Thanksgiving Party

Today the boys are back in town

There is an orphanage here in town, Bethesda Home for Boys. And today, y'all, I'm going to feed them a Thanksgiving meal

And my friend Donna has volunteered to help me create some wonderful dishes for them

Well, I can't wait. A turkey and sweet potato shepherd's pie paired with a harvest salad with a sweet Dijon vinaigrette

And for dessert, cranberry upside down cake. It's just going to be a fun, wonderful day

You know, my friend Donna, y'all, she's usually very prompt. I told her, I said, we're going to have a lot of work to do, Donna

Well, what happens today? She's late. She is late. Hey, sweetie. Thank goodness, but don't be sweetie in me, Mardis

We got... I don't... I'm mad with you. I don't want to kiss you

I'm sorry. We got 30 boys coming for lunch. I'm so sorry. Mardis

Bo got out, and I had the landscape people were trying to..

Well, I don't care. Do some landscaping in my yard. You got the main ingredients. I'm sorry

Anyway, I'm glad you're here. And then I had to stop at the grocery, and then, you know how crowded it was

I know it. Everybody's shopping for Thanksgiving. I can't stay mad. I love it

I can't stay mad with you. You know, Donna, I'm so excited because today for the orphanage

we are making turkey and sweet potato shepherd's pie. We got to double up and catch up, honey

Okay, good. For Christmas, guess what you're getting. What? A clock. A watch

I know I'm getting a clock. Or a watch. Ooh, I would love a new watch

Well, okay. Consider it done, honey. Let me tell you what kind I want

All right, well, let me tell you what to do. Now, I like those leaves. Okay, I will do it

Okay, now I need two of those diced up. Okay. I need two carrots peeled and diced

I need just one parsnip. Okay. Peeled, and we'll dice it. One by day, your onion, and you can open our tomato paste

Okay, great. Well, what am I going to do? I will do our herbs

That's my least favorite, because you know why? You have to take all these leaves off

It's aggravating, isn't it? It is. Time is aggravating. Yes, and I was already late, so I don't want to delay this

You don't have time for the time, do you? I don't want to delay this process anymore

You know, you've been with me before. Yes. Things with Bethesda. Yes, Paula

You know, they're precious boys. They're just precious. They are so adorable

I can't wait. All right, now I'm going to do about two teaspoons of rosemary

Okay. And I'm going to do a couple of tablespoons of thyme

So, Donna, today's menu is a new twist on shepherd's pie. You know, for the holidays, it's a great, easy, kind of one-pot meal for the boys

And it's ground turkey in there? Yes. Well, that's great, Paula. Now, I'm so glad you're doing this for them because I know they look so forward to it

They came last Christmas, remember? Yes. And they surprised you and sang Christmas Carol. Yes

Yes. Remember that? You're exactly right. They did. Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh

Hey! That is very nice. All right, let's put the lid on the sweet potatoes now

Okay. Salted them. Sure. Let's put the lid on them so they'll cook quicker

Okay. All right, now put a couple of tablespoons of butter in here. Okay. I'm going to grab the celery

Okay. And the carrots and the parsnip. They look perfect, Donna. You know, I don't think I've ever cooked with parsnip

I love parsnips. Yeah, I know. I've had it at your house

And you just dice that so professionally. Yes. That comes from being a Nolens girl

You've chopped the Trinity lots of times. Yes, that's right. You want to throw those in there? Sure

Thank you. There's a few things here in Savannah that I really try to support and advocate for

And that's Bethesda. It's the oldest institution of its type in the country, isn't it

The oldest working orphanage in America. It's like 270 years old or something

Yes, it's old. Okay, so just kind of chunk that up. Okay

Now, you know this is delicious. Mm-hmm. All right, so there we go

We're just going to let that brown. Look at this. You see any fat coming out of that

No, it's beautiful. No, because it's so lean. Nice. instead of scrambling mine up to smithereens

Yes, leave it a little chunky. Yes. All right, why don't you give us a little Worcestershire

in here. Oh, okay, yeah. Now I'm gonna need a couple of tablespoons of flour

quarter of a cup of tomato paste in it. All right, now I'm just gonna eyeball Donna

a couple of cups of chicken stock Okay All right that is beautiful Look it looks like a meatball look just like you like All right take this Okay Pour it into the bottom of that Now I have sprayed it for you and I going to drain our sweet potatoes

You need a rag here. Please, thanks. Okey-dokey. Thank you. I bet I'm going to need one, too

So, anyway, now, I know what I wanted to ask you. Thanksgiving Day, are you and Curtis going to the mountains

We are not, but we are going to spend it with my two brothers

We're going to... Well, do y'all want to come to my house? Oh, thank you, Paula

That would be lovely. You want to? If we don't go South Carolina. If you don't get a better invitation

No, no, no. Oh, did I say that out loud? No, we're supposed to go to the mountains

But I don't know if we're going, but oh, my gosh, we'd love to come by you. Are you kidding me

Well, I would love for you to come by me. Now we're gonna mash up these sweet potatoes using this little electric mixer cause it's just great like that

