Weekly Cooking: Special Thanksgiving Edition

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

The romances were a bit flowery. Oh, who am I kidding? They should have been sold at the perfume counter. I still liked them as a teen. Especially "The Toll Gate".

The historical ones like "The Conqueror" were quite lacking in flowers.

The mysteries were witty and lacking in both peers and bullied females and are set mostly between the wars.

[Yaelle]

What I always liked when watching dubbed American movies in German or French was how the Europeans felt they had to spice up the language of the characters. Like an old John Wayne movie in French would have him missing the shot at the bad guy and swearing “Putain de merde!” (Not directly translatable but word for word says “Whore of sh*t!” instead of the “damn!” Or whatever he was allowed to say.

[Yaelle]

My grandparents came here in their 40s, and sat for hours playing Scrabble in English with another German immigrant couple, their German English dictionary open on the card table with them.

[Yaelle]

Yes, very flowery, but mom says there isn’t any “real sex” or not much. Just a lot of romantic plotting.

Her best friend (same age, but her friend has an intact brain) reads even worse novels, one right after the other: the Harlequin bodice rippers. She’s done this her whole life. I don’t think you get three pages farther along before the next episode of heaving bosoms and rampant steeds.

[Aliska]

I've got a recent recipe I found for spoon bread, made it twice now. Not ready for it again yet.

Happy Thanksgiving to you, too, CB! Sorry about your rude friends. I think I have bored people conversationally in the past; sometimes I can't think of anything to talk about that would interest anybody. Peeling pearl onions, I'll have to see what Chef John did. He used cipollini onions with brussels sprouts in a video and recipe on his blog. I hate it when he comes up with stuff I can't get like some special Italian tomatoes, sheep's milk cheese, one other thing. Then those AlmazanKitchen guys drive me mad sometimes with the neat stuff they pull out, much of it homemade.

I found my newspaper clipping for Italian Beef, very similar to what the gal who grew up in Chicago shared with me. Also found one for Bavarian pot roast which has tomato sauce rubbed on it, never made it.

One I loved were some chicken breasts served at my Jewish friend's wedding. I had to debone them myself, then it has garlic, Challah bread crumb stuffing similar to regular stuffing minus the spices, some walnuts (leave those out). Then the breasts are laid over a portion of stuffing with a ring of pineapple and maraschino cherry with a toothpick to secure and baked.

Stuffed peppers, haven't felt like I could afford the peppers for a long time, really only need 4 big ones cut in half lengthwise I finally started doing, stuff with rice, ground beef and tomato & etc., then sprinkle buttered saltine crumbs on top. At work they used to put the best beef tomato gravy on them.

Then I need to make some cabbage rolls. I usually pre cook the ground beef and pre-cooked long-grain rice. Chef John put the rice in raw and used ground lamb.

I don't know what I'm doing for Thanksgiving, will cook something, maybe even a turkey. Love my stuffing.

I've been using cheater Betty Crocker mashed potatoes. Got boxes of scalloped and au gratin ones to try, one box isn't worth heating up the oven for so got 2 of each.

One more simple thing but special in our house on the holidays. Green beans, usually canned, I boil the liquid down for better flavor. Then mom used to saute slivered almonds in butter, carefully, then put in serving bowl and top with the toasted almonds and browned butter. She always had the table nice, too.

Loved the thistle china, love thistles, let one grow and photographed a monarch on it, so pretty, shouldn't have let it go to seed, had to dig a bunch out the next spring but I got them all. Now the monarch are gone but a yellow swallowtail has come back for 3 or so years now and, thrill of thrills, a black one this year.

Enough. I get depressed around the holidays, started with my divorce a looooong time ago now. Then my son used to have it and I only had to bring something that is his favorite. I still have a hard time with losing him and miss all the elders in my family.

