Friday, November 18, 2011

What Are You Having For Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. It's about being thankful for what we have. It's about abundance. It's about food. And, always a plus, no present-giving is involved. It's the perfect holiday. With Thanksgiving approaching, I want to ask my readers what are you looking forward to cooking and eating on Turkey Day. I hope you'll share some of your favorite dishes with all of us. I'm always looking for something new to add to our spread and I love hearing from my readers in your comments. Youngest Hawthorne called last night and asked about potential items on our Thanksgiving board. YH: You'll have a turkey, right? R: Yes. YH: And a ham too? R: Of course. YH: And the sweet potatoes? With one side no nuts and another side no marshmallows? R: Always. YH: And cornbread? And mashed potatoes? And giblet gravy? And those rolls you make? And an apple pie and a pumpkin pie. With ice cream. And what about some kind of fish too? I don't think a fish will be involved, but Julia Child's Gateau de Crepes will be, and hopefully a new dish or two from you will grace our table. Or I may just throw caution to the wind and go with what TheEverAlertMarion suggested - Thomas Keller's Thanksgiving Dinner. Pomme Souffle of Maine Peeky-Toe Crab Deviled Quail Eggs Mini Pumpkin Pies with Chicken Liver Mousse Sweet White Corn Soup with Cepe Flan Pithiviers of Brussels Sprouts, Applewood-Smoked Bacon,, and Black Truffle Coulis Sweet Potato Agnolotti with Brown Butter Sauce and Proscuitto di Parma Atlantic Salmon Stuffed with Brioche, Chestnuts, Garden Sage, and Moulard Duck Foie Gras with Roasted Turkey Gravy Mayonnaise Roasted Turkey Breast with Nantucket Cranberry Relish and Creamed Pearl Onions Ants on a Log: French Camembert and Dry Pear Stuffed Celery Logs with Black Raisins and Raisin Emulsion Napa Valley Cream of Walnut Soup Stuffed Brown Turkey Figs with McIntosh Apples and Maple Glazed Jimmy Dean Sausage Now that's the ticket! Actually, I've already made the Sweet Potato Agnolotti and the Cream of Walnut Soup and both are terrific. By the way, a coulis is a thin fruit or vegetable puree, used as a sauce. A pithivier is a round sweet or savory dish, enclosed by two disks of puff pastry. A cepe, with the accent grave over the first e, is Boletus edulis, a basidiomycete fungus. A flan is a tart with a filling of custard, fruit, or cheese. So the cepe flan would be a mushroom quiche. Hmmmm. I just bought Maple syrup for another Rosie Project and I happen to have Jimmy Dean sausage in my freezer. I could make a go of the figs and apples. The stuffed salmon with turkey gravy is a little outre for me. (Put an accent ague over the e in outre.) That could be the fish in there for Youngest Hawthorne, The turkey gravy just skeeves me out. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

11 comments:

E. A. Marion said...

In our family, it's scalloped oysters, made with saltines and plenty of buttah. Forget the turkey, although my brother does a great smoked turkey. And an old fashioned country ham (good with the oysters).

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Ah yes, Marion. Oysters. We have a bushel. There will be much shucking of oysters.

Mr. Hawthorne does a mean smoked turkey too, but not all Hawthornlets like smoked.

Anonymous said...

With the not so little ones coming home, I wondered if any of them enjoy cooking, and do they prepare anything for the holiday meal?
Mona form NOLA
P.S. Happy Turkey Day!

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Hi Mona from NOLA.

As far as I know, the Hawthornelets don't enjoy cooking. Just eating.

Daughter Hawthorne has been known to whip cream for the pies.

Lea said...

I'm looking forward to my Grandma's stuffing. It's not fancy: bread, onion, carrot, celery, onion, S&P, poultry seasoning, and BUTTER. ALL BUTTER. Not a drop of broth or water. It it is amazing. So simple. But man oh man. There is never enough.

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Hi Lea,

Have I told you I have Lea surnames on my mother's side of the family?

I'd love your Grandma's stuffing recipe.

I love buttah!

Lea said...

I think you did tell me about the Lea surname.

The thing is, like most good Grandma recipes, there IS NO RECIPE. You have to make it several times WITH Grandma and then struggle on your own to make it at your own home! I almost have it down. I'm going to do a turkey breast after the holidays at our house (we travel for the holidays), so I'll try to document it and send it to you!

Marilyn said...

It will just be the the three of us at home this Thanksgiving so we will be doing an nontraditional Thanksgiving dinner with steak, carrot souffle, and a dessert yet to be determined. We may also make stuffing muffins.

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Mar, I might take your carrot souffle and make a sweet potato souffle.

Lea, we know all about the Non-Recipe
from our fore-mothers.

Anonymous said...

We are having a normal traditional (read...boring) dinner. But it is my absolute favorite dinner to make.

Turkey, my grandma's stuffing (sausage,onion & apple), parmesan mashed taters (giada), green bean casserole, sweet tater casserole, stevies cranberry sauce and *new* this year...corn casserole. I tried to nix the green bean casserole and replace with garlic spinach but my mom-in-law had a kniption so green beans it is. We are also all pumpkin pie WHORES so we will have 3 of them...for 5 people and not a crumb will be left. Promise.

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Anony, I'd love to have a good green bean casserole recipe. Haven't found THE recipe yet.