Scenes from Pre-Thanksgiving

tom turkey  

brining turkeyturkey stock

rolling rolls

looking at doughfinished rolls

sharpening knife with dogmaking cocktailsthanksgiving menu

finished turkey

 

1. live turkey from a local farmer, the only way I could source a heritage breed a week before the normal turkey day 2. brining the turkey 3. jiggly gelatinous turkey foot stock 4. rolling homemade yeast rolls 5. Lil calculating dough ball weight 6. baked rolls 7. knife sharpening observed by a springer spaniel 8. making cocktails 9. Lil and her Thanksgiving menus 10. the roasted bird

We're traveling to Saint Louis later this week to meet a new nephew so we had an early Thanksgiving meal with other family this weekend. Everything was made from scratch, many ingredients were locally sourced, and we enjoyed great company alongside the food.

What are your Thanksgiving plans?

Scenes from Pre-Thanksgiving

tom turkey  

brining turkeyturkey stock

rolling rolls

looking at doughfinished rolls

sharpening knife with dogmaking cocktailsthanksgiving menu

finished turkey

 

1. live turkey from a local farmer, the only way I could source a heritage breed a week before the normal turkey day 2. brining the turkey 3. jiggly gelatinous turkey foot stock 4. rolling homemade yeast rolls 5. Lil calculating dough ball weight 6. baked rolls 7. knife sharpening observed by a springer spaniel 8. making cocktails 9. Lil and her Thanksgiving menus 10. the roasted bird

We're traveling to Saint Louis later this week to meet a new nephew so we had an early Thanksgiving meal with other family this weekend. Everything was made from scratch, many ingredients were locally sourced, and we enjoyed great company alongside the food.

What are your Thanksgiving plans?

Thankful

crows in trees  

The first thing I see every morning is this tree. I look out the window upon an oak that was large before I was born. The oak stood tall before my house was built. Estimated to be at least 150 years old, our oak towers over all the trees on the street. I am thankful for a stunning view.

The oak is home to countless critters including the murder of crows at the top in this picture. Last year the crows gathered on the first night of Hanukkah, causing Lil to name the event 'Cronukkah'. Alex and I chuckle when we talk about Cronukkah because the phrase sounds a little like a holiday Snoop Dog might celebrate. I am thankful for a loving, laughing family.

My daybreak reverie with the this tree reminds me that our family is but a tiny thread of the web of life. Yet our thread is significant. We must use our energy to enjoy and protect treasures like this tree. I am thankful for all the wondrous and mysterious ways of Mother Nature.

What are you thankful for this year? 

Turkey Day A Week Away

Howdy! My workhorse of a five-year-old laptop bit the dust last weekend. It's where I did all my writing and editing work. A Lenovo Twist (squee!) is on order to replace it but in the meantime, blogging on shared family computers is a little difficult. In the meantime, a few thoughts on the upcoming holiday.  

turkey day spread

Thanksgiving Day is a week away. We are hosting this year. I can't wait to fill our spacious new house with family and food!

Our Turkey Day menu will include many of these tried and true favorites of my family:

Brined Roasted Turkey (don't forget to save the bones for turkey stock)

Maple Vinegar Sweet Potatoes and Kale

Parsnip Fries

Apple Fennel Slaw

Cranberry Sauce (make extra to can!)

Cranberry Bread

Pie with Sassafras Crumble Topping

 

What are your Thanksgiving plans? What will you contribute to the feast?

Dirt, Brunch, Turkeys, Flowers, Jars & Calphalon?

I'm busy working on the new house with no time to pretty up this list of events I want you to know about. Imagine pictures and a real introduction here: Dirt! the Movie Event is coming to Wild Goose Creative this Sunday. My friend Kellie Gedert is organizing a panel of local soil-lovers, root vegetable food competition, and art show, followed by a screening of the documentary Dirt! Buy a $10 ticket now for the evening of November 4.

Brunch! I'm co-hosting a brunch on November 18 at Brother's Drake Meadery with Allison Lehman and Stephanie Hayward. We're gathering a group of local Internet friends who want to hang out in real life. If you fit the bill, Let's Do Brunch!

Turkeys! Now is the time to order your Thanksgiving bird. This year, for the first time, The Hills Market is offering an Ark of Taste heritage breed, the Red Bourbon from Tea Hills Organic Farms. I can't wait to discover what the Red Bourbon brings to the feast. You also might be interested in Cota Farms smoked or fresh pastured turkeys or Ray Ray's Hog Pit smoked birds with all the fixings.

