Part of why I love this stuffing, I admit, is because with the bell peppers and cornbread, the colors are so Thanksgiving-y. 
The other part is the taste, of course; I only make it once a year, because I tend to eat rather a lot of it when it’s around. Very satisfying packing it up for tomorrow’s porch pick-up.
Our socially-distanced Trunksgiving is coming along nicely — cranberry sauce made, canned cranberry jelly purchased (I like both, and figure others do too), and this sausage-cornbread-chipotle stuffing is all ready to go, with a few portions of rich corn cake too in case two vegetarian friends swing by.
Turkey is brining, will stick it in the oven tomorrow morning at 6 (and possibly go right back to sleep), so it should be done by 10, in plenty of time for carving and gravy-making before people come by between 11 and 1 to pick up their portions.
Kevin and Kavi are going to prep some brussels sprouts for me tonight; I’ll roast them in the morning, so they don’t risk getting soggy in the fridge.
And I did pick up some mushrooms, so if I feel motivated in the morning, I may add in a mushroom stuffing — I love it, but no one else in the house eats it (fools!), so I only make it when I can pass some on to others.
Plus I packed up some dragon cookies just because, although I admit, they’re the ones that I forgot to emboss before baking, so ‘seconds,’ but still tasty.
Five others households are participating in this potluck, and will be contributing ham and mashed potatoes and mac-and-cheese and stuffed cabbage and eggplant salad and barley casserole and lemon bars and gingerbread and sugared cranberries. So we probably won’t be cooking for a few days after this.
In the morning, I’ll pick up 30 samosas with chutneys from Wise Cafe (want to support local restaurants in this difficult time, and their samosas are delicious), and set them out on the porch with apple cider mimosa fixings, so people can help themselves when they stop by to collect their portions. There’s going to be a Thanksgiving tablecloth on the porch table too, by golly, AND flowers.
I almost didn’t have the energy to organize this, but I’m glad I managed it; it makes me so goofy happy, checking things off the list, portioning this stuff out, filling my fridge. It’s ridiculous how essential feeding people in a feast-y manner is to my sense of self.
(I’m already trying to figure out how we can approximate our annual Christmas party in a similar way…)
Happy Pongal! Pongal is a four-day-long harvest festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka (this year it’s Tues Jan 15 – Fri Jan 18) — when crops like rice are harvested. Yes, it’s a little goofy celebrating it in Chicago in midwinter, but any excuse to celebrate, right?
People ask a lot how I do all this stuff, so I must periodically make clear that my life wouldn’t function if Kevin couldn’t feed himself and the kids as needed. Sometimes he’s cooking from scratch, and making well-balanced meals or fresh-baked bread; sometimes he’s throwing some frozen peas on the plate and calling it a day. That’s parenting for both of us around here. But I can go out of the country for a week, or spend all weekend at holiday fairs, and I know that as long as Kev’s not cross-scheduled (we do have to be a little careful about that), he’ll get the family fed. It’s not nothing.
