Thanksgiving menu and other food thoughts
japra | Nov 24, 2008 | Comments 16
I am feeling better today. I got a lot of planning done this weekend, plus it SNOWED yesterday! Ok, it was snow/sleet and not very much of it, but it was pretty while it lasted.
In Thanksgiving news, Roxi and Mr. DJ voted the turkey off our menu in favor of a “Honey Baked” ham. This should be interesting–I’ve never made a ham before. It can’t be that hard, right?
Here’s the rest of our menu:
- Pumpkin Soup (husband’s grandmother’s recipe)
- Ham a la Honey Baked Ham Company (I’m hoping for leftovers so I can make Lentil soup)
- Mashed potato casserole
- Cornbread stuffing casserole (I’m the only one who will eat this, but I absolutely have to have it. I’ll just freeze single servings for later)
- Cranberry sauce (my mother-in-law’s recipe made with pineapple, oranges, and brown sugar)
- Cucumber salad (husband’s family recipe)
- Creamed spinach (new recipe for this year from Laurie Colwin’s Home Cooking)
- Old-Fashioned All American Apple Pie (because no one else seems to want pumpkin, oh well)
I just realized that most of the things on this menu are from my husband’s family. The cornbread dressing is definitely from mine, though this is the first year I’ll make it in England. Sadly, we can’t buy Jiffy cornbread mix here, and there definitely isn’t anything in the baking aisle labeled ”cornmeal”. However, I recently found out that polenta can be used as a substitute for cornmeal. It took me nearly two years to learn this! But better late than never.
We’ll be doing our Thanksgiving dinner on Friday so we can enjoy the scents of the day as everything simmers and bakes. I think we should put up the tree on Friday too. We’ll probably go into London on Saturday to celebrate Mr. DJ’s birthday, and then I am sure there will be homework on Sunday. Next week is production week for the musical, so any work that Roxi can do on the weekend will be time well spent.
What I cooked this weekend:
Homesick Texan’s Boracho Beans. Oh my gosh! It was so good, especially with HT’s flour tortillas (I really need to make a permanent link on my sidebar for this).
Emm’s Bobotie, which was delicious but didn’t look as nice as the one on the Waitrose site. I think my baking dish was too big. No matter. I’m putting this recipe in my permanent file since everyone loved it. I served it with seasoned rice (made with “rice seasoning” from The Spice Shop–yum) and a leafy salad. Mr. DJ and I will have leftovers for lunch today.
Puff pastry dogs–smoked sausage wrapped in long strips of puffed pastry, brushed with egg and sprinkled with Parmesan. Mmmm.
Nigella’s Chili and Cinnamon Chocolate Pudding from Feast. (1/2 recipe) Mmmm. This is going on rotation. I was going to make this for our Thanksgiving dessert, but we couldn’t wait. I skipped the rum and forgot to add additional water as a substitute, so the pudding turned out a bit dry, more like a brownie. I am keen to try again to see if I can get the gooey pudding consistency. Such a sacrifice.
What I’m cooking today:
Black bean soup based on HT’s boracho bean recipe. It is simmering on the stove now and is making the house smell warm and cozy.
Jam tarts from my new cookbook Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer by Jane Brocket, which Bee mentioned in one of her posts last week. I am so enamoured with this delightful book and spent several hours snuggled up with it last night. I wanted to tuck it under my pillow to inspire sweet dreams! Reading through Brocket’s introductions made me realize that many of the books I loved as a child (and continue to love as an adult) have lavish food descriptions. And please, where has Enid Blyton been all my life? I have a little catching up to do.
I think this is going to be a week of food. I’ll try to fit in a Krakow post as well.
About the Author: JaPRA is an expat Texan living in England with her husband (Mr. DJ), their 17-year old daughter (Roxi), and their dog Trudy.
Wait – did I read that correctly? have you only just discovered Enid Blyton?
Glad the family enjoyed the bobotie.
I figured out something that I miss from home, by the way, Redds Premium Lager. It is apple-flavoured beer. I don’t really drink but I do like this one.
