CityMama™

Scenes from Thanksgiving weekend 2008

It was a weekend full of food and family and deep thinking. More on that later, but for now, this is how we passed the time. It was pretty great.

Homemade gravlax...

Lots of dill is the key for me.

48 hours later, slice thinly and serve with mustard sauce.

The alien cauliflower that became a delicious three cheese, prosciutto, and cauliflower casserole.

The cranberry-walnut-blue cheese tart that everyone was too full to eat so it's now in my freezer.

Bunny reads her Thanksgiving poem as uncle and cousin look on.

My little beauties. Aren't their outfits cute? ;-)

Our Thanksgiving Menu

I finalized my Thanksgiving shopping today. We've been through the farmer's market, the regular market, and I think it's safe to say that there is nothing left to buy at Costco, we cleaned it out. P.S. If you haven't bought your turkey yet, Costco has organic fresh turkeys for a little over $2.25/lb. That's practically the same price as those hormone- and antibiotic-laden Butterballs, so hie thee to your Costco for a better-for-you turkey.

Our menu is truly a collaborative effort as you will see. Our focus is mostly on seasonal, local foods, but a couple of side dishes were picked mainly because they just sounded so damn good. I'm cooking two turkey's this year because we got two smaller ones instead of one biggie, and I wanted to do one on the grill and one in the oven. So without further ado, I present, the Butler Family Thanksgiving 2008.

Appetizers (this is what we'll nosh on throughout the day while we watch the parade and football)

• Auntie Jill's (my sister's) Famous Clam Dip and Potato Chips
• Homemade gravlax (from local wild salmon) and mustard sauce
• Salumi (bresaola, fennel salami, prosciutto, Serrano ham)
• Assorted cheeses (P'tit Basque, Triple Cream Explorateur, Pt. Reyes Blue) w/ bread and crackers
• Crudités & olives
• Zia Gabriella's Salmon Mousse (made by my sister)

Then we will all go for a loooooooooong walk.

Thanksgiving Dinner (served at dinner time)

• Auntie Sheila's Mimosa Turkey done on the grill (basted with champagne, orange juice, and butter—will post recipe!)
• Traditional Turkey with Whiskey glaze
• Mashed Potatoes
• Twice-baked potatoes
• La Brea Bakery Stuffing
• Fresh Cranberry-Orange Sauce
• Gravy
• Green beans (still deciding on preparation)
• Walnut, Blue Cheese, and Cranberry Tart
• Southern Fairytale's Yellow Squash and Zucchini Casserole
• Spicy Hot Pepper (from Auntie Charlene's CSA) and Fresh Corn Pudding
• AMomTwoBoys' Three Cheese and Prosciutto Cauliflower Gratin
• Suebob's Chestnut, fennel, and shallot confit
• Butternut squash puree

Then maybe we'll take another looooooong walk before:

• Pumpkin Pie (baked by my hippie church's Senior High Youth Group)
• Auntie Jill's Apple Pie
• Sour Cherry Pie
• Coffee & Port

What are you cooking?

The Great Thanksgiving Side Dishstravaganza [NaBloPoMo Day "Is This Thing On?"]

It all started with phone call from my brother, well, one of about 387 I've received from him this month asking about our Thanksgiving menu. My mom will be in Europe for Thanksgiving (poor her) so my brother suggested that we change things up this year. "Let's not make the stuff that doesn't get eaten," he suggested. That's code for "stuff Mom likes but we don't."  My mind immediately sprang to the sweet potato casserole that everyone likes with the meal but then sits in the fridge for a week until it get finally gets dumped, or the rolls that are lovingly made from hand and then forgetten about because there are much more awesomer carbs on the table.  "Instead," he continued, "Let' make a bunch of vegetable side dishes that will be good the next day."

Which led to this tweet:

anyone have a good recipe for a casseroley vegetable side dish (not grn bean casserole). something that would be even better the next day? about 23 hours ago from TweetDeck                                                 

And this one:

we're trying to headoff the "lame" leftovers by making a veggies that are good the next day. and to have stuff for my 'fetchetarian' 6yo. about 23 hours ago  from TweetDeck                                                 

I was met by a flurry of responses for deeeelicious-sounding side dishes, and it got me to thinking that with my double ovens, I could easily make 3 or 4 of them.  And then we'd have great accompaniments for our leftover turkeys (yes, two, more on that later). 

Then I decided that I should collect all these recipes (and give credit where credit is due) in case you too were looking for tasty veggie side dishes (something different from green bean casserole).  So without further ado, may I present: The Great Thanksgiving Sidedishstravaganza!

100% pure joy

 

fall. beauties.

It was cold today, but that didn't stop us from taking a pre-dinner walk outside. My plan was to leave the house while it was still light out and be out walking the neighborhood as it turned to dusk.

We are all a little antsy in the late afternoon. Work is wrapping up for the day and yet I sit at my monitor just in case one more email comes in. My to-do list has only three checks on it. The empty boxes are mocking me. I need to get outside.

The girls have gone from games to drawing to playing and are just about to start causing little rows. So we threw on our hodge-podge of it's-cold-but-we-live-in-California attire (jackets, dresses, scarves, shoes with no socks) and prepare to head out. Before we could leave Bunny needed to get her diary. Wallie grabbed her stuffed rabbit.

Walnut, Blue Cheese, and Cranberry Tart [NaBloPoMo Day 19]

As promised, here is a recipe for a savory tart that can be served as a first course along with a simple green salad or with your Thanksgiving meal. I first came across the recipe about 10 years ago in an ad for Diamond walnuts.  As is to be expected, it is heavy on the walnuts.  I like nuts, but I found the tart a little too walnuty for my taste. This time when I make it, I will decrease the amount of nuts.  I am also going to adapt it slightly this year and use caramelized onions instead of regular sauteed onions. I'm going to use 4-6 onions depending on the size and caramelize/reduce those down to one cup.

