Countdown to Halloween

Kidding, kidding. Sort of.

You see, Sunday marks the last candy-based holiday until October. While I have no desire to rush through spring and summer, this early Easter has caught me a bit off-guard. I think we’ve only eaten one bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs (two? Maybe two.)

Perhaps the arrival of the Easter Calorie Calculator in my email this morning was intended to make me feel better. 1 Creme Egg, 5 Peeps, and 25 jelly beans will power a nearly five-mile walk. I’m ok with that.

I heart Valentine’s Day

I do, I’ll admit it.

Regardless of my relationship status, I can’t help but love a holiday that’s all about candy and pink sparkly stuff. My secret is out.

This year though, I’m going to cook us a nice dinner that will be low on pink sparkles. I’ve been tossing it around in my head for awhile, but have finally settled on a menu this morning. Instead of “last-minute” can we call me spontaneous?

Sumac skirt steak with pomegranate reduction: I actualy have pomegranate molasses that I’ve been dying to try. I also have zataar that I hope will fill in for sumac if I can’t find sumac anywhere.

Pistachio couscous: I really like dried fruit in my couscous, but it seemed like it would be too much with the pomegranate sauce so I was glad to find this recipe.

Spinach with tahini or maybe something more unusual like artichokes or asparagus if there is something from not too far away (is it spring in California yet?)

Finally, for dessert, pears in honey and pine nut caramel with artisanal cheese sounds perfect. And maybe a little piece of dark chocolate too.

Happy Valentine’s Day. Seriously. Do something fun and eat something with pink frosting. You can pretend you’re being ironic if you want.

2008, year of small food

I was (not seriously) ill for most of December and had little desire to eat. While in some ways December might be a good month in which to lose your appetite, it posed a bit of a problem for me since I’d promised to plan, purchase, and prepare Christmas dinners for three separate groups of family members. Suddenly, looking through recipes–especially rich, complicated holiday recipes–held little appeal. I’d basically selected the main dishes (a pork rib roast, a prime rib, and a lamb roast) but had no idea what I was going to do for side dishes, desserts, and drinks. In the end everything turned out just fine (photo evidence can be found here) but I’m still mostly subsisting on toast and unsweetened cranberry juice, neither of which makes for particularly interesting food writing.

I do, however, have some changes in mind for the food we buy, cook, and eat in 2008. While most people like to dismiss New Year’s resolutions as arbitrary, overly optimistic, and ultimately futile, I actually really like using the switch to a new calendar as motivation to reflect on the past year and plan some changes for the next. Last January a good look at our finances led to the grocery budget and meal planning I focus on here. This year I’m really hoping to improve the quality of the food we consume. Articles like Michael Pollan’s recent “Our Decrepit Food Factories,” books like Marion Nestle’s What to Eat, and the many food recalls over the past year or two have inspired me to be far more selective about what I put in my mouth. I want to know where it came from, I want to know how it was produced, and I want the list of ingredients to be short. I want food from small stores, small companies, and small farms. I want 2008 to be my year of small food.

Here’s hoping you find what you want in 2008. Happy New Year, everyone!

Thanksgiving plan of action, part four: desserts.

Every Thanksgiving I try and convince folks to postpone dessert for an hour or two after dinner. I always want to take a walk and let everything settle for a bit, but apparently this is un-American (don’t tell!) I know I could just go on my own, but as the hostess I feel a little weird abandoning my own party for a little stroll. On the other hand, I’ve just spent two days cooking a massive dinner for a double-digit number of people. Maybe this year I’ll just go–there are going to be so many desserts to try I’m going to need a little breather.

My mom is going to bring a mince (no meat) tart with walnut-oil crust that is always a huge hit. This is her own creation that involves doctoring some store-bought mince”meat” with fresh cranberries and apples. It’s pretty, it tastes fabulous, and it has the lovely added bonus of being vegan, though I will eat mine with whipped cream on top.

There is no way Thanksgiving can pass without pumpkin pie. Last year I used Farmers Market organic canned pumpkin without even realizing it was from a local company. This year I’ll seek it out for sure, and I’ll use this pie crust recipe I’ve mentioned before. I don’t do anything wild with my pumpkin pie, but I do usually add a bit of extra spice.

Just in case two pies are insufficient, I’m considering making a chocolate pecan pie as well. I made one once from a recipe I found in a Real Simple magazine that was really good, so I’ll see if I can track the issue down again. If I find it I’ll share.

