| Author |
Holidays:  Thanksgiving coming!  |
|
|
cecelia
True Blue Farmgirl
497 Posts
cecelia
new york
USA
497 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 25 2004 : 7:33:13 PM
|
I know everyone is waiting for Christmas (at least the stores have been advertising it since Labor Day!), but as much as I love the day for religious and family celebrations, I think that for a stress-free day (unless you're cooking for a crowd!) you can't beat the November holiday. Usually the weather is good (though we've had lots of snow in the past), the food is wonderful and since we aren't expecting gifts, there's no stress involved in pleasing someone that way. In some ways it's more of a family day, what with the food, and good cheer. It sets the mood for thinking about the real meaning of Christmas - love for others, sharing, community.
Cecelia
ce's farm
"Curiosity is one of the forms of feminine bravery" Victor Hugo |
|
|
Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Oct 25 2004 : 10:49:01 PM
|
Even though I always always end up cooking for a crowd I still love Thanksgiving. It is such a stress free day..you are right..even with the cooking..which I love..so maybe thats why its not so stressful to me. I love that its all about the family and feast and thankfulness...not all the other stuff going on like Christmas is...(although, hey, I love that too) It is more relaxing to cook without the kids having marshmellow gun fights in the family room and new toys and gift wrap everywhere. It is just nice. What time do you all traditionally eat your "feast"? And do you all have turkey, or do different things? We always have turkey, and usually have our meal about 4:30. I don't know why..I just started doing it that way and it stuck. Usually I make a big late breakfast at 10 or 11 am and then we may snack on raw veggies and dips..stuff like that, but nothing heavy so we are ready for the big meal.
I love winter...I get a little more "me" time to spin or knit or read or do crafty sorts of things..so it is just such a nice holiday! We always get out the Christmas stuff to decorate the day after thanksgiving.
Jenny in Utah
Bloom where you are planted! |
 |
|
|
MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Oct 26 2004 : 05:17:47 AM
|
In recent years my sister and I add a new ethnic dish to the traditional turkey dinner. It is a way of remembering all the cultures that make up our country and to give thanks for their contributions. It also adds an exciting and delicious twist to the meal!
Time Flies |
|
|
|
bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - Oct 26 2004 : 06:02:15 AM
|
I love all the turkey and trimmings! Homemade whole berry cranberry sauce w/pecans...YUM! Mincemeat pie, pumpkin pecan (I will post that one in recipes) and caramel apple are all my family favorites. Ooooo...what about stuffing ? I bet there are as many different versions as there are all of us!(We do sage, thyme, onion,apple, celery ,basil , oregano and chicken stock w/ the cubes). One year my husband wanted goose so I told him he had to cook it. What a mess! He forgot to put the water pan below to catch all the fat that drips and nearly burned the house down! We had thick black smoke pouring out of our house for about an hour! When our guests arrived we told them they were having smoked goose for dinner! It was surprisingly good despite the blazing inferno an hour before!I agree that it's a great family time without alot of pressure!Just don't forget the drip pan!
I also like the fact that the roles are changing where the boys are now participating in preparing a dish. Whether you like Emeril or not we have alot to thank him for now that he's gotten boys interested in cooking. There may be alot of "Bam"-ing in the kitchen this year but I will be thrilled to eat the boys newest creation! Bramble
with a happy heart |
|
|
|
cecelia
True Blue Farmgirl
497 Posts
cecelia
new york
USA
497 Posts |
Posted - Oct 30 2004 : 1:52:56 PM
|
We usually eat about 4:30 or 5 PM; without EDT it's dark by then, seems more "homey"; one year we actually had snow on the ground. For years we had dinner at a relative's house, but for the last few years I've had them here. This year - going back to the relative's! I'm must say I won't miss all that preparing - planning, shopping, cooking, cleaning up - which I do myself! I've been asked to have the "other relatives" over the next day (Friday) after Thanksgiving and so far I've declined! However, just read that roast duck can have less saturated fat than a roast chicken (seems the fat on a duck is 50% or more monosaturated), of course, you have to drain off the fat, etc. and not eat the skin. Anyway, I may end up cooking after all, but one of the relatives is now diabetic, so I won't be having any rich desserts, etc.
