thanksgiving

Review: Bless This Food by Adrian Butash

Tuesday Revews-Day

BlessFood_pbk_cvr.indd

For the gifts we are about to receive…

Are you tired of hearing the same grace said across your table meal after meal? Are you (like me) uncomfortable with the thanks-around-the-table “game” at the holidays and looking for something new? Or maybe you’re just curious about how other cultures state their mealtime thanks. Either way, Adrian Butash has written the book for you.

When I received the review-copy offer for Bless This Food: Ancient and Contemporary Graces from Around the World (aff.link), my reason for accepting was the last one: I love learning about other cultures and was really looking forward to reading about how the act of saying grace or blessings over a meal has changed over the years and in different areas of the world.

Included in Bless This Food are 150 graces (titled as Prayers) though not all fit the format you or I might be accustomed to, nor would I call all them directly food-related (which–for me–raises the question of why include them at all), as well as 2 sign language blessings and the phrase “bless this food” translated into 18 languages other than English. Got young ones at the Thanksgiving table this year? See who can guess which phrase is which language as a way to keep them busy while the grown-ups chat!

Butash claims that the sharing of meals and the gratitude that it instills is a universal experience that we can all relate to. He even goes so far, in the Introduction, to claim that giving thanks for food is the very first gratitude we feel as human beings in the instant we are first fed outside of our mother’s wombs. While I understand his point about an infant’s satisfaction of a full tummy, I’ve seen more than my fair share of toddlers and older being taught through much repetition the importance of saying (and feeling!) ‘Thank you’ that I raise an eyebrow to the idea that gratitude is a concept born within us. Still, it’s an interesting talking point and you lose nothing by jumping straight into the blessings/prayers that make up the meat of the book.

I suppose it’s no big surprise that the lion’s share of the blessings are from the Judeo-Christian point of view, but as the book continues it’s loosely chronological catalog of graces I was happy to see the Bible verses give way to different cultures and (translated) languages. More so than the prayers themselves, I found the notes that accompany most of them the real gems of the book and see these as a great jumping-off point for someone interested in doing their own comparative religion/culture studies.

In picking my favorite prayer to share from Bless This Food, for quite a while I thought it would be a Walt Whitman exerpt until, that is, I came to Prayer 91 by Luisah Teish, a professional storyteller from New Orleans (from her website) and (according to Butash) “a priestess of Oshun, the Yoruba (West Africa) goddess of love, art, and sensuality.”

Prayer 91

All that I have comes from my Mother!
I give myself over to this pot.
My thoughts are on the good,
the healing properties of this food.
My hands are balanced, I season well!

I give myself over to this pot.
Life is being given to me.
I commit to sharing, I feed others.
I feed She Who Feeds Me.

I give myself over to this gift.
I adorn this table with food.
I invite lovers and friends to come share.
I thank you for this gift.
All that I have comes from my Mother!

–Luisah Teish
(page 110, Bless This Food)

In my mind I think of that one as the blessing of the hostess or cook and the ideas it fosters are similar to what I felt the first time I saw Like Water for Chocolate. And what a great wish from one cook to another: season well! Hell, not just cooks, add some delightful seasoning to your life in and out of the kitchen.

So whether you’re looking for a new twist on the Thanksgiving blessing next week (for my U.S. readers, at least) or you prefer your gratitude in private and want some new mulling material, Bless This Food might just be worth a look.

Holiday Coin Toss

Third Time Wife, Wedding Planning

Holiday are a time for family gatherings, whether blood-related or otherwise. Now, unless you’re an orphan, chances are you’ve got some family that wants to see you on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hannukah, Yule, or whatever holiday you celebrate.

When you’re single this is no biggie. Heck, when you’re dating it’s not always that big a deal, either–you might take the opportunity to meet your possibly-future in-laws, but it’s also not crippling if you each visit your respective families for the holidays.

When you get married? It’s another story.

My sister-in-law’s family is made up of divorced parents who’ve both remarried, and everyone lives in the same general area. This means that for every holiday they’ve got between 3 and 5 stops to make, and that’s before they get around to seeing us. This is not a way to live, folks, but it’s the precedent they set while they were dating and it’s tough to break the habit.

