Home is Where the Heart is, but Not Necessarily Thanksgiving

For the past 10 years or so, we have hosted Thanksgiving at our house. Christmas, too. But this year I was feeling too overwhelmed to get the house ready, shop for food, and wash the wineglasses and silver, etc. Plus there were only going to be 4 of us, each with very different taste in food, so I made reservations.

The restaurant that I chose was 1300 Fillmore, a very elegant restaurant with an upscale soul-food menu. For $49 you could choose between 3 starters, 3 mains, and 3 desserts. And they only charged $15 corkage fee, so with bringing our own bottles of wine, it really was far less expensive than cooking.

We ended up being a party of 6, so they seated us at a large round table near the front. We got in at the last seating, which was 4:30. The restaurant was a-buzz with families all enjoying their holiday dinners.

We started off with a cocktail and some cornbread with honey butter and jalapeno jelly. For my starter I had their famous shrimp and grits, and for my main I had turkey with stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and greens. We ordered sides of mac & cheese, sweet potato casserole, green beans, and more greens.

For dessert, I had chocolate panna cotta.

The wine was good. The food was filling. The company was nice.

It did not feel like Thanksgiving.

Afterwards, we went to our friends' for dessert. We had pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake, coconut cream pie, pecan pie, and a lemon cream cheese pie. That overstuffed feeling came over me almost immediately.

But something was really missing. All of the great smells filling the house. The flurry of getting ready for guests followed by welcoming everyone into our home. People dropping by all day and all night.

Leftovers.

For us, it was the right decision to let someone else make the food this year, but honestly, I don't care if there are only 2 of us at the table, and even if it's just turkey sandwiches, I will make Thanksgiving dinner next year.

Ramona’s Pumpkin Fudge

 

I got this recipe from a friend who used the word “Divine” to describe this fudge. Since I was looking for something different to do with pumpkin I decided to give it a try. It is definitely a rich and decadent candy. A little goes a long way – still, I ate more than a little.

I made it two different ways – vanilla and chocolate - and I decided that both were worthy to take to a gathering. Since several people requested the recipe, I have decided that I am not the only one who thinks this fudge is pretty tasty.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 C sugar
1/2 C canned pumpkin
2/3 C evaporated milk
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
1 (12oz) pkg vanilla or chocolate chips
2 C mini marshmallows
1-1/4 tsp vanilla
chopped nuts if desired

Directions:

Line an 8 X 8 pan with foil, letting the foil hang over the sides of the pan. (I don’t have a square pan, so I just use a round cake pan.) Spray the foil with non stick spray.

It’s a good idea to have the chips, marshmallows and vanilla measured out and ready to add at the end of the cooking time.

In a heavy pan, combine the sugar, pumpkin, evaporated milk, butter, salt and pie spice. Stirring constantly over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for 12 minutes while continuing to stir. This is a lot of stirring, but it’s important or else the mixture will burn and be ruined. It should look like a thick caramel sauce. I have many ideas for how I could use just this pumpkin caramel.

Remove sauce from heat and stir in chocolate or vanilla chips, marshmallows and vanilla  until smooth. Poor into the foil lined pan. Cover and refrigerate until set.

* I mixed up my own pumpkin pie spice using: 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground cloves and 1/2 tsp ginger. It’s more than you’ll need, but it’s good to have a little left for other holiday recipes.

Thanksgiving, the Imperfect Perfect Meal

We hosted Thanksgiving again this year, and it was both a lot of work and a lot of fun. I was lucky to have the help of my friend Jude who made a good portion of the dishes, because cooking for 14 people is quite a feat! There were some hits and misses (misses on my part), but that's the challenge of cooking something new.

I'll share a few of the high points and low points:

Starting with appetizers, I tried a new recipe for an artichoke dip that turned out great. It was so easy to make, because you just blitz the ingredients in the food processor, put them in a baking dish, and bake for 20 minutes. What made it stand out was the texture - kind of like hummos, and very uniform. I loved that I could prepare it the night before and just heat it up the next day, too, and it did well as leftovers. This one is a keeper:

To counterbalance the heaviness of Green Bean Casserole (we had not one, but two!), I thought a nice clean side of Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts sounded great. I bought fresh chestnuts and followed the directions on the package for roasting them, which I thought sounded much better than boiling them, as called for in the original recipe. What a huge mistake. I let them cool too much and then could not get them out of their shells, resulting in a huge crumbly mess. I got a new batch of fresh chestnuts, and boiled them instead. Again, I drained them and then tried to peel them, which went great at first, and then got progressively harder as they cooled. So finally I put them all back in the pot and removed and peeled them one at a time. Finally, I had something that I could use, but what a frustration! My dish did not look like the one in the picture, by the way. They were ok, but not worth all of the trouble - will revisit this one.

For dessert, I attempted both a Pumpkin Pie and a Bourbon Pecan Tart, thrilled because they used the same crust recipe. The Pumpkin Pie filling was a success (using Trader Joe's Organic Pumpkin - nice custard and not too sweet), but the crust was a disaster! As I baked it alongside the Pecan Tart crust, it shrunk and the butter melted and it turned into a sad pile of mush. I had to quickly recover and use a refrigerated ready-made crust, which worked out ok. The Tart crust, on the other hand, was perfect - maybe it was better suited to a tart pan - who knows. At any rate, it was a great dessert, even for people who don't normally like Pecan Pie - courtesy of Bon Apetit magazine. I served it with Creme Fraiche ice cream, which was delicious with Jude's Guinness Gingerbread cake and Bourbon ice cream. Yay, bourbon!