Cecelia
ce's farm
"Curiosity is one of the forms of feminine bravery" Victor Hugo |
|
|
|
Eileen
True Blue Farmgirl
1199 Posts
Eileen
USA
1199 Posts |
Posted - Oct 31 2004 : 09:23:07 AM
|
Here is one of my favorite creations for Christmas and Thanksgiving treats as a breakfast or for snacking during the busy preprations of the feasting. I developed this for my family but found them to be equally popular at the coffee shop.
 Organic Cranberry-Orange Muffin
With Belgium Chocolate
 From: Eileen’s’ kitchen
3 cups white bread flour or 4 cups white spelt flour
1-teaspoon baking soda
1-teaspoon double acting baking powder
1-teaspoon kosher salt
2 fresh large eggs
1 cup sugar or evaporated cane juice
¼ cup melted fresh organic butter
½ cup freshly squeezed Valencia Orange juice
¾ cup fresh organic milk (or sour cream)
3 tablespoons freshly grated orange rind (or diced candied orange peel)
1/2 teaspoon organic Vanilla
2 teaspoons orange liqueur (Grand Marnier)
1-¼ cups fresh cranberries halved
¾ cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
½ cup coarsely chopped Dark Belgium chocolate
Dundee Orange Marmalade for glaze
Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Beat together the eggs, sugar, melted butter, vanilla, grand Marnier, and orange rind until well blended.
Blend in milk or sour cream until well blended and then blend in the orange juice. This avoids curdling of the milk.
Stir in the flour mixture gently just until blended then fold in the fruit, nuts and chocolate.
Spoon into paper lined muffin tins or a well-buttered loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees 35 minutes for small muffins, 45 minutes for large muffins or 60 minutes for loaf. Should spring back when lightly touched.
Cool a few minutes in pan then remove to a rack to cool. About 10 minutes after removing from oven lightly spread about ½ to 1 teaspoon of marmalade over each muffin to glaze surface.
These are best after ripening for 24 hours. So after cool tightly wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. Yummy warmed or cold!
Enjoy!!!
I bake these in the big muffin pans that only make 6 at a time so the recipe makes 12 of these or 24 regular size.
Eileen
songbird; singing joy to the earth |
|
|
|
Clare
True Blue Farmgirl
2173 Posts
NC WA State
USA
2173 Posts |
Posted - Oct 31 2004 : 11:36:47 AM
|
I guess we are beyond counting calories for this dilectable receipe, aren't we?
****Gardener, Stitcher, Spiritual Explorer and Appreciator of all Things Natural****
"Begin to weave and God will give the thread." - German Proverb |
|
|
|
Eileen
True Blue Farmgirl
1199 Posts
Eileen
USA
1199 Posts |
Posted - Oct 31 2004 : 12:23:10 PM
|
So? How many were you planning to eat? When calories count I guess you could not eat this for breakfast and then have pie or cake for dessert after dinner but on Thanksgiving who counts?
To lower the count however you can always substitute applesauce for all of the fat in any recipe and also substitute skim milk for the whole milk and egg whites for the whole eggs. I happen to use soy milk and freshly ground whole spelt flour when I make these for my family and they are still great. The general public however is a whole nother ball game.(their tastebuds being used to all the processed foods and sugar)
When I make em I just enjoy one and don't count. It keeps me from eating everything else in sight when I am preparing a feast.
Eileen the Kitchen Queen
songbird; singing joy to the earth |
|
|
|
bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - Nov 01 2004 : 10:52:10 AM
|
Calories schmalories! I would rather eat one good tasting , deliciously decadent, heavenly prepared real something than a bunch of reduced artificial gloop! Use the best ingredients you can find. If you must , cut it in half, or quarters but just enjoy every morsel! We americans eat too much (quantity) not too well (quality)! Eileen thanks for the recipes, I will definitely try this one (sounds like an addition to Christmas Brunch!) The Harvest Bread was a big success with the 11 year old hobgoblins eating dinner at my house last night! Check the kitchen post for an update to your shortbread recipe (truly heavenly as well, thank you very much!)
Bramble
with a happy heart |
|
|
|
MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Nov 01 2004 : 6:42:17 PM
|
Eileen you temptress with your recipes!!! You have GOT to publish these girlfriend! I am going to have to prepare these for my relatives and friends during the holidays. When asked about where I found the fabulous recipe I will say my farmgirlfreind Eileen of Queline Washington, and then get them all to join MJF connection to get more recipies!Who cares about the carbs or calories There are just some things in this life that must be savored and enjoyed in their pure state. Many thanks and keep them coming!