This isn’t normal. This isn’t healthy. It’s the plot of a romantic “comedy” or three.

For Todd and I it’s actually pretty simple: my immediate family (except my brother, who comes up from Orlando for most big events) lives in the same town as us and his family is several states away. Since it’s an expensive plane fare or a 2 day drive (at least!) to see them, we stay here for holidays. But if we had the opportunity to go up to Nebraska or out to Arizona one year, no one on my side would begrudge us the trip. (At least I don’t think so!)

That’s because it’s fair.

Whether you put the different family groups in a hat and draw one out for each holiday that year or you bargain based on parental lobbying for this day or that, make a decision early on as to where you’re going for each one, and keep it to one or two visits per holiday-day to keep yourself sane. And the next year switch it up, if need be, to give everyone equal time.

If or when you have kids, grandparents are going to put in bids even more strongly, so having a strategy as a couple will make it that much easier to put your foot down when everyone wants to see everyone else all within 24 hours.

The other option, though not for the faint of heart, is to open your home as the epicenter of holiday cheer and host whomever wants to come. It helps to have a lot of extra space if your family is particularly large, but where there’s a will, there’s a way. (And a hotel.)

It’s also never too early to start your own traditions for your new family, with or without extended participation. If there’s a holiday that’s really important to you to do it your way, set it aside for the two of you and have your own celebration. In this day and age of cell phone, Face Time, and Skype, you don’t have to travel to “see” everyone.

Pretty Book and Flower Icon

 

Do you have a plan for divvying up the holidays?

Giving Thanks for Resourcefulness

Nibbles

Our oven quit 3 hours before dinner on Thanksgiving day.

Oh, yes, friends, it was one of those holidays.

Strange thing is, the oven worked fine that morning. I’d gotten up in time to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as I prepped the sweet potato pie, cornbread for dressing, and chicken stock (also for the dressing).

About noon I was done with my prep (dinner wasn’t until 5:30, so we had plenty of time) and shut off the oven.

I kinda wish I’d kept it on for those 3 hours, maybe then Todd wouldn’t have had to “bake” the corn casserole and rolls on our propane grill.

Todd using the gas grill as an improptu oven on Thanksgiving

And I wouldn’t have had dressing cooked on some antiquated cross between a hot plate and a crock pot.

But at least our turkey goes into a counter-top roaster oven (leaving the oven free–in this case free and clear to up and die) so that wasn’t a problem.

Though, in a very strange twist of fate the top of the bird was registering done after 1 1/2 hours but when we went to carve it the thighs–the part of the bird closest to the heating elements–was still underdone. Still haven’t figured out the how on that one, but a few minutes in the microwave solved that one pretty quick.

So this year’s Thanksgiving was a true learning experience. Here are some tips I thought I’d pass along:

  1. If you make Alton Brown’s Sweet Potato Pie, don’t use Greek-style yogurt, it’ll be too strong.
  2. But if you do, a slice warmed and served a la mode (with or without Torani Pumpkin Pie Syrup) will still taste just fine and dandy.
  3. If you run out of vanilla and the stores are closed, both vanilla rum and vanilla vodka made quick substitutes.
  4. Make sure to remove both the giblets packet AND the neck from the cavity of the turkey (I caught the error before we put the turkey in to roast).
  5. You can use your propane grill as an impromptu oven, but you might want to prop your casserole dish up on a couple of bricks to allow air to circulate under the dish, too. (If not you’ll end up with a more-than-toasted bottom of the casserole, but it did give it a nice grilled-corn flavor!).
  6. You can also finish dressing in a slow-cooker/hot-plate sort of device, just don’t expect the top to get all nice and brown (seriously, I don’t know what this contraption of Todd’s is, but it worked and that’s all that counts).
  7. Counter-top roasters are the bomb for speed-roasting a turkey. (That’s not new, but still true.)
  8. Placing a towel under the cutting board when carving the turkey may not be enough–you might want to tuck one into the cabinet door below the counter and let it rest on the floor. Just be happy you have a juicy turkey.

