Thanksgiving: Dessert!

Oh, Thanksgiving dessert. I always want to try something new, but then I think: how can you have Thanksgiving without libby's pumpkin pie? You can't. I can't. So, yes, we'll have it. But, now's the time to dream...here are some variations on other great desserts:

+ Cranberry Clafoutis are perfectly light and tart. (Serve with Lemon Curd

+ Apple and Quince Crisp with Rum Raisin from Bon Appetit (pictured above).

+ A mile high pear pie looks divine.

+ You can use the leftovers of this Apple Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze for bread pudding tomorrow morning. Or just eat it plain with coffee...

+ Brown Butter Pecan Pie is the ultimate luxury.


Some snacking items for afterwards, as we all sit around and talk and sing and laugh:
+ Pumpkin Whoopie Pies (the new hot dessert, and so much better than cupcakes when made properly), are the perfect finger food.

+ I'm sorry, what did you say? You're full? No, no, you're never too full for Maple Pecan Popcorn! Just take a handful. Or six.

+ Have I gone this whole day without an Alton Brown recipe? Well, here are his ginger snaps. Eat'um quickly. They are grand.

Thanksgiving: The Turkey and the Sides

Well, I know NOTHING about cooking a turkey, but in my dream thanksgiving, I can assure you: I cook a beautiful turkey. There are lots of people, so we're doing three turkeys. In honor of Gourmet's final issue, all these turkey's are from that late, great magazine:

+ I can't think of a better bird to cook, than this stunning Cider Glazed Turkey (above). Look at that skin!

+ Get a taste of the South with this Roast Turkey with Oyster Stuffing and Giblet Gravy.

+ Sweet and savory, a maple glazed turkey suits our fancy.



And now the sides. With such luxury in the turkey, we'll try to keep the sides simple and seasonal:

+ Fennel and Potato Gratin is perfectly balanced between sharp and creamy

+ These green beans with leeks and endive can be assembled ahead of time, but they need to be cooked right before serving. Still, they are so fresh and, yes, vibrant, that they are the perfect accompaniment to this heavy meal

+ (Since I'll have several ovens...) Would you like some Roasted Onions and Butternut Squash with sage. I thought so.

+ To round out the sides, I'll probably whip up some ginger glazed carrots, and some simple braised kale.

+ While I probably can't make anything better than our family's secret cranberry recipe, this cranberry chutney with Bacon, Rosemary and Port sounds pretty much perfect. (Pictured below.)

Thanksgiving: Soup and Salad

Continuing the dream thanksgiving...

Now, we'll move into the dining room (it looks something like this, or this). As a first course we'll be having a pumpkin soup with bacon.

The pumpkin was in fierce competition with 101 Cookbook's Garlic Soup (deemed too rich), and The Dinner Files' Cider Onion Soup, pictured above because I just couldn't resist. I'll be making it over the weekend, when my house guests, sated and jolly, need something simple and pleasing to eat. I was also intrigued by this chickpea based tuscan soup.

If you're not a soup person, here are some good autumnal salads to make:
+ Warm Chestnut and Apple Salad
+ Arugula Salad with Manchego, Apples, and Walnuts
+ Autumn Salad with spicy walnuts and pears

Thanksgiving Recipes: Appetizers

This year I am having a quiet thanksgiving with family. But that doesn't mean I can't spend lots and lots of time contemplating the perfect thanksgiving feast. Today, we'll cover appetizers (and accompanying appertifs)

Well, you walk in, I take your coat, and immediately hand you EatMakeRead's Dream a Little Dream cocktail. The cardamon warms the heart (and matches all those atumnal flavors) while the lemon piques you tastebuds.

Then you'll see, spread on the coffee table, a fine selection of appetizers, including:
+ Puff Pastry Pesto Pinwheels
+ Roasted Pears wrapped in bacon (from Tyler Florence, pictured above)
+ Crispy Olives stuffed with Sausage (From Michael Ciarello)
+ Manchego with Honey and Brown Butter (again, Tyler Florence)
+ A selection of Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, from 101 Cookbooks.

That's a good start, me thinks.

Jennie Coffin Pottery Sale, for 4 weeks!

Jennifer Coffin is one of my favorite potters, and every year she holds a wonderful sale in her home in Fairfax, VA. She usually does one big weekend for the sale, but this year she is extending it into December.

Also on sale are drawings and paintings and pottery of her daughter Sarah Coffin, who just finished a pottery internship in Spain. And drawings by her daughter, RCA (of Spoon), which are just delightful.

