Remember, You Are Alone in the Kitchen.

When I was a kid, occasionally we would have tacos (or something equally atypical) instead of the customary meal on Thanksgiving. And my sister, I, and anyone we told about this thought it was the coolest thing ever.

The last couple of years, since I've been hosting my parents at our house, I've been returning the thrill by serving non-turkey meals. A couple of years ago, I made barbecued pulled pork sandwiches, loosely based on this recipe with sweet potato fries (recipe perfect as is), and last year I made pot roast with winter root vegetables, which might be the best roast I've ever tasted. FYI.

This year, I decided to one-up myself by serving braised Guinea pig:

They're hard to catch, but man are they...of course, I'm kidding.

I was missing the flavors of a traditional feast, but a whole turkey for four people means leftovers for days and days after the cravings fade.

So, I made a roulade with a single de-boned turkey breast filled with cranberry stuffing. I started with this recipe, but ended up only following it in spirit after the chicken livers scared me off and the sauce, at the moment of preparation, seemed to be missing a critical ingredient. In short, I improvised like hell.

But it was delicious and my epicurean aura still shines, mostly because there were no witnesses.

Cheers, & happy Thanksgiving, friends!