And if you have a doggie guest for Thanksgiving, don’t be surprised if they offer to “mop” the floor under the carving station for you. Molly was committed to getting that floor spotless 😉

We also tried a new hors d’oeuvres this year for pre-dinner noshing.

Apples on Horseback appetizer

I could swear I got an email last week with a recipe for apples on horseback (either that or I totally misread Angels on Horseback and hallucinated the rest of the article). When I couldn’t find my reference email, I decided to just go with it.

Apples on Horseback

3 Apples, small to medium-sized
18 cheese cubes
12 slices thin bacon, cut into 3rds

Quarter and core the apples and then slice each apple into thirds, lengthwise. You should have 36 apple slices.

Slice each cheese cube in half. I used a combo of pepper-jack and colby-jack (what I had on hand) and the pepper-jack makes for a decidedly spicier end product, but either are tasty ways to go.

Pair up an apple slice and a bit of cheese and wrap with the piece of bacon. You don’t want thick bacon here as it’ll take too long to cook. Dividing each slice in thirds (I just slice through the whole package, makes it easier) means this recipe takes just under a pound of bacon.

Broil the packets until the bacon is crisp on top. Some of the cheese will cook out, but enough will be left behind to lend flavor.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

This was, incidentally, the step in the days process that showed the oven for the fickle fiend it is. It had worked fine that morning to bake pie and cornbread, and I’d turned it off by noon. Come around 3:30 and I guess it resented being woken from its nap or something, as it refused to heat/broil/or do anything of use.

Thankfully we have a toaster oven. If it had been larger we could have cooked the casseroles in it, but it’s on the smaller side (just large enough for 2 hamburger buns, split, to give you a mental picture). It took 3 batches to finish the apples, but it got the job done.

Once we found counter space for everything and sat down to eat the rest of the evening went as usual. Everyone eats, we settle in to watch a movie (The Avengers, this year), and someone makes a goofy comment or 2 that has us laughing days later.

That someone is usually Mom.

It’s good to have traditions.

AlcoHOLidays | Thanksgiving | Berry-Cran Cobbler

Sips

Berry-Cran Cobbler Cocktail for Thanksgiving

Growing up, Mom made no bones about Thanksgiving being her favorite holiday. Trips home to see family were in November, not December, and featured large gatherings of family and friends, food served buffet-style on every flat surface available, and (one memorable year) plates that were actually Chinet platters, because a normal plate wouldn’t come close to holding a little bit of everything available.

These days Thanksgiving is often relegated to the back-burner for many. Merely a carbo-load before Black Friday shopping begins (this year some stores are starting Thursday night, even).

Despite some of the more inauspicious beginnings of Thanksgiving (similar to the controversy surrounding Columbus Day), Thanksgiving is still widely celebrated throughout the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. Menus vary depending on your family’s heritage or adopted traditions, though turkey with all the trimmings is considered the norm. What makes this turkey dinner different from any other?

Cranberry Sauce

Sure, you can buy canned cranberry sauce year-round, but you can roast poultry year round, too. Cranberry sauce is just one of those things we don’t seem to buy much of (or make) except for Thanksgiving.

Berry-Cran Cobbler

1 Tbsp Dried Cranberries
1 oz Simple Syrup
1 1/2 oz Spiced Rum
3 Tbsp Raspberries & Blueberries
Crushed Ice
Cranberry Juice
Sprig of Mint

Muddle the dried cranberries and simple syrup in the bottom of a mixing glass. Add the rum, fresh berries, and then crushed ice to the 3/4 mark on the glass and shake until nice and frothy. Dump the whole thing into a glass, add more ice (if needed), and fill with cranberry juice.  Garnish with a sprig of mint and serve with a straw.

Even though cobblers are traditionally made with sherry or other fortified wines, I thought rum better fit the feeling I was going for. The fresh berries should break up a bit during shaking and the cobbler is one of the few drinks that is served with the shaking ice rather than straining over fresh. It’s a fun sort of throw-back drink for a fun sort of throw-back holiday. It’s very sweet, so if you want something lighter, split the shaken mixture between two glasses and use more cranberry juice to thin it.