I've got four ounces of cream cheese in here. Couple of tablespoons of butter

Oh hey, Donna, I forgot the peas. And I thought about the peas and I forgot to say it

Well why didn't you? No, because it came in and out. Why didn't you say Paula P

No, because I didn't think about it until after now. Well it's alright, it's not too late

Because those are cooked. Donna, our potatoes were so stinking hot. I'm just going to temper that egg with a little of those hot potatoes

You want to taste it and just see if it needs more salt? Yes, Lucy

Okay, Ethel. What do you think? Mmm, yum. All right, so here we go

We're gonna put that in the oven, Donna. We're gonna bake it

All right, 375 for 45 minutes. Okay. Coming up next, we're gonna make the boys my cranberry upside-down cake

Our cake looks beautiful. And later, we've tossed together a light salad

with sweet Dijon vinaigrette. And the Bethesda boys are back. Donna, the Bethesda boys are going to be here real soon

The next thing we've got to make is their dessert. Okay. And we're going to make them a cranberry upside-down cake

Yeah. Because cranberry goes with the turkey, and it just goes with Thanksgiving

All right, so if you would, I need 3-4 cup of packed brown sugar

Okay. The recipe actually calls for six tablespoons of butter, but let's do the whole stick

Okay, let's. I agree. Who's arguing about a couple of tablespoons? Now, while you're doing that, I'm going to come down here, and I'm going to separate two eggs

And all we want to do is melt that butter and sugar together

Okay. Now, Donna, while you're making the topping, I'll be making the cake

All right, now I've got our two eggs separated. Okay. Now I'm going to move over here

Okay. And I'm going to take a stick of butter. Okay. I know you're surprised

And I'm going to take three quarters of a cup of white sugar

Okay. All right, so I'm just going to cream this until it's nice and fluffy

Okay. How are we doing with time? We're in the short rows, but, you know, it seems like you and I stay in that row

I know, but that's all right. But you were the cause of this row today

I know it. Perfect. Now just pour that into the bottom of our pan

We have greased and floured our pan, and we have cut a circle of parchment paper and put in

You know, you and I have never spent Thanksgiving together because you're always in the mountains

Go to the mountains, yes. So what is your traditional Thanksgiving? I'm usually on the road right up

to Thanksgiving. Yes, that's right. I have started, Donna, asking everybody to bring a dish

Oh, Paula, I think that's wonderful. And me do the bones. That is wonderful

It gives everybody a chance to show off their dishes. I think it's a wonderful idea. All right, so Donna

what I want you to do now, we've got our eggs separated. Okay. We just need to beat this because we're

going to fold in those whites. All right, so I'm going to add a teaspoon

of vanilla to this. We're going to throw those egg whites in

when I'm done mixing the wet and dry ingredients together. Three quarters of

a cup of milk. I'm going to get ready. And while you're doing

that, I am going to sprinkle some nuts. I'm going to use

walnuts, Donna. Okay. I like it nutty. Okay. So what about you having

three grandchildren? At the table on Thanksgiving. Henry, so cute. Matthew. Jack

Jack, they're so precious. Three high chairs at the table. Well we better not say Jackson being a high chair Oh no Jack would be mad He likes to sit like his dad I know I know All right so what I gonna do Donna Okay While you beating that

is I'm gonna measure out our dry ingredients real quick like. And that is one and a half cups of all-purpose flour

Okay. Am I, like, making a meringue with this? No. Well, yeah, you want it to be like a meringue

You don't want to over-beat it. So I think it's done. Okay, good

I don't want to over- I'm adding two teaspoons of baking powder

All right, and a fourth a teaspoon of salt. So, okay. Okay. We got our dry ingredients

So we're just gonna mix that up real good. Okay. All right, you got those eggs ready

Yes. Are we using these? Yes, I'm gonna put these. Oh, you just put them

Well, I'm gonna put the two egg yolks in with my cream, sugar, and butter

We need to alternately add the milk and the dry, let me beat the eggs in first. Okay

All right, now, it's important that you get those eggs, sugar, and butter

That's what I'm not good at. So when you make a cake, Donna, you always start with dry and end with dry

All right, well, let's add some flour. Okay. And we got to look at our milk so we make sure, you know, that it comes out like we want it. Equal. Yes

Proportions. Yes. All right, a little milk. There you go, Murtis. We getting it now

All right, look at here. Now I'm adding in all the egg whites that you mixed

And you're going to fold. I know. Easy, Laverne. Settle. Okay, Shirley

Donna, while you're folding, I'm gonna line the pan with cranberries. And I'm gonna cover the whole bottom, y'all

Look, it's all folded. Look. It's perfect. Look how nicely it is. All right, now just pour that over it

Yes, getting every luscious bite. Look at that beautiful fold. Now, take it, pop it on your counter

Yes. Pop it. See how it's spreading out in our batter? Yes

My mom taught me that. Did she? Uh-huh. Good for your mama. Now, you just sashayed your pretty self over there and put that in the oven

$3.50 for about 35 to 45 minutes. Okay. Coming up next, we get a sneak peek at our cake

Look at that. Yay. And later, y'all dig in. The boys and I sit down to enjoy this Thanksgiving feast