If you don't like cranberries you can substitute firm pears or figs.

Also, the quality of the tart depends on the kind of blue cheese you use.  My family (especially Bunny and Wallie) are blue cheese freaks so I am going to increase the amount of cheese by about 2 ounces.  One of my issues last time around was that it wasn't cheesy enough. For best results, I highly recommend you use one of the following of my favorite blue cheeses:

• Italian Gorgonzola
• Italian Gorgonzola Dolce which has a creamier, sweeter flavor
• Pt. Reyes blue cheese (eat local California!)
• Australian Roaring 40's (one of my all time faves)
• Irish Cashel blue cheese
• an artisinal blue cheese from Wisconsin like Hook's (eat local Mid-west!)
  

So without further ado, here is the recipe for the tart. Ground walnuts can be found in the baking aisle if you don't want to grind them yourself.

And if tarts aren't your thing, just try not to drool while looking at the photo and recipe of this Blue Cheese Cheesecake. I might have to make both!

Gearing up for Thanksgiving [NaBloPoMo Day 18]

Our Thanksgiving table last year, a hodge-podge of vintage pieces, Anthropologie linens, IKEA plates, and wedding china and crystal, both my mother's handed down to me, and my own.

I'm going to admit it right up front: I've been a NaBloPoMo failure.  It was definitely a lofty goal for me to try to post here every day, but unfortunately, I just can't do it, during November or any other month. My heart it is rebellious, and even though my intentions are good, I just can't post this often. (I'm trying!)  If you blog every day, my hat is off to you.

Having said that, however, I do want to talk about Thanksgiving since it is my favorite culinary holiday. It's the holiday that in the United States and in my house, always features the best of what fall has to offer: fresh poultry, grains, nuts, legumes, potatoes, berries, greens, fruity olive oils, and local wines. I so look forward to this Sunday's Farmer's Market trip. We've been avoiding the farmer's lately in the interest of saving a little money, but you couldn't pry me away from the farmer's market the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

I break my Thanksgiving into three parts: appetizers, main meal, dessert.  (This is last year's menu.) Because my family traditionally eats our Thanksgiving dinner late, at dinner time, the day is spent noshing on an assortment of lovely hors d'oeuvres accompanied by drinks as we take in the Thanksgiving Day Parade and also a parade of football games.  My sister and I cook and fiddle about in the kitchen, cousins play, my brother and J. spend the day on the couch (or making us martinis), my mom is in charge of hors do'oeuvres and making oyster bisque. Our list of Thanksgiving Day pre-dinner nosh doesn't change much and usually includes:

• assorted cheeses and salumi
• chicken liver-truffle paté with plenty of cracked pepper and accompaniments (French cornichons, onions)
• Wallie's favorite smoked salmon and accompaniments (capers, onions)
• clam dip and potato chips
• crudités
• beer/wine
• martinis and old fashioneds

Here are some of my thoughts about Thanksgiving last year in the hopes that it might inspire you to start thinking about your own meal. But we're far from done here. Let's keep talkin'.

Hotlinks for 11/17/08

I swear I have some real posts in me, but until then:

I'm running another warm and cozy Lands' End contest.

I have a new post up at Tonic about my own personal automotive bailout.

Looking for a unique and purty holiday gift? My blog pal Aimee of GreebleMonkey and Savvy Source--Denver is selling her beautiful nature calendar on etsy.

And I want to tell you about a cool new service from Tonic. It's a new website where you can plan your events (like Thanksgiving) and make a difference at the same time. Be the host that gives the most!

How to: Make Homemade Salad Dressing [NaBloPoMo Day 14]

This is an oldie but a goody. Because it's Friday. I'm hoping that because the economy blows, people are going to stop spending money on bottled dressing (which I find outrageously expensive for what it is) and start making their own.

Don't get me wrong, there are some bottled dressings that I adore (Girard's Champagne and Trader Joe's Cilantro for starters) but I'd much rather eat a salad dressed with a vinaigrette of my own creation.

So this weekend I challenge you to grab a jar and make some dressing, then report back and tell me how it went.

How to: Not Make Chicken Nuggets for Dinner [NaBloPoMo Day 13]

As I made homemade panko-crusted chicken for dinner tonight (because let's face it, breaded chicken is delicious), I got to thinking that it's so easy to do "fresh" chicken dishes like nuggets at home there's no excuse for making frozen chicken parts anymore.  This is a subject that I've written about ever since I started writing my now shuttered food blog, Family Food, years ago.

I took my organic chicken pieces (I use boneless, skinless thighs), dipped them in flour, then egg, then coated them in seasoned panko, arranged them on a pan and stuck the pan in my convection oven for about 30 minutes until they were crispy-crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside. These were served alongside steamed rice and snap peas briefly stir-fried in peanut oil with gingr and garlic. Simple and yummy.

So what do you if your child is a chicken lover and you just can't break out of the chicken nugget rut?  Here are some ideas for you:

• Make versatile chicken paillards ("pie-yards") on the grill or off
• Try indian-spiced roasted chicken (this makes the best chicken soup later)
• Make a Mexican Chicken Mole Adobo
• Coq Faux Vin is always a hit in this house (what's not to love about bacony chicken?)
• One of my 6-years-old's most requested meals is chicken curry
• Make chicken chili

I'm sure you all have other ideas for how to serve chicken and keep it versatile so please share! We all benefit!