Emm–Yes! Isn’t that awful? I don’t know how I missed her!! I can only blame it on being American.
That apple flavoured beer sounds interesting. I’ve only had lemon or berry infused beer.
you are definitely feeling better, and no slouch in the cooking department. Thanks for sharing all those lovely recipes and your Thanksgiving meal sounds wonderful.
Well, the Adventure series was my best – Island of Adventure was my favourite. Smashing books. I read most of the Secret Seven and Famous Five books too.
Redds is an acquired taste – they test marketed it at my university and we told them it tasted like shampoo. Sadly for us, we were hooked by then though…
We’re having ham too! My husband is allergic to fowl and I really don’t like turkey anyway.
Sounds like some wonderful weekend plans. Happy early birthday to your hubby!
You guys beat us to getting snow!
I will send you Jiffy cornbread mix. Then you can at least have it for Christmas. I had no idea you couldn’t get stuff like that! augh. How many of those cute little boxes would you like? And be sure to send me your snail mail.
Okay, that pudding sounds amazing. But I’m going to give that cucumber salad recipe to my partner because it sounds absolutely fab, and I don’t cook. only bake.
Alyson–Bummer about your husband’s allergy, but I think a lot of guys prefer ham. Thanks for the birthday wishes for Mr. DJ! I will pass them along.
Chris–You are the best! Thank you for your offer, but I am going home for Christmas and am bringing four large suitcases to fill with things like cornbread mix, hazlenut coffee, and Sam’s Club size spices. And lots and lots of Bounce!
I could write a post just responding to this post! First up, Snow: I'm jealous. We only got rain, despite being only an hour's drive away.
Second, Ham. I made it for the first time last year and couldn't believe how easy it was. In fact, I made a small one (bought from M&S) for Sunday lunch — eaten with potatoes au gratin. I am going to use the leftovers to make soup, too — not lentil, which I do love, but a divine pinto bean soup with about 20 spices and sherry in it.
Three, Feast. I made two recipes from that this weekend — the rhubarb crumble and the white chocolate and cranberry cookies. I’ve made both of them before — they are easy and delicious. I need to try the chocolate pudding one!
Four, I am so glad that you like the book! I need to wrap it, for C, but I keep sneaking peeks.
All this talk of food has made me hungry!
I adored Enid Blyton when I was young, I hope you enjoy her as much as I did.
You are very ambitious.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your honey baked ham.
We usually do that for Christmas Eve.
Lots of our friends are Jewish but take the opportunity to eat ham at our house………..
Dear Friend–
I’m gaining weight just reading your stuff these days. And now you have me hooked on some of these other food bloggers. And I just made the Jiffy cornbread tonight for the dressing this week! Love, Mimsy
Bee–And I can’t believe you didn’t get snow!! That’s just sad. BTW, can you do a cookbook post similar to your bedside reading post? I love your book reviews–and, selfishly, I want to know what other gems you have sitting on your shelf that need to be on mine as well ;-) Did you find your canned pumpkin?
Akelamalu–I wish I could invite all my blogging friends over for a potluck dinner. It would be interesting to taste everyone’s cooking, wouldn’t it? As for Enid Blyton, do you have a favourite?
Elizabeth–That is funny about your friends. Ham is such a festive treat. I hope mine turns out nicely.
Mimsy, dearest–I am making 1/2 portions of everything because 1) I don’t want a lot of leftovers and 2) my refrigerator is slightly bigger than a large dorm fridge and can’t take a Texas-size spread. Sad, but true. BTW, are you around for the holidays? We missed getting together last year, but I’d like to try again.
My mouth started watering about a quarter of the way through your post! I am responsible for the desserts this Thanksgiving and will be making the SmittenKitchen Apple Cake and Barefoot Contessa’s Lime Tarts…and possibly a pie!
I will be here! Seeing you would be wonderful…HO, HO, HO! Mimsy
Lucylucia–I adore lime tarts!! Keylime pie is my favourite pie. What time will you be serving dessert? I’ll be there :-)
Mimsy–Yay! I’ll send you an email when I get all my family stuff on the calendar. XO