Time Flies |
|
|
|
MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Nov 01 2004 : 6:50:34 PM
|
Oh and Eileen my husband James and daughter Alex thank you also!
Time Flies |
|
|
|
Eileen
True Blue Farmgirl
1199 Posts
Eileen
USA
1199 Posts |
Posted - Nov 02 2004 : 11:43:19 AM
|
I have just finished reading the book recommended on this forum by one of you lovely ladies entitled "Pastries" by Bharti Kirchner. What a read! Anyway, in the last chapter or so she mentions a home made cranberry orange marmalade. Yummy. I think that would be a wonderful glaze for these muffins. I must figure out how to make it. I have made fresh cranberrie and orange relish for thanksgiving many times and never though of making a marmalade. I see from the jacket of the book that she has published a cookbook. Maybe she has published this recipe as well.Eileen
songbird; singing joy to the earth |
|
|
|
n/a
deleted
64 Posts
Dave
Vestal
NY
64 Posts |
Posted - Nov 02 2004 : 7:33:28 PM
|
| Eileen, you are too much (smile). About time you put all these recipes in a spiral-bound book and let me know, as I will be your first customer. Kitchen Queen....yes you are...... |
|
|
|
Eileen
True Blue Farmgirl
1199 Posts
Eileen
USA
1199 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2004 : 09:53:22 AM
|
So I am needing something to work on after my second knee replacement surgery on December 6th. It must be the cookbook is winning the race.
After I sent out that recipe I was so hungry for one I made a batch!Better than biting into a chocolate covered orange!!! Fresh cranberries just started to show up in the market last week so I was in luck! I have tried it with dried cranberries but it just does not have the punch of the tart berry with the sweet orange and chocolate.
I promise to get a good start on the book in december. All of the recipies are already on my computer it just remains to me to set them up in a fun and creative way with photos and anecdotes and some art work or something.
I will definately have to include the divinity anecdote in the part of the book where I address christmas tradition in my family growing up. My poor brother, he will never live it down!
Eileen
songbird; singing joy to the earth |
|
|
|
jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Nov 04 2004 : 11:31:11 AM
|
This year my husband and I get to drive up into the mid-west for Thanksgiving and be with my sister and her family and my father-in-law. But one of the things I am most excited about is driving through all that farmland! I absolutely feel complete looking across limitless open land dotted with homes and barns, and fields that have been harvested or are in growth stages. There is nothing like getting out of the car and feeling the wind blow against you. Expecially in the fall. For these things-my family, and the fields of home, I am thankful.
jpbluesky
Love those big blue skies and wide open spaces. |
|
|
|
Eileen
True Blue Farmgirl
1199 Posts
Eileen
USA
1199 Posts |
Posted - Nov 04 2004 : 12:04:32 PM
|
Amen! Exactly how I feel driving across the polouse country here in Washington and into Idaho.
Eileen
songbird; singing joy to the earth |
|
|
|
MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Nov 04 2004 : 4:32:57 PM
|
jp you bring such warm memories to mind! I remember as a child riding to my mother's relatives home in western Kansas across all that open farm land for Thanksgiving. I would open our station wagons back window and hang my head out and love the feel of the cold Fall wind on my face. My parents did not appreciate my wild ways as a child. Have a wonderful mid-western Thanksgiving with your family!
Time Flies |
|
|
|
cecelia
True Blue Farmgirl
497 Posts
cecelia
new york
USA
497 Posts |
Posted - Nov 05 2004 : 3:33:36 PM
|
If you want to see a hilarious movie about the holidays try "Planes Trains & Automobiles"
Cecelia
ce's farm
"Curiosity is one of the forms of feminine bravery" Victor Hugo |
|
|
|
LakesideQltr
Farmgirl in Training
25 Posts
Sheila
CA
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - Nov 06 2004 : 2:27:22 PM
|
Thanksgiving is absolutely my most favorite holiday of all! I love everything about it and the more folks to share our table the better. I love making the festive, special foods and getting out the best dishes and serving pieces, even cleaning and shining the place up for 'company best' and don't mind a bit the cleaning up after. Folks at my house know that I hafta have it all that day too and know they'll be subject to the Parade if they're here early and football later as well. But the very, very best Thanksgiving in my memory was about 20-some years ago...quite a few young couples with a few small, small kids between us and quite a few of our mutual single friends - all of us too far from 'home' to be there and too poor to travel or to host get togethers of home folk at our own place decided to just have potluck all together that Thanksgiving day. What a variety - some were quite ethnic, some vegan, and creativity was high (to make up for the perception of poverty <G>). We had doors on sawhorse legs for our banquet table and to eat around and the setting was a small one bedroom 'cottage' at the edge of a hayfield needing to be cut. We had live folk music - some had brought guitars, a fiddle, a harmonica and the gal whose home we were at played piano and we sang every sing-along or folk song any of us could remember or teach. We played football in the field until the sun went down, switching players in and out between trips to the table...it was joyous and I would love to duplicate it again!! It felt like what I like to think the first Thanksgiving might have been like...just rejoicing in the abundance and friendship and togetherness.