All right, Donna. The shepherd's pie and cranberry upside-down cake are ready to come out now

I'll get out this one, and our cake looks beautiful. I'm going to sit that right there, Donna

Now, we don't want that cake to cool too long, because if we do, it won't want to come out

So I'm going to turn that out pretty quickly. Can I help you with that? I got it

Just tell me you got a place to put it. Yeah, right there on that chopping block

Okey dokey. Okay, yum. Isn't that gorgeous looking? Beautiful. That is beautiful

Yes. Our boys are going to love it. Yes. All right, now all we've got to do is pull us together in the salad

measure out a cup of red wine vinegar, three-fourths cup of sugar, just melt that together

Okay. Doesn't have to boil or anything. Okay. All right, and in the meantime, I'm going to just lightly toast about a

oh, I don't need that many, about that many, a cup of pecans

and then I'm going to be adding dry cranberries to our salad

Now I'm going to put our lettuce together. We've got an apple here

that I'm going to just slice up. All right. I'm using a mescaline green

No washing, chopping, or tearing. Love, love it. Now I'm gonna take our cake

Hopefully. Oh, yay. This will turn out. I wanna see. Just like I'm hoping it will

Drum roll, Donna. Donna. Go, go, go. Please, cake gods. Good, good, good

All right, come on. Come on, baby. Look at that. Yay. Hey

Yeah, see, if we had left it to totally cool in that pan... Okay

...we'd have had a mess. Okay. All right. So how long do you leave it cool before you try to turn it

Like two or three minutes. Oh, that... Okay. Not long. Okay. All right, now, so you just melt that

Okay. And I'm just gonna toss our pecans. Okay. And you know nuts will scorch so quick Wow So I got to be real careful Okay You know what going to do I going to put a little butter Okay cool Look see what that butter does to those nuts

Uh-huh. That looks really, really good. All right, so I'm going to cut that off. Okay

And because I'm a big fan of sweet and savory. Yeah? Yum

I'm just going to put a little salt. Yeah, I like that, too. Because we have the sweetness from the cranberries

And you have sugar in here. Yeah. There we go. Yum. Now we just need to let those cool

Now this is dissolved, so does that mean this is done? Yeah, all you want is that dissolved

Okay. All right, now we need to measure out. Just squirt it with about a tablespoon of Dijon

Oh. And then about a half a cup of olive oil. Squirt it

Donna. What? You're supposed to slowly incorporate that. You're supposed to add your olive oil very slowly

and almost like emulsify. You have done dumped that whole thing in there

so it's your problem you beat that stuff together. Okay, I will. Okay

I can see right now I've got to keep my eye on you. Coming up next, we wrap up this salad

Good job on the dressing. And then we've got like 10 minutes

We finished decorating these tables just in time for the boys to arrive

They're here. We got company. All right

Let's just finish up this salad. So here's our apples. Oh, that was nice

And the sweetness of that apple is going to be so good with the tartness of that vinegar

Uh-huh. That's pretty. All right. And I'm going to put a handful of cranberries in there

Hopefully our nuts are cool enough. We don't want it to wilt our salad

I'm going to pour that nut out of that hot pan so they'll cool a little bit quicker

You want a hot nut? Uh-huh. Oh, it's good. Mmm. Mmm, with butter

With butter and salt, doesn't that make it so much better? Mm-hmm. All right. So here's our nuts

Okay. That's a pretty salad. Thank you. Thank you. Love it. It is beautiful

I love those apple slices in it. I'm so glad. Is this good yet

Yeah. Oh, I'm sorry. That's good. Good job on the dressing. Everything's out and ready

Let's go see if we can help Brandon and Amanda. Amanda, these kids are coming in 10 minutes

10 minutes? Gosh, we have to hurry. Brandon! Yes, ma'am? We got like 10 minutes

Y'all, y'all, we have company. They're here, they're here. Boys! Happy Thanksgiving

Hi! Hi! Y'all come hug them! Look how cute. A group hug

Come on! You know, it's not every day that I would be willing to walk into a 30-something-plus male group hug

But these boys, that's what I want to do when I see them. I just want to hug them

Let's eat. Dig in, brother. Bethesda Home for Boys, they will show up with an appetite

If they don't have anything else with them, they'll bring their appetite

So we've got shepherd's pie. We've got your salad. And for dessert, we've got your cranberry upside-down cake

So dig in. Oh, my goodness

Hey, y'all, look at this. Look at this. This young man stood up

When I went to sit down at my table, one child stood up that I was going to be sitting next to

and pulled my chair for me. That is wonderful. Now, who taught you that

My grandma. Your grandma. Way to go, granny. Tell me about you, precious

My name is Malik Davis, and I'm a day student at the Testa. And I'm in ninth grade

And what do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be an architect. Oh, good

You know, you can be or do anything you want to, as long as you have passion

I just wish y'all all the best Thank you I just love y'all

I know you need more Yeah, I'll see if I get suckers

You go get suckers, you go get suckers You go get suckers Since I first became aware of Bethesda, y'all

I've tried very hard To help support them Any way I could

It's just a very, very important place