Been Around the Block

Its a good guess that anyone who started cooking and baking in the mid to late 60's will recognize the book in the picture above and will relate to the condition that its in. I looked all over the book and there's no indication of the edition number or the date of publication; but a little research shows me that it is likely the 1968 edition because it includes recipes with an International flare to meet the demands of the cooks of that time who were becoming more sophisticated. In my book, you'll find Chicken Kiev, Chicken Cacciatore, Chicken Parisienne, and Island Broiled Chicken. All so tres chic and exotic!

We are having our Thanksgiving meal today, the Friday after, because Kurt had to work yesterday and the roads have been just a bit snowy and icy for me to get to the store, and for our son to get here from the other side of the Big Water. This is fine with me. We buck tradition anyway since this is a vegetarian house that's populated by folk who love the smell and taste of a Thanksgiving dinner. I'll explain our menu later.

The first thing I always do on Thanksgiving morning is bake the pie. (Tradition is tradition and this one is nearly 40 years old, so I feel completely comfortable using the word "always"!) The pie is always pumpkin, and always the recipe from the back of whatever can of pumpkin puree I am using. Oh sure, I've been through my phase of using pumpkin that I have roasted and pureed myself, but when the reults from the canned pumpkin are so good, and time is so short, this is a "quick and easy thing" of which I willingly take advantage.

The crust is always the recipe from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook. I think that pies are the second baked good that I attempted in my youth, choux pastry being the first. I guess I must have been more motivated to eat eclairs than pie. I have tried many recipes for pie dough - the ones with egg, with milk, with whole wheat flour (in those hippie health food days!) - but I always come back to the simple, basic recipe in BH&G. The only difference today is that it is all butter for me. And because it seems a very good part of the plan when using butter, I chill the dough before rolling it out, a step that isn't part of the recipe in the book.

I don't care for a deep brown on my pie crust, so I watch it like a hawk as it bakes and as soon as it reaches the point where I know I will be happy with it, I cloak the edges of the crust with foil. This is especially important when using butter. I wonder how many pumpkin pies I've made in my life. It has become a fool proof, never-fail thing for me. While some might say this is reason enough to try a new recipe or a different method, I think it is the comfort of knowing that I have been here so many times before that leads me to get up out of bed early on Thanksgiving morning and reach for the rolling pin.

Our meal? Gravy with sauteed meatless ground turkey (The brand is Yves and yes, it's tasty and yes, it tastes like turkey), carmelized onions, and mushroom broth. There will be mashed potatoes, dressing (always, ALWAYS the same dressing that I've been making forever, only because my husband and son demand it. This is one place where I have tried to spread my cooking wings and fly to new places, only to find that there's a rope tied to my ankle and they're pulling me back to that same old dish!). Cranberry sauce cooked down with the juice and flesh of some Satsuma oranges, some home baked bread and the reqisite relishes (in our case the dilled green beans that I put up this summer) round out the main meal. And then there's that pie and the whipped cream that will top it. There's a bottle of Spanish Cava in the fridge and some wonderful Pinot Gris from Lost River Winery in Winthrop, Washington.

The rolling pin that I use is likely as old as the book. Both were wedding presents. Same with the pastry cutter and the crystal dish in which I serve the cranberry sauce. The wine glasses came from a great aunt and we get them out of the cupboard only once or twice a year. The dishes were my great grandmother's on the other side of the family. These well-loved items are part of what makes this annual feast so special. Only my husband, our son and I will sit down at the table to eat, but many "old friends" will have taken part in the preparing and serving of the food.

It Feels Like Family

Its 6:30 in the morning on a Sunday. No one is out of bed but my husband and me. Its not Thanksgiving for another five days, yet this moment has the feel of "Holiday". There's a feast in the making!

I'll explain: My parents, asleep in the guest room upstairs, are nearing the end of their two week visit from Ohio. This afternoon, my sister who lives about twenty minutes away, will come over with her husband and two daughters. Our own son is asleep on the couch in the family room. As soon as I can start making noise in the kitchen, I'll bake a chocolate layer cake to put on lavish display on the cake stand that my dear mate bought for me yesterday. One dish of lasagna is in the refrigerator and the other will be pulled together while the cake is baking. We're having a cold snap outside, but the house will be blessed by the warm oven nearly all day.

Of the assembling group of nine, one has a some dietary needs so there can be no hidden seeds or nuts; three are vegetarians (including the cook so you can guess that the menu will not include meat); one is at the beginning of her teens and is reputed to be a bit of a discriminating eater; several are dedicated athletes and will be hungry by supper. I just plain like to eat.

The main dishes will be two lasagnas: One will be red with a sauce milled free of tomato seeds to velvety-smooth. Added in are onions, garlic, herbs and the deep red flavor that comes from the addition of a nice bit of the organic red wine that one of my nieces brought from her "neighborhood winery" in Missoula, Montana. The other will be white with a bechamel that I'll make some time this morning. Both will have fillings of fresh ricotta and mozarella. There's lovely fresh basil chopped into the ricotta in the red pan. The white dish's ricotta filling will hold pieces of sauteed Chanterelles gathered by Kurt last week and a sprinkling of nutmeg. Good golly. Is it time to eat yet?

Dessert will be the chocolate cake from the recipe that Hershey has on the back of their can of unsweetened cocoa. Their "Perfect" chocolate cake really is. Its one of the easiest cakes that I make and it does wonderfully in layers, sheet, or cupcakes. I have recently decided that I am going to return the layer cake to the spotlight which has so recently been hogged by the cupcake. I like cupcakes, but there is a beautiful formality to a filled and iced layer cake that makes cupcakes look like little girls playing dress up. For us, for this gathering of family, dessert will be perched like a queen on her pedestal.

Some time this early evening, people will pick up plates and fill them. Some will sit at tables and other will balance on laps. Food will be eaten. The piano will be played. Pictures will be taken. Laughter will happen. Except for a few missing members of the family, the menu and the day should be satisfying and complete.