To be totally candid…

There’s a lot of crap going on in society today–Mother Nature is obviously not. pleased. with us, jobs are still scarce for many, and some people still insist on being grade-A asshats just because they feel like it. But in the face of all of that, we still have a lot to be thankful for. I’m not going to make you confess your gratitude. (Hey, if what you’re most thankful for today is your morning coffee, your earbuds to drown out an annoying co-worker, and the 30%-off coupon you’ve got for Kohls, you shouldn’t have to feel bad for standing next to the guy whose thankful his cancer’s in remission–we don’t judge, here. Be happy for you both.) But whatever you raise your glass to this coming week, I hope you have a good one.

Cheers!

The Tale of the Turbo Turkey

Nibbles

Like many others, this past Thursday, we prepped our Thanksgiving turkey and loaded him into the oven in plenty of time to allow the recommended 15-20 minutes per pound, plus resting and carving in order to have dinner ready at a respectable 5:30ish that evening.

Like previous years we brined it and then slathered it with an herbed butter and stuffed it’s cavity with onion, apple and lemon wedges, and in it went at precisely 11 a.m.

What was different this year? This year we got to use our 18-quart Roaster Oven. While we used it last Christmas for the duck and last Easter for the stuffed leg of lamb, this was it’s inaugural turkey and we were so excited to be able to have the oven free all day to use for side dishes and the like. From previous experience we thought the roaster ran a little hotter than a full-sized oven (we figured from the smaller space it had to heat and closer proximity of the food to the element) so we only heated it up to 325 to begin with, then decided to bring it down another 25 degrees when it continued to sizzle and pop (probably from the butter rub, but we wanted to be careful). We thought that would be enough to compensate.


(Hamilton Beach 18-Quart Roaster Oven via Amazon.com)

There I was, happily going about my comprehensive to-do list (a must, I’ve discovered, for stress-free party and holiday prep) and checking things off right and left as the turkey roasted. I peek in to make sure everything is going according to plan and…

The turkey? Our 16 pound turkey? Was done.

After only 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Sure, it wasn’t golden-brown and picturesque done, but it was most certainly done in the sense that the leg meat was starting to pull away from the bone. And, just to be certain, we checked it’s temperature–definitely done. In fact, we used 2 thermometers (1 dial, 1 digital) just in case one was off.

Nope. Stick a fork in it–that bird was done!

And we were still 3 hours away from dinner.

Now, you might wonder, as we did, what is the best way to proceed when you’ve got a cooked turkey that needs to be held 3 hours. First of all, letting it rest for so long wasn’t a good idea as it would have cooled down too far and spent too much time in the temperature danger zone (40-140 degrees Fahrenheit, where most of the icky bacteria thrives). Completely cooling it off and reheating it before supper was also dicey as we could end up with dry, mealy meat. Not a tasty treat!

Instead we opted to turn the roaster down to 200 and hold it there for most of the afternoon. This way the turkey would be kept plenty hot (and, yes, we checked periodically) but shouldn’t dry out. And it was a success, as far as we can tell (still hot and tasty at dinner and not a bit of it was dry).

Of course, I didn’t think to take a picture until after dinner, but the next day when I used our first bit of leftovers, I did sneak a quick shot of our brunch:

Herbed Turkey Scramble with Spiced Cranberry SauceBetween plenty of leftover turkey and the dozen egg whites I had after using the yolks in the pumpkin pastry cream for pies, I concocted this quick dish of Herbed Turkey Scramble.

Simple whisk together any available egg whites (you could easily use whole eggs, too, if you didn’t have spare whites) along with salt, pepper, sage, parsley and garlic powder and pour them into a hot frying pan. Cook until beginning to set then stir in diced turkey and crumbled cheese of your choice (we used farmer’s cheese). Serve with some Spiced Cranberry Sauce, another leftover.

Simple and delicious.

 

So, has anyone else encountered a super-fast roasting oven?
And what do you do with all of your leftover turkey?