glasses. "I thought it was an odd color..." she said.

While I wish this was one of those cooking stories that ended up turning into a fantastic discovery, using cream cheese instead of butter didn't have any noticeable impact on the bird. Still, it made for some memorable anticipation while we waited to see how the bird turned out.

I can't live without my punch bowl with the little glass cups. We would always make my green punch on thanksgiving (7-up and green sherbet). It wouldn't be thanksgiving without it!

I am still young, so I myself havn't made a thanksgiving dinner yet. I have helped however and I now know how to make my mothers stuffed sweet potatoes with pecans. YUM!

The gravy separator is a life saver for Thanksgiving. Also, I picked up the OXO julienne peeler for carrots - I used to have to hand cut carrots into tiny julienned pieces for my mom's chow mein noodle. Now, the peeler will do it for me! Awesome.

Garlic press and, of course, a cork screw. I will be making turkey, mashed and roasted potatoes, dressing and grilled green beans. Trying to keep it simple as it's my first time hosting. I do think I will try a crab cake recipe I saw in Saveur for an appetizer though.....

I have to replace my baster this year. My other one cracked so now I have to get a new one. I will be using my roasting pan though for our turkey. I'll be using my Bosch mixer to mix bread dough for rolls, and using my granny's rolling pin to roll our pie crust.

blogged ya: http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com/2007/11/thursday-edition-of-contests-galore_08.html

I depend on meat thermometor and the Oven Bags are amazing for keeping my bird in prime shape for eating.

We rely completely on our pie plates and pie crust weights. My family makes at least 8 pies every Thanksgiving - 2 Chocolate Pudding, 2 Pumpkin, 2 Lemon Meringue and 2 Apple...but last year we made 14! Needless to say we have a ton of pie plates that sit in our garage all year round. The weights are also important in giving the pies excellent crust. The other thing that is important is my mom's jello mold. I'm not a huge fan of jello but Thanksgiving just isn't the same without seeing that beautiful whip cream jello in the shape of the mold.

I can't live without my "slaves" -- my kind friends and family that offer to help chop, prep, and wash things in the kitchen as Thanksgiving dinner comes together.

But aside from them, an instant digital thermometer, mixing bowls, silicone spatulas, and tongs always make the task easier.

We won't be hosting, but for meals like this I rely on my oxo peeler, Wusthof knives & all-clad pans... plus, as someone said above, the corkscrew!

My food processor which I use for everything from pie crusts to stuffing, my KitchenAid mixer, and my immersion blender for large tools. Small tools-my zester, garlic press, chef's knife, and Silpat. Pans-pie plates, large tinware roaster, and Calphalon saucepans, as well as my cast-iron skillet. Oh, and my breadmaker to proof dough.

Can't have too many 9x13 pans. We are a super-sized family, so every side dish is doubled and baked in two 9x13 pans. A few years back we bought a huge roaster oven (resembles a ginormous metal crock pot). This is perfect for baking that turkey, and frees up the oven for those aforementioned side dishes. And what would we do without that old trusty hand mixer?

I'd be lost without my ThermaPen instant-read thermometer.

This year we won't be cooking Thanksgiving dinner, but in years past the potato masher has always played a key role. Not indispensable, but it certainly makes life easier!

Peelers, the pans, the potato smashefs basters, the food thermometers, Can openers galore!

I need this to help me with my cooking.