fav recipes + honorable mentions from Thanksgiving

Life is hard; food doesn't have to be #115 [vol5, 11.4]

I’m eating Thanksgiving leftovers for breakfast as I type: sweet potato casserole, green beans and stuffing. I love Thanksgiving so much! Definitely for the food but also, it’s not often I sit at the table with both my siblings.

my plate; I was uncomfortably full and made room for pie!

My Fav Food from Yesterday

I hate to admit I’d always eaten Pepperidge farms stuffing (herb flavor, blue bag). This year I decided making it from scratch. My concern was that I’d eaten the same flavor for almost a half a century — would I like homemade?

Yes. Resounding yes. And I’m never going back.

It started with Alexandra Stafford’s mother’s peasant bread. This bread is baked in a bowl (or 4c pyrex measuring cup). Please for the love, make this easy delicious bread sometime.

side note: I got my hands on her book Bread Toast Crumbs and promptly made hamburger buns (with the same peasant bread recipe Tuesday) and have stopped searching for the perfect burger bun. The dough is super wet. Once baked, the buns are perfection. I didn’t think I needed this cookbook. Oh how wrong I was! Highly recommend it. Actually every recipe she posts is spot on…why would an actual cookbook be different?

Alexandra has a make ahead/freezable stuffing recipe and I loosely followed it. The key is using good bread, quality broth, and mushrooms. I caramelized onions for burgers (mentioned above) and used leftovers in stuffing. If you hate mushrooms then buy dried ones and pulverize in a blender. They add so much flavor.

I wanted to slap myself this stuffing was so good. I can’t wait to eat it again today when John’s family comes.

Honorable Mention

Classic sweet potato casserole with crumble topping that included pecans. A few years ago by chance I made it in the food processor - and this method makes superior silky sweet potatoes. It bakes up so fluffy and souffle-like. I roast the sweet potatoes for a bit more caramelization/ sweetness, as opposed to boiling them.

My mom brought “the last of” her homegrown green beans and corn. She slow cooks her beans with bits of ham and they are the best ever. I’m not just speaking from nostalgia. My kids have always loved her beans. Mom’s health likely will prevent her from gardening next year so I savored every bite.

Gravy - the best is obviously made with delicious broth or pan drippings. This year I braved adding the giblets. Offally Good Cooking gave me the confidence I needed to just do it. I quickly pan seared the heart, liver and gizzard then blitzed in the Vitamix. Also for the first time I thickened the gravy with sourdough starter. It was delicious and no one was ever the wiser.

pro-tip: I’ve been using sourdough starter often to thicken roux (gravy, mac & cheese, chicken pot pie) — and love it.

Best Pie

My sister made a Derby Pie. For the non-Kentuckians, it’s a pecan (or walnut) pie with chocolate chips. I’m not tempted by pumpkin pie, unless it’s for breakfast.

My brother brought a chocolate pie with meringue. He cooks nothing but knows people who do. :)

Also on the Menu

My people are carb lovers through and through. I made mashed potatoes (with butter and cream cheese) and the Pioneer Woman’s mac and cheese. We had overnight easy brioche buns/rolls - the same recipe I use for Wednesday night suppers at church for 125.

Next year I’ll repeat the brussels sprout slaw I made for the first time this year. The sprouts were shredded the day before (they’ll hold a couple days in the fridge) and I happened to have a copy cat chick-fil-a sauce needed using up. Any honey mustard / vinaigrette would do. Recipe called for pomegranate arils; I used dried cranberries, saving the pomegranates for table decorations.

Speaking of cranberries, my family’s tradition is grated fresh cranberries…with added fresh pineapple, oranges and apples. It’s all run through the food processor and deliciously tart, can be made a week in advance. My dad prefers with extra sugar; my husband loves all the tart things so I set out two different bowls. Easy enough to please both men.

The Drink Buffet

I served the same cranberry punch as last year, sweet tea, and water kefir. Most people drank water, though a few tried the lemonade water kefir.

missing my oldest son who comes home from college in two weeks

We ate like royalty. I loved every minute of prep and execution! Loved preparing a place for people to connect.

Life is hard; food doesn’t have to be.

Julie

PS - here are recipe links from 2020