Big Weekend Sale:
Friday, Nov. 20, from 2 pm to 8 pm
Saturday, Nov 21, from 10 am to 5 pm

Follow-up Weekends:
Saturday, Nov 28, from 10 am to 5 pm
Saturday, Dec 5, from 10 am to 5 pm
Saturday, Dec 12, from 10 am to 5 pm


10927 Park Rd.
Fairfax, VA 22020
(703)352.4936


"Smell" by Rebecca Coffin Anderson, of Spoon

Green Dish by Sarah Coffin, of A Mass of Thawing Clay

Jennie makes great teapots

Tidbits and Tiddlywinks

Here are a bunch of things I've been meaning to link to recently, but always forgot about.

+ (pictured above) Isn't that the coolest kitchen. A kitchen like that means a life well lived. Also, I like the Madonna on the wall. I am a big fan of putting Madonna's everywhere. (Our Lady of Guadalupe is in our dish cupboard.) From Apartment Therapy.

+ This is old news, but, i want this job! I mean, really, how do people get jobs like that? So awesome.

+ Have you been on The Sartorialist recently? Well, he's doing a great project with Burberry, called: The Art of the Trench. Of course, a Burberry Trench coat is the ultimate coat, a perfect blend of style and function, but I really like how this project showcases the people who actually wear Burberry trench coats, instead of ultra-thin unrealistic models. My favorite of the photos is below.

+ Postcard from Provence has been having a really beautiful fall. I'm especially loving his many meditations on orange items and blue backgrounds like this, this, and this. One of these days I'll buy one of his paintings. And then I'll be happy.

From The Sartorialist

PS. Speaking of being happy, tomorrow I'm off to a quick vacation in Philly. So, I'll see you all on Monday for my annual thanksgiving recipes roundup. I get to spend 3 whole days with Lucy! YAY!

PPS. randomly: this is my 600th post. woot.

Said

"I wish I were a novelist. That way all my matchmaking plans could work out happily."

--MEP to Little Gidding's Emily Hale and Ilana

Grace

Ever since I was a very little girl, I have been in love with the style of Grace Kelly. I aspired to wear clothes like hers, have hair like hers, be courted by Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart, like her.

Well, she was on my mind recently. I had originally thought of doing the Grace Kelly Look, or try. Fingerwave, a big full skirt, heavy eyebrows (perhaps my favorite of her features, and the only one I share), red lips. Instead, i copped out and went as a beatnik. It was jiving.

All the same, while thinking of Grace, I came across this gorgeous collection of images of Grace Kelly. So natural, so free. And, if it's possible, more beautiful than her many more glamorous photos. Also, Nov. 11th would have been her 80th birthday, so Huffington Post did a lovely retrospective on her...clothes. Goodness, I hope I age as well as she did.

(As a bonus, here's a really great shot from my all time favorite movie High Society.)

Almond + Orange Cake

I have way more of a sweet tooth than I care to admit. If I woke up earlier, I'd certainly rather have bacon and eggs for breakfast, but mostly, I am rushing in the morning, and all I want is something bready and sweetish. But then there's the whole energy problem. By the time I get to the office, I'm already feeling down from the sugar.

Enter the Orange Almond Cake. Made with an entire orange, and 1/2 a pound of ground almonds, this substantial protein packed cake is actually kind good for you. And it tastes way better than a power bar.

I use the classic Claudia Roden recipe from the New York Times. I use TJ's ground almonds, though Bob's Red Mill tends to be finer (and more expensive). Use a spring form pan, and line it with parchment on the bottom. Also, you can use GF flour or buckwheat in any recipe that calls for regular flour in addition to the ground almonds.

This cake goes well with any summer fruits. I like to layer the top of my cake with slivered almonds too. And in the fall and winter, I add golden raisins or other dried fruits (be sure to dust them in flour before folding them into the batter).

Don't substitute other citrus--only oranges have enough sweetness for this to work. Finally, watch the oranges as they are boiling--and keep a kettle of hot watter on the side, so you can always add more water. 2 hours is a long time for something to simmer, and the water does evaporate. The oranges can be prepped a day in advance. Just bring them back to room temperature before you incorporate them with the other ingredients.

Without further ado, here is the fool-proof, keep up the energy, protein and vitamin packed cake that really truly tastes amazing. (It really is super easy too. I mean, look: 4 steps!):

TOTAL TIME 3 hours (2 hours unattended)
COOK TIME 1 hour
PREP TIME 2 hours

2 large oranges
6 eggs
1/2 pound ground almonds
1/2 pound sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder

Preparation
1. Wash the oranges and simmer them, unpeeled, in water to cover for 2 hours. Cool, cut them open and remove the seeds. Puree the oranges in a food processor.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

3. Beat the eggs in a food processor or large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, including the orange puree, and mix thoroughly. Pour into a buttered and floured cake tin, with a removable base if possible.