This will all be accompanied by coffee, tea, and possibly some port or scotch (we’ll see what shows up with my dad….) And then someone else will do the dishes. Truly my favorite part of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving plan of action, part three: side dishes.

Even though we call it turkey day, Thanksgiving dinner is really about all the stuff we eat with the turkey, right? For me, the trick with side dishes is trying to balance my desire to try new recipes with my desire to eat the good stuff I really want to make again. Maybe we should have some kind of “half-Thanksgiving” in June (you know, like Christmas in July) so I can make two versions of everything. Can you buy Brussels sprouts in June?

Sweet potatoes and greens with honey-mustard glaze : after two years this recipe is now a TG requirement. It probably wouldn’t please the marshmallow-on-top crowd, but if you’re not bound by the marshmallow-on-top crowd I’d recommend it highly.

Mashed potatoes: the only trick with the mashed potatoes is getting the timing exactly right. I’m always short of space on my stovetop, but I think the trick that has worked the best is mashing the potatoes and then putting them in a bowl over a pot of boiling water and putting a thin layer of milk on top to be blended into the potatoes at the last minute. The milk trick will not work for the vegan version though…perhaps a layer of vegetable broth? Of course mashed potatoes are incomplete without…

Gravy: I often have to cheat with some added chicken broth in order to have enough liquid for an adequate amount of gravy. Might try some version of the make ahead gravy out there, plus a mushroom version for the vegans.

Brussels sprouts: this is a recent addition to my Thanksgiving table and I haven’t quite found the perfect version yet. Maybe it will be Oven carmelized brussels sprouts with autumn fruits? Brussels sprouts with warm lemon vinagrette has the advantage of being vegan so I won’t have to adapt or make two versions. Any favorite recipes out there? Looks like this will be our TG wildcard.

Wild rice stuffing: last year I briefly considered making a savory bread pudding in place of stuffing, but discovered stuffing was non-negotiable for several people. OK, I like stuffing! There is no recipe for this, but it includes the required bread cubes, cooked wild rice, celery, onion, mushrooms, and lots of fresh herbs– Snoqualmie River Ranch, a company I’ve mentioned before, usually puts together a large bag of sage, thyme, and rosemary that’s available just before the holidays. This is normally mixed with lots of chicken broth, topped with melted butter, and baked outside the bird. I haven’t decided if I’ll just make the whole thing with veggie broth and skip the butter, or if I’ll set some aside to keep vegan.

As a side note, I’m really hoping our Fred Meyer has finished their remodel and is back to full stock by the time I’m ready to shop for this meal this year. It’s been a big mess for several months, and stock has been really low–they had very few herbs when I was there last weekend.

Whole-berry cranberry sauce: cranberries, sugar, water, heat, so good. Sometimes I consider doing something fancier…briefly. I do try to find Oregon cranberries though. I was out of luck last year!

Cranberry relish: cranberries, an apple, an orange (with peel) and some sugar in the food processor. I always seem to make too much of this, so maybe I’ll have to figure out some intentional way to use up the leftovers. Last year I dumped the excess stuffing into the turkey soup. I don’t recommend that.

Green bean casserole: Jeff’s mom may bring this, it’s kind of her specialty. Everyone seems to like the standard version of this the best (the thought of adding red peppers to it inspires a gag,) though I do prefer frozen green beans to canned. Fresh green beans have proven unnecessary.

I don’t usually do rolls, even though my Grandma June used to make some clover squash rolls that I loved. In the past I’ve started with butternut squash soup and/or some kind of festive salad, but I think the party will be large enough this year that first courses might be out of the question. There are plenty of other days for salad, right?

Sugar nuts

Well, that’s what we call them anyway.

Here’s the recipe for candied walnuts I mentioned yesterday. This one comes from my maternal Grandma Bea. She’s not quite so fond of cooking as my Grandma June was, but she still has some good recipes in her repertoire. I usually double this one since they go quickly and they’re nice to give away as well.

Sugared Walnuts

Heat oven to 375°

2 1/2 cups walnut halves
1 cup sugar
1/2 c water
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t. vanilla

Heat walnut halves in the oven for five minutes, stirring once (I usually get the candy mixture going before I do this because it takes awhile to get to the right temperature, but don’t wait until it’s ready to go.)

Butter sides of a 2 quart pan and add the sugar, water, cinnamon, and salt. Heat and stir until sugar dissolves and mixture boils. Cook without stirring to soft ball stage (see note below if you need more info.) Remove the mixture from heat, beat by hand for 1 minute or until the mixture just begins to get creamy.

