Sorelip my MIL did loads of research to make sure any carrier she got us would not hurt her PFB DH's back and neck, and ended up giving us a Wilkinet carrier - it's got really padded straps, crosses over at the back and the waist, but since the fastenings are just long pieces of fabric and no buckles or snaps it can be adjusted to fit any size person or baby and no stitching to come loose (unlike the babybjorn we've been lent...) They're made in the UK and now having a nose on the website I really like the story behind it as well. (The only reason I'm looking at a stretchy wrap as well is because the Wilkinet looks like quite an up-and-down hold and I wanted to also have as an alternative something cross-body so I could try BF in a sling. Checking out the Moby wrap today!)
Apologies for temporary thread hijack but I thought it might make you all jealous hungry which can only be a good thing.
fusam here goes. My family is from NYC and New England which has some influence on what we serve, and the side dishes often change from year to year depending on who and how many are coming...but the following are non negotiable:
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this stuffing - often swapping out the grand marnier for cointreau, apricots for other dried fruit, pecans or walnuts or any other nuts (pistachios one year) for the slivered almonds, and always using fresh breadcrumbs and herbs instead of a stuffing mix
- french beans with shallots
- gravy made with turkey giblets (if having turkey, see below)
- cranberry sauce with orange and ginger (one bag fresh cranberries (340g approx), 1 cup sugar, 1 orange's worth of zest, as much fresh grated ginger as you like - combine over high heat until sugar is dissolved and cranberries pop, then add 3 cups water (750ml-ish) and simmer till thickened to taste. Mix in the orange you zested, supremed.)
- some sort of mash - seldom just potatoes, usually with one or more of the following as well: celeriac, jerusalem artichokes, parsnips, turnips, carrots.
- green salad (always non-negotiable for us...) - include feta cheese, avocado, salad onions, pine nuts, dill
- some kind of bready thing on the side - we often have Bisquik wild blueberry muffins (unsweetened) but have also had cheddar-dill biscuits, cornbread, buttermilk drop biscuits or irish blaas (may tell you something about my heritage!)
- PIE: there must be pie, always a sour cream apple pie, sometimes a pumpkin pie as well. We don't do pecan, too sweet for us...
You'll notice there is no turkey on this list. This is because we only do turkey every other year or so - over the years we have also had a whole salmon, cornish hens, a couple of chickens, and one very memorable year in China, a whole suckling pig. When we do have turkey we don't bake the stuffing inside the bird - always separate in a tray - and we cook it breast down for the majority of the cooking time (similar to this recipe).
Some useful ideas on advance planning here (this one is good because it doesn't assume you're doing Thanksgiving on Thursday - we often have ours on the weekend as I've never actually had Thanksgiving in the USA!
) And of course, the NY Times Dining & Wine section is your new best friend...they even have a helpline...