Of course, the best thing about Thanksgiving is being able to share all of this with people you love, and that is truly what makes this holiday one of my favorites.

Brined Turkey

Today we are getting ready to dunk the turkey. For the last 5 years, we have brined our turkey for Thanksgiving. I have never had a better turkey. Moist and flavorful. Some have asked us if it's too salty, but we have not noticed a huge difference. The only drawback is that you can't make homemade gravy from the drippings. So save the gibblets for gravy. This recipe is a mixture of several that Steve has perfected over the years.

Brine:

1 C Salt
1 C Brown Sugar

2 Oranges, quartered

2 Lemons, quartered

6 sprigs thyme

4 sprigs rosemary

You will also need some type of large container.

We use a 5 gallon bucket lined with a garbage bag.

To make the brining solution, dissolve the salt and sugar in 2 gallons of cold water (we do this right in the bucket). Squeeze the juice from the oranges and lemons into the water, and then throw the rinds in too. Then add the thyme, and rosemary. If you have a big turkey and need more brine than this, use 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup brown sugar for every gallon of water. Let the turkey sit in this brine for about 24 hrs. in the fridge or some other cold place. We leave ours in the garage - don't let it freeze though!

We Stuff the turkey with:

1 orange slice
1 yellow onion, cut into big chunks

1 stalk celery, cut into large pieces

1 carrot, cut into large pieces

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs of thyme

1/2 bunch sage

3 sprigs parsley

We Season the turkey this way:

1/4 of an orange
Room temperature butter

Salt and pepper

Rub the orange all over the turkey.

Rub butter all over the turkey - even under the skin too.

Season w/ salt and pepper as desired.

This is how we Cook the turkey:

You will need about 2-3 cups of chicken stock.

Cook at 325 degrees. Cook the turkey upside down (breasts down) for the first hour. Flip it over after that. Baste the turkey ever 45 min or so w/ a 1/2 Cup of chicken stock. As the turkey gets brown, tent it w/ aluminum foil. It took our 12lb. turkey about 3 hrs to cook.

We have cooked this in a bag before, and that works great too - it takes less time.

Not your Campbell's Green Bean Casserole

I've always really liked green bean casserole--even the Campbell's version, and it is a staple at Thanksgiving dinners for us. This, however, is a fresher take on it--better flavor, less mushy. It is an Alton Brown recipe from Food Network. He fries his own onions, but I still use the French's. I guess I'm not ready to give up all my processed foods. But if you are feeling ambitious the instructions are here.

Green Bean Casserole

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  
• 1 pound fresh or frozen green beans cooked until barely tender in salted water
  
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 8 ounces mushrooms, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (He calls for 12 oz, but it's easier to just throw in an 8 oz package of already sliced 'shrooms .)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1-1/3 cup french fried onions
  

Melt butter in heavy skillet over medium high heat. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook until mushrooms start to release their liquid, about 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and nutmeg and cook for a minute or two more. Sprinkle the mixture with flour, stir until mushrooms are coated, and cook for one minute. Add broth and simmer for a minute more. Reduce heat to medium low and add half and half. Cook until mixture thickens, about 6-8 minutes.

Remove from heat. Stir in 1/4 of the onions and all of the green beans. Pour mixture into a casserole dish. Top with remaining onions. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Turkey Redux

I am not a huge fan of leftovers with the exception of Thanksgiving leftovers. Somehow, turkey just begs to be made into something else. Here are two of my favorites - both easy, both satisfying.


Turkey Club: Toasted Wheat Bread, Bacon, Turkey, Tomatoes, Avocado or Cheese (not both), Mayo.


Turkey Curry Salad: Chopped Cooked Turkey, Diced Celery, Chopped Green Onion, Raisins, Toasted Pecans Mayo, Lemon Juice, Curry, Sugar, Salt, Pepper. Great on water crackers.

Thanks and Giving

There is nothing better than a house full of friends and loved ones enjoying food that you have been working all day to prepare. The house smells wonderful, there is a fire in the fireplace, and everyone is laughing. Opening your home is like opening your heart - it takes a little bit of effort, but the reward is priceless.

A Moveable Feast

Hard to believe that last week at this time we were in London, getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner prepared by friends. What a great time that was - a gathering of people from all over the world, brought together by an American tradition. It was different than being seated next to your aunt or grandparents, watching generations try to understand each other and get along, all in the name of turkey and stuffing. I definitely did not miss the nuances of family time - the ones who talk to much, drink too much, criticize too much. But what I love about Thanksgiving was very present - the smell of good food all over the house, the sound of laughter and clinking glasses, and an overall feeling of contentedness for the bounty that we are fortunate to have in our lives.


It is interesting to watch a meal that is meant to celebrate America being celebrated by people in another country - and one could easily feel that our holiday is being commercialized, and that the meaning is being diluted. But again, looking around the table, I thought of the Pilgrims and Indians, so different in their backgrounds, but (for the time being, anyway), brought together to share the land and combat the hardships of life in the New World. It makes me think of today's world - so frantic, over-scheduled, hurried. Our stresses are different than those of our forefathers, but we are nonetheless suffering: from anxiety, depression, and illnesses brought on by stress and poor diet. So when a group of people finds themselves in a "new world", i.e. an Australian in London, or a French person in Asia, it is no wonder that they have the urge to create new alliances and supportive groups of friends. In that way, we are very much like the Pilgrims, having escaped from our former confines (our hometowns and families), and making a new life elsewhere. In today's world, friends really are the new family.