Stir the vanilla and the nuts into the mixture until nuts are well-coated. Turn out onto a buttered (or parchment-lined) cookie sheet and separate with 2 forks.

A note about “soft ball” stage: soft ball is when the mixture reaches 236°–it’s best if you have a candy thermometer, but you can do it without. Here’s a good description of the stages of candymaking with notes about how to identify each one without a thermometer. Now you don’t have to google “soft ball stage”. I’m going to get some weird hits for this post!

OK, happy eating!
(that’s what my copy of the recipe says at the end)

Thanksgiving plan of action, part two: appetizers

On Thanksgiving I love to put out a table full of appetizers a few hours before dinner is ready. That way all the folks who have been driving for hours or working up a serious appetite on the slopes have something to do while I’m finishing up in the kitchen. That, and everyone starts to drink pretty early! The challenge is choosing appetizers that aren’t too filling. I work way too hard on dinner to hear “I’m to full to eat!”

Last year I made this blue cheese and caramelized shallot dip–it was good, but rich. This year I’m going to try this recipe for pumpkin hummus instead. Sounds good, no? And vegan too. I’ll put out some nice veggies and some bread to eat it on. I like to buy the little baguette slices at Fred Meyer–they’re probably made from the loaves that didn’t sell, but they don’t seem to be stale and I’m guessing I’ll have bigger things to do than slice bread into a million tiny slices.

Does anyone else remember the “parents just don’t want a boy with olive fingers” commercial? The agency that produced that ad should be proud–it’s still one of my all-time favorites! On Thanksgiving though, I always want to have fancy pickles and olives instead of the regular old grocery store kinds. It’s not that I don’t like the ones at the grocery store, it’s just that the fancy ones are so much better. Also, I always think holiday food should be something you don’t buy at other times.

Nuts and cheese are filling, but hopefully not easy to fill up on. I have a fantastic recipe for candied walnuts (I’ll post it soon recipe for sugar nuts). I might try to make some spicy not-sweet nuts too. I don’t know what kind of cheese I will choose, but I’m sure I’ll get some help from the fromagiere at Newport Market. I’m thinking it should be some kind of domestic cheese since it is Thanksgiving, after all. Maybe a smoked cheddar?

On Wednesday I’ll also make a pumpkin pound cake that will serve as breakfast for anyone here that early, and then will probably move to the appetizer table. It isn’t vegan, and it’s really rich, but it was a big hit last year and I’m already looking forward to eating it again.

I think that ought to do it. Although it might be fun to come up with some kind of TG-inspired apéritif…any suggestions?

Thanksgiving plan of action, part one: vegans.

I know it’s not even Halloween yet, but Thanksgiving *is* kind of early this year, so forgive me for skipping ahead in the holiday planning a bit. Writing down some of the things that I keep tossing around in my head helps me to be less distracted by them when I should be doing other things.

How hard can a Thanksgiving menu be, you might ask. Turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes–everyone (in the US) knows what to make on the fourth Thursday in November! True enough, but I really enjoy trying interesting variations on traditional dishes. That, and we have a couple of vegans coming to celebrate Turkey Day with us. Although they’re perfectly happy to bring their own food (and not at all the sort to make nasty remarks about what others are eating), I sort of like the challenge of incorporating food preferences and requests into a menu where there is something for everyone. Check back on Nov. 21 to see if I’m still saying that.

If I were planning an entirely vegan Thanksgiving celebration I’d probably do some sort of grain-stuffed squash as the main dish, but since I’m planning a full traditional menu already, I think a protein-based main dish makes more sense. Mashed potatoes don’t seem right with with stuffed squash (or pumpkin ravioli). I’m not anti-carb, but that sounds more nap inducing than the most tryptophan-laced bird. Instead, I’m looking at a “meat” loaf with mushroom gravy.  Now that looks like it was made to sit on mashed potatoes.

Many vegetarians survive Thanksgiving on side dishes alone, but I’m normally pretty fast and loose with the dairy, a vegan no-no. Luckily most side dishes are pretty easy to adapt–it’s no problem to pull out some of the boiled potatoes to mash with veggie broth instead of milk and butter. I even have a recipe for vegan green bean casserole, a side dish that was not a part of my childhood Thanksgivings but is essential on most tables (including ours, now–it’s one of Jeff’s favorites.) I’m also firmly in the stuffing baked outside the bird camp, so no cross-contamination worries there. Side dishes, along with appetizers and desserts will get their own posts in the next few weeks.

Now, where will everyone sit…?