I had some nice china gotten from here and there, gave my Noritake to my daughter, have that grocery store Blue Garland in a box in the attic with all the serving pieces, have a Taylor and Taylor jack in the pulpit, gave my pink Depression glass set to my girlfriend who isn't my friend any more (regret letting go of that). Have a good start on a set of Belleek. Have my mom's can't think of it, the clear glass with all the pearl glass ball trim, Imperial? Lots of odds and ends of antiques. Lost half a set of antique Haviland when the shelf in basement rotted and broke, lost a big part of double set of Homer Laughlin eggshell Georgian, use for everyday. A beautiful set of I don't even know what it is, am giving that to my second cousin to keep in the family because my kids sell stuff. And on and on.

Found a piece of the set, nobody on an antique forum could ID it. It's a chocolate set, big pitcher (saw just the pitcher at a mall show for $200 years ago), little fruit dishes, the tumblers, and some cups, plates?, haven't seen it it a long time.

Sorry I rambled so, got to remembering old times and my photos.

I found the pitcher like mine but when I click on it, it's gone. I've seen the most beautiful glassware I have ever seen. Bohemian Czech art glass I think is what it is. Mine was a wedding gift to my great aunt Jennie who married in 1893. We have so few, if any, artisans like that any more, also Tiffany. I went through the Fenton factory where they were blowing glassware; it was horribly hot in there, the workmen had hoses of cooler air blowing on them still it was awful.

[BunnySlippers]

I wish I had somewhere to go on Thanksgiving.

[cherry]

seriously, if you live by me come on over...I live in Eastern Washington...

[cherry]

Christmas has gotten to be “too” much....Thanksgiving is better....just food...no presents...no pretensions...and I love the fall....

[BunnySlippers]

I’m still trying to put something together in LA. Not much luck but I should have started earlier.

[Jamestown1630]

That’s very beautiful glass. (I have some nice old Czech glass beads that I’ve been saving for years to make up into something...)

[cherry]

recipe for dry brine?

[BunnySlippers]

You are so sweet. I am in Los Angeles. Too far but if I could, I would. I need company this year!

[Jamestown1630]

There are lots of variations - you can use salt alone, or add herbs, spices, even citrus. This is basically what we do:

https://food52.com/recipes/15069-russ-parsons-dry-brined-turkey-a-k-a-the-judy-bird

Just do a search on ‘Judy Bird Turkey’ and you’ll see lots of ideas.

[Albion Wilde]

Freepmail for you.

[kitchen]

I'm looking for that special ingredient that sets the creamed onions off, like dill on lima beans or nutmeg in creamed spinach. My béchamel recipie is 2 T each butter and flour to 1 C 4% milk. I know, the classic recipe calls for 3/4 C milk and 1/4 C cream. I don't season the basic sauce, waiting to season as it's incorporated in the next stage.

Vadalias we only see occasionally here. The several others range front about 3" to 5" and are great for slicing and dicing. Boilers are about 1 1/2" to 2" and are great braised around roasts, in a shrimp boil, or tossed into stews. The pearl onions are a great side with chops and such. The local market dropped the frozen pearls - they were really convenient but cooked almost instantly and seemed like they had lost a bit of their flavor. The ones in their skins are a PITA to peel, for me at least, even blanching and rubbing the skin off. It just takes so many of the little devils.

As I think about it, the most grueling task was hollowing out cherry tomatoes. Using a melon ball cutter about 1/4" in diameter, scraping out the interior ... hour after hour, so it seemed. This is an all hands on deck proposition. I would pipe in a mixture of cream cheese and minced smoked salmon, seasoned with a little black pepper. Garnish with a tiny sprig of broad leaf parsley stuck in the hole. People attack these like they haven't eaten in days so you have to make a boatload.

[dearolddad]

We have a Masterbuilt electric smoker which would most likely fit on your deck with no problem.

We have smoked pork ribs, chicken, and even duck in ours, we even smoke store bought bacon in ours once in a while.

[firebrand]

No, you’re OK for time. People get excited closer to the holiday. Did you put it on the California page? There might be a Meetup for conservatives in your area, also. It will catch on when it gets closer.

Still haven’t decided if I’ll try it here.

[firebrand]

Thanks, Albion.

[leaning conservative]

That is really lovely. What a great thing your wife did.

[leaning conservative]

I am so making this. On a whim I picked up a chocolate graham crust after school yesterday. I can almost taste it.......