Thanksgiving Dinner - Take One

A few days after Thanksgiving I got the idea that I should try and make an entire Thanksgiving dinner on my own, well in advance of any opportunity I might have to actually cook a turkey for other people.  So, I went to the grocery store and managed to find all the ingredients I would need to make a Thanksgiving dinner, at pretty cheap prices given that Thanksgiving had just passed.  

Here is the menu I attempted:

Roasted Turkey Breast (I purchased Butterball turkey breasts because they were my only option at the store, see my note below on whether I'd buy Butterball breasts again)

Gravy (winged this recipe since I've made gravy from scratch several times)

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Cornbread Dressing with Pancetta, Apples and Mushrooms

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pomegranate, Almond and Vanilla Butter (recipe calls for pecans but I don't like pecans so I substituted in roasted sliced almonds) 

Pomegranate Molasses  (I used Alton Brown's molasses recipe since the recipe above doesn't include step for the molasses)

Here are some pictures of various stages of the dishes:

 (buttered turkey breasts waiting to go into the oven)

 (caramelizing apples and onions for dressing)

 (vanilla bean butter)

 (components of dressing all mixed together, 

ready to go into baking dish)

 (turkey breasts after they were pulled from the oven)

 (pomegranate molasses)

 (gravy from scratch using the shallots and turkey drippings)

 (brussel sprouts drizzled with pomegranate molasses, 

pomegranate seeds, toasted almonds and

melted vanilla butter)

 (creamy mashed potatoes)

 (finished meal)

Here are my general observations after taking on the task:

• Making Thanksgiving dinner by yourself is very tiring (I took a 2 hour nap after I was done)
• I love brussel sprouts but the prep for the dish, including making your own pomegranate molasses, was too much effort for a so-so dish
• The leftover vanilla butter can be saved and used later on pancakes - yum!
• I halved the dressing recipe and I still had too much bread for the liquid portion of the dressing, leaving my dressing rather dry.  Next time I'll skip the cornbread or just use less of it, it was the driest of all the breads used in the recipe.
• I will never again buy Butterball turkey breasts, they were overly salty and the texture was mealy.  I will remedy this next time by ordering organic turkey breasts

Looking back on it now, I was pretty ambitious with my menu but I also know that I learn best from my mistakes and so I'll know for when I really have to cook Thanksgiving dinner what to serve and what to skip.  All in all, I have no regrets in taking on such a large task.  I plan to try some of the dishes again in the hopes that I can have a perfected repertoire of Thanksgiving dishes for when it's my turn to host a Thanksgiving dinner.