Not so bad!
Turkey: B+
Tender, juicy, nice presentation. Per sous-chef recommendation we put cheese-cloth on top of turkey to support occasional basting; it worked well.
The only things that went wrong here were (1) cooking time was shorter than expected, and (2) the dark meat looked a little bloodier than expected, even though the meat thermometer showed well above cooked temperature. Lack of confidence by the chef caused a hold-back of dark meat for further cooking.
Cranberry Sauce: A
Basic: Water, sugar, cranberries. Perfect. Yum.
Mashed Potatoes: A
Excellent. Russets, sour cream, half-and-half, garlic, parmesan. Cooked well. Mashed well. Yum.
Green Bean Casserole: A
New twist: used fresh green beans rather than canned. Made a couple/few new converts from meh (last year) to yum! (this year).
Gravy: B
Things got so busy near finishing time I needed to delegate this one. The gravy was good, but perhaps a little grainy with fat – I should work on a more repeatable plan for next year. The sous-chef (Cynthia Boyhan) gets an A, the lower grade is on me because I had to delegate, and didn’t have a clear plan.
Stuffing: B
Very good, but in my opinion a little more moisture and veggies (celery and onions) next time could make it great.