Flowers! Add some locally-grown joy to your decor this harvest season with a bouquet from Sunny Meadows Flower Farm. They are offering three styles of arrangements for pick up at the farm, City Folk's Farm Shop, or Mix: Home.

Jars! Instead of consuming, try creating on Black Friday, November 23. Head over to City Folk's Farm Shop from 11 am - 2 pm to join me in making Gifts in Jars: custom cocoa mix, foam bath, or flavored salt in pretty Weck jars with a variety of labels. Each jar will cost $6 and take only 10-15 minutes to make.

Calphalon! The folks at Calphalon shared that they are hosting a warehouse sale at Northland Plaza this weekend and next. The location is dangerously close to my new house and they promise premium cookeware at very low prices.

Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup {Friday Five}

Is your Thanksgiving menu finalized? My mother is hosting dinner this year so Alex and I are responsible for very little. We're bringing a charcuterie platter for the appetizer, brussels sprouts (probably pan roasted with homemade bacon) and Alex's dressing.

If your menu isn't full of family traditions, here are five suggestions for seasonal but unique additions to the table:

1)Buffie Wellies - a tasty rich buffalo appetizer 2) Cranbellini - Add one ounce of cranberry liqueur (yes, there's still time to make it!) to the bottom of a champagne flute. Top with sparkling wine and serve a fruity ruby red cocktail during appetizers 3) Mushroom Pie - vegetarian entree or earthy side dish 4) Cranberry Bread - an easy way to use cranberries other than sauce 5) Turkey Stock - even though we aren't cooking the bird this year, I hope we can claim the carcass for stock making.

Are you hosting or contributing to Thanksgiving dinner? If so, what will you make? Feel free to link recipes in the comments.

Cranberry Sauce, Fresh or For Canning {Recipe}

Cranberry sauce is the most neglected dish on the Thanksgiving table. It is over-sweetened to the point of tasting like jam, or worse, dumped and sliced from a can, ridge marks remaining. Why should these tart orbs be subjected to such a fate? Cranberries are easy to obtain fresh in November and full of flavor and vitamin C. It is impossibly easy to make them into an all-natural sauce. And once you do, you'll find new ways to appreciate the humble cranberry.

cranberry sauce ingredientscranberry sauce recipe ingredients

This sauce is a tangy antidote to any roast beast, of course. But it also plays beautifully on a charcuterie platter or cheese plate. Any rich dish that could use a balance of tart clear flavor will be improved by a dollop of cranberry sauce.

cranberry sauce jarscranberry sauce and cheese on toast

My sauce recipe is high in acid content and can be canned for use year round. I use an ample amount of apple for natural sweetness and just a bit of honey. Spices are light because they concentrate in the jar. If serving fresh, feel free to increase the spice quantities.

 

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Cranberry Sauce Makes: six half pint jars Time: 30 minutes cooking, 20 minutes canning

1 orange 2 12-ounce bags of fresh cranberries, washed with stems removed 6 medium apples, peeled cored and chopped 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4-3/4 cup honey

1. Peel orange, avoiding pith. 2. Place orange peel and remaining ingredients in a medium pot. Juice orange into pot. 3. Cook over low heat, covered, until apple texture disappear and cranberries 'pop'. Taste for spice and sweetness, adding more if necessary. 4. Remove orange peel and discard. 5. Serve sauce warm or at room temperature. Refrigerate leftovers and eat within two weeks or freeze for up to a year. 6. Alternately, ladle into sterilized jars with 1/4 inch headspace. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Remove from water, cool, and prepare for storage.

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Added to Simples Lives Thursday 70 and Punk Domestics.

Thanksgiving Reads {Book Hounds}

We love to prepare for holidays by reading books with Lil. Good Thanksgiving picture books are a little hard to come by because so many perpetuate myths about Native Americans. This year we are enjoying these food and family focused stories: old fashioned thanksgiving bookAn Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott with illustrations by James Bernadin

A rural 19th century New Hampshire family is preparing for a harvest feast when the parents need to leave for an emergency. The older girls step in to try to finish the dinner with mixed results.

thanksgiving treat bookThanksgiving Treat by Catherine Stock

Soft illustrations accompany this story of a young boy trying to contribute to his family meal.

sometimes-its-turkey-sometimes-its-feathers bookSometimes It's Turkey, Sometimes It's Feathers by Lorna Balian

When old Mrs. Gumm finds a speckled egg, she hatches it into a turkey. She raises the turkey in her garden, highlighting produce that ripens as the season goes by.

Do you have a favorite turkey day book to share?

NB: All links go to Amazon where these books are out of print but available used. Look them up at your local library - Columbus Public has copies of each.