Saturday, November 29, 2014

Thanksgiving Weekend Treats

This year for Thanksgiving weekend we have had many of our family's favorite including filbert and pumpkin pies, turkey using America Test Kitchen's version of Julia Child's cut up method on a bed of my in-laws homemade stuffing, roasted Brussel sprouts, local wines, and mashed potatoes.




This year we've added some new recipes that have instantly become family favorites too.

First, the New York Times published an amazing recipe for Cranberry Sauce with Pinot Noir.  Allspice, cloves, cinnamon, rosemary, vanilla bean, orange, black pepper, and wine make for a scrumptious side dish.


I made Winter Breakfast Muffins with cranberries, raisins, and vanilla yogurt from Elin England's Eating Close to Home. Everyone including the cat liked them.


We had a beautiful batch of persimmons from our last CSA box of the season.  I found this interesting recipe for Persimmon Leather to be made in a toaster over.  I've made a couple of batches of these with Fuyu persimmons in the regular oven at 450F for about 15 minutes until the juices are running.  They're sweet little bites.




Lastly, I made a dinner salad/side dish with blanched collards, garlic bread crumbs toasted in olive oil, and toasted filberts from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.  I think that this is the antithesis of "Snicker Salad" that was one of the top recipes Googled in several states as reported in the New York Times this week.  I loved reading through this to see regional variations on food preferences.


What a joy it is to have a long weekend to have time to experiment with new recipes and savor the results.