4. Bake for one hour, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the tin before turning out.

YIELD 10 servings

NB: there are plenty of variations, including the a-m-a-z-i-n-g Chocolate Orange Almond cake from Nigella Lawson's Feast: Food to Celebrate Life and the extra almondy version from Donna Hay(which cookbook? I can't remember! Buy them all!) The one picture above is a little more decorative and therefore good for a dinner party. It's from Martha Stewart.

Things I learned in NYC, #1

Last weekend, I was in NYC for an all too brief yet thoroughly satisfying 24 hours. Here's what I learned:

1) Boredom on buses is incredibly difficult to cure. We were sitting in the traffic to enter the Lincoln Tunnel. I was trying to offer up my impatience and boredom for some friend's special intention, but it was so hard. When there is no where to go and nothing to do, boredom is all encompassing. Even when you say to yourself: "I'm not going to be bored and impatient" you just end up thinking about not being bored and impatient, which quickly turns into being bored and impatient.

2) Take my word: don't shop Broadway. After 25 minutes in line at Urban Outfitters, and another 15 minutes waiting under a soft-porn Calvin Klein ad on Broadway and Houston, I was ready to scream.

3) On the other hand, two blocks south of Houston is a charming quiet strip, called Elizabeth Street. It was quiet. It was dark. The restaurants had chalkboard signs on the street. All in all, charming. I felt like Iw as in a different city. We popped into Jo's, and had some delicious beers, mussels, oysters, and burgers, all quite reasonably priced. The decor was elegant but comfortable--marble topped bar, caramel colors leather booths, chalkboard menus.

4) Contrary to popular belief, the best nut mixes are not found at Trader Joe's. They are actually at Duane Reade drug stores. The Duane Reade drug store on Broadway and Houston also, fyi, smells like mighty fine curry.

5) Whiskey Sours--freshly made, with simple syrup and lemon juice instead of "sour mix"--are ridiculously good. Yet it is very difficult to find a good recipe online for whiskey sours. Even Emeril uses sour mix. ick.

Waltzing Matilda

Odd, isn't it, that the song that most affects me when I think of war and veterans and the cost of their service (and how little we remember) is an Australian one, and one rife with facutal errors at that. But it always makes me cry, so I'll share it with you today:



And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda by Eric Bogle. (My favorite version is June Tabor.)

The Desk

Why yes, I could write the next great american novel at a desk like this. (From Canadian House & Home via Delight by Design)

Cupcakes and False Traditions

"If nothing else, cakes ought to tell the truth."

--Susie Boydt in Financial Times (HT: The Guild Review)

The Wall

I have very few clear memories of political events from my childhood. I remember when we moved to Napa, watching news footage of desert storm in our new home (and thinking how pretty the new blue sofas went with the golds of the desert--what can I say--I was 7.) But I don't remember the significance of any of it, except that by then Uncle David was a chaplain for the navy, so we prayed for him.

I think Uncle David was with us on Nov 9, 1989. I vaguely recall looking at his lace up boots as we sat on the floor, watching the TV, and I suppose watching my parents celebrate. Did you celebrate, Mom and Dad? Were you hugging, or crying, or cheering, or too shocked to say anything at all? Were you overcome? Did you drag us out of bed to see it? Or were we up anyway?

As I said, Thomas and I were sitting on the floor in front of the TV, watching it. Were we scared? I don't know--I don't remember. All I remember is this: Dad crouched down in front of us, pointed at the screen, and looked us straight in the eye, saying: This is the most important event of our lives. Don't ever forget this.

And I never have.

Bronx Bound

Arthur Ave is my destination.

Today I am on my way up to the bronx, for a short (very short!!!) visit with Curry and BoyWonder. We're celebrating 25 years of goodness--that is, Curry's birthday--with a Mad Menthemed birthday party.

I'm taking the best bus ever cheap, clean, flexible (and it's bright red!). I told Curry that I was broke, and didn't want to do anything but hang out:

Curry: Ok. We can go to the botanical gardens maybe, and to the farmers market, and make pumpkin pancakce.
MEP: Basically, that sounds like the perfect day.
Curry: Oooh. Have you ever had a gimlet? You'll love them.

So, envy me friends. 12 hours in a bus is a small price to pay for a Mad Men themed birthday party and Curry's pumpkin pancackes. It may only be 24 hours in the Bronx, but they're going to be a great 24 hours.