fill’er up

Can’t believe Thanksgiving is just days away. I am so excited to have a full house in the desert. But with that full house brings a lot of opinions. I’m being holiday- shamed into cooking an authentic entirely by scratch multi-dished meal. Really. Must we… Obviously “we” (meaning me) must.

While I was sulking and pushing my cart up and down the aisles of Jensen’s… Thank god for Jensen’s. Do you know Jensen’s will cook your entire meal for you? Perfectly roasted turkey, homemade stuffing, secret recipe gravy, mashed Yukon gold potatoes, mom’s famous candied yams, green beans, old fashioned cranberry relish, autumn pumpkin bisque, six types of freshly baked rolls, four different types of cake, apple-pumpkin-pecan-or-mincemeat pie, and a wagon wheel coffee cake for the morning after.

My mistake was mentioning the above to certain family members. Everyone was all a twitter that we wouldn’t be doing it all on our own by scratch. OK let’s clarify once again that “we” is really “me” and if I wouldn’t have opened my big trap about how great Jensen’s was I could have sneaked in their homemade goodies and passed them off as my own. In years past I’ve seen ladies in their St. John knit bring in their own platters for the nice folks to assemble. I don’t have a St John knit but I’d gladly scamper across El Paseo and purchase one if it meant I could successfully forge my meal.

OK back to my sulking- it’s actually hard to sulk in Jensen’s for long, first off the people are so nice and they have a great Pete’s Coffee bar, not to mention all the yummy bakery snacks to sample on to go with your coffee. So as I was sipping and munching and pushing my cart looking at all the components I would now need to buy to make my entirely homemade-by-scratch-holiday-dinner I came across another sample station by the gourmet cheeses. They had these delicate little cups filled with buttery Saint Angel brie and fig jam. They were so good I had two more (I know I broke sample protocol by having more than one but I was pretty depressed and they were such a mood elevator.)

As I finished my third it dawned on me that my full house wasn’t commencing on Thanksgiving rather days before. Not only would I need to make the afore mentioned entirely homemade-by scratch dinner I would need to make two more dinners plus appetizers. My guilt at eating multiple samples subsided as I loaded my cart with their featured cups, gourmet cheese and boutique preserves. One “homemade” canapé was in the bag.

Here are the brie and fig cups (I don’t feel guilty posting what I sampled because I am no longer serving Jensen's dinner as my own on my holiday table.)

Start with light pastry cups.

Such as Siljans crispy shells.

Saint Angel Triple Cream is the perfect buttery brie.

Remove the top rind.

Spoon out one-plus teaspoons of brie.

Place on one side of the pastry cup.

Choose a high-end fig preserve.

Spoon one-half teaspoons of fig preserve on the other side of the pastry cup, drizzling a little over the cheese. In less than three minutes you have a delectable nibble you claim as your own.

When I phoned in to order my turkey they asked me if I would like it cleaned and seasoned- I replied “sure who wouldn’t”. When I told my daughter this (what the hell is my problem) she said how are you going to make the gravy if you don’t have that bag of nasties inside the neck? So on my next trip back to Jensen’s I asked them if they would please give me a bag of gizzards, livers and a neck. They asked me why if I was getting a cleaned and seasoned bird. I explained that I was being holiday-shamed into making a completely homemade by scratch dinner. They laughed and inquired if I still wanted the two quarts of Jensen’s secret recipe gravy I had pre-ordered. To which I exclaimed, “yes please!” Hopefully this time I can keep my mouth shut.