-Sheila
Life is what happens while you're making other plans - John Lennon |
|
|
|
Eileen
True Blue Farmgirl
1199 Posts
Eileen
USA
1199 Posts |
Posted - Nov 06 2004 : 3:48:35 PM
|
What an absolutely wonderful memory!
Eileen
songbird; singing joy to the earth |
|
|
|
cecelia
True Blue Farmgirl
497 Posts
cecelia
new york
USA
497 Posts |
Posted - Nov 29 2004 : 4:24:30 PM
|
It was nice to read everyone's messages about Thanksgiving. I got away easy this year. Had planned to have everyone over, but got invited out instead! Didn't have to cook a thing, or clean up (the worst part - yes I've cooked a goose and it can be quite a mess with all that fat. But, ooh, the taste! Will be busy for Christmas cooking I'm sure.
Cecelia
ce's farm
"Curiosity is one of the forms of feminine bravery" Victor Hugo |
|
|
|
Clare
True Blue Farmgirl
2173 Posts
NC WA State
USA
2173 Posts |
Posted - Nov 29 2004 : 6:01:20 PM
|
I took the train to Seattle to be with my daughter and her family and my son-in-law's family. Bad news: the train was 5 hours late. Good news: the trip over Stevens Pass was then made during daylight hours and I got to see gorgeous scenery. More good news: I arrived as dinner was being put on the table... no cooking!! I did help on the second round of dishes clean up though. And, my wonderful grandchildren are definately good news!!! Such precious angels.
****Gardener, Stitcher, Spiritual Explorer and Appreciator of all Things Natural****
"Begin to weave and God will give the thread." - German Proverb |
|
|
|
jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Nov 30 2004 : 04:55:09 AM
|
Well, I got to drive across lots of open farmland! And we did it in 58 mile winds and blowing snow! It was a little tense, but wonderful. Gray skies, snow blowing, little towns with their decorations already hanging on the lamp posts. Scraping car windows and shoveling the driveway. It was a great Thanksgiving. My family gathered, 11 of us, and had a really good turkey done in a baking bag! My sister loves to do that, and it was really tasty. I did not get to be with my daughter and granddaughter - they went to her husband's people, but it was wonderful nevertheless.
Now on to Christmas!
jpbluesky
Love those big blue skies and wide open spaces. |
|
|
|
bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - Nov 30 2004 : 07:14:20 AM
|
Our Thanksgiving was one we won't soon forget! We all go to the MIL house and the last few years my SIL has come a day early to help get
things going . We all bring our own specialties and family favorites,
but this year we cooked the turkey and transported it to their house and that was quite an ordeal getting a 22 lb turkey secure in the back of my Subaru surrounded by pies and veggies! The gravy was another story! We managed to get there intact with everything still hot and sat down to dinner without a minute to spare and all 29 of us
had a nice dinner though this routine needs to be re-thunk! After dinner the kids were up to their usual high spirited antics and my son fell and went back to playing. About an hour later he comes in to the kitchen with his wrist swollen, and this pained look and says "I think we need to get this xrayed". Three medical family members checked him over and said they didn't think it was broken but I say trust a mother's intuition every time. Needless to say, 6 hours in the ER told me what I already knew...BROKEN! They released him with a temporary imobilizing wrap and said to see an orthopaedic surgeon ASAP since the breaks are in the growth plates. I spent the majority of Friday trying to find an orthopaedic surgeon that would see him and the only one who even returned the call said and I quote "If he isn't hemmoraging or has broken shards of bone protruding through his skin, this can wait until Monday". We did not see that individual yesterday, but it is very sad commentary on our health care system that an 11 year old boy had to wait 4 days to get his arm properly set or looked at. I am thankful it wasn't