Thanksgiving

Since this public blog is meant to act as a personal reminder of things to cook, I will take the opportunity to remember also this Thanksgiving.

Cheddar and green onion scones for breakfast along with the grapefruit, orange and pomegranate fruit salad . . . 

Add in the cinnamon rolls for breakfast while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and ragging on the ones that mess up their steps or drop their batons or wear costumes that shouldn't see the light of day . . . 

If I serve a salad on Thanksgiving, everyone actually eats it, so I always do.  This one is organic romaine tossed with organic field lettuce from the csa and pomegranate seeds from the breakfast and a grapefruit vinaigrette also made from the juice of the fruit salad.

Organic potatoes mashed with the skins and a stick of butter made a day ahead, stored in my chambra pot, topped with chopped parsley and green onions.  Yes, they are still good reheated the next day, really . . .  I promise!

Just some green beans, because we have to.

 Cornbread dressing made with cornbread, of course and sauteed onions, celery, fresh parsley, fresh rosemary, fresh lemon thyme, dried sage because it doesn't ever do well in my garden, then moistened with broth. 

 Sweet potato souffle from my GrandFoy's recipe.  A large bowl full of organic mashed sweet potato (~10?), 4 organic eggs, a stick of organic butter, a generous splash of sherry, a pinch of salt, ~1/2 c. agave, 1/4 c. maple syrup (GFoy's recipe called for 2 cups of sugar!!!! That would make my teeth hurt.)  After whipping it all together, put it in a baking dish and top with a nut crumb topping.  I used butter, sucanat, oat flour and pecans.  Bake until bubbly on the bottom and crunchy on the top.  It looks a little burned, maybe so but still completely yummy!

Turkey isn't the main attraction for us, but can you really have a traditional Tgiving without?We didn't get a picture of the whole turkey, so this one of sliced turkey will have to do.

The cranberry sauce is in the previous post and has a starring role, since Matthias made it.

For dessert . . . Sydney made an organic pumpkin pie and added a sweet potato because we heard that makes it better.  She got creative and folded the crust into the pie, which gave it a sort of tort look.

And an apple blackberry pie that was much better the second day.  We put vodka in the crusts because you're supposed to?  I tossed the peeled and sliced organic apple assortment with sucanat, organic blackberries and a tablespoon of tapioca powder as a thickener.

                                              Matthias plays a song for us after our meal.

                                                            Teddy's too full to stand up.

                                                 Sydney practices her spiral off the ice . . . 

                                                    Matthias is suddenly camera shy . . . 

                             

         I have to call the other relatives to say Happy Thanksgiving.

                                      Who forgot to put water in the cat's bowl again?

                                                             Mom enjoys sitting outside.

                                           Paula and Sydney took most of the photos

                             spoiled with our beautiful lake and the unbelievable weather!

Organic Cranberry Raspberry Sauce

Matthias made this with a little help.  He dumped 2 bags of fresh organic cranberries into a small pot.  He picked through those berries before adding a bag of organic frozen raspberries.  He then squeezed three tangerines through a strainer into a measuring cup.  He added some organic apple juice to make the liquid equal ~1 1/4 cups.  He added the juice along with 3/4 cups agave.  He simmered the mixture with a stick of cinnamon.  We had to sweeten a little to get it right, but then we couldn't keep the spoons out of it.

Dominoes, you got served

When I did not feel like making anything for dinner, my kids started chanting, "pizza, pizza, pizza!"

Since the only pizza out here in the boonies is either Dominoes (eww) or a local place called N.Y. Pizza, which is even worse, I know. Yes, it is possible. I had to resort to desperate measures.

So, I looked in the fridge at the organic raw cheddar that was calling my name. I also thought about the organic pink lady apples I had bought that were the perfect balance of tart to sweetness. How could I bring these two ingredients together without any effort? Throw in some organic whole grain bread from a local bakery - using the raisin and the plain versions!

These grilled cheese apple sandwiches that I baked in the oven (to avoid the whole effort of standing at the stove) were orgasmic. They encompassed the pizza effect of melty cheese, a little bit greasy, a little bit of crispy crust, balanced by acid - amazing.

Tofu noodle soup

Tofu marinated in tangerine juice, Bragg's liquid aminos and ginger is sauteed. Sautee vegetables such as onions, carrots, turnips, radishes, pak choi and snow peas. Set aside and saute some softened rice noodles. Make a sauce from the marinade and pour over the vegetable and tofu covered noodles. We ate it like this as well as with vegetable broth as a soup. The tangerine gave it a great flavor.

Pumpkin Oatmeal

After cooking steel cut oats, I added some pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ground cloves and nutmeg. 

I added walnuts and sweetened with maple syrup.

It was good.  I didn't love it.

Butternut squash soup

An autumn standard for a chilly evening. This soup was great and pretty easy. I baked 4 whole butternut squash at 400 until they were soft enough to easily cut. I hate trying to cut those things raw.

I sauteed a bit of onion in some coconut oil, then added the squash meat, coarsely chopped. I poured in enough vegetable stock (I prefer chicken stock, but my daughter is a vegetarian, so I use veg instead) to 1/2 cover the squash. I added a can of coconut milk, a stick of cinnamon and one apple, chopped and cooked on medium low until the squash was rounding on the corners, indicating that it was getting soft. I poured in a bit of apple cider and a little agave. I forgot to fish out the cinnamon stick before I pureed the soup with an immersion blender (I use stainless steel so as to not bring plastic in contact with my organic hot soup), which left us fishing it out with our tongues - not recommended. I added a bit of allspice before serving.

Burritos

This is a duck shaped sweet potato from my csa




I made some burritos with browned ground turkey, black beans, mustard greens (csa), red peppers (csa) and a little salsa. Others I made without the turkey due to our vegetarian/carnivore household. I wrapped the filling with some spelt tortillas, placed in a baking dish side by side, then covered with enchilada sauce. The enchilada sauce is just tomato sauce with finely sliced onions, basil, oregano and chili powder - simmered in a pot at least until the onions soften. I sprinkled the top with monterray jack cheese and baked until the cheese was beginning to brown.

I served the burritos topped with chopped romaine and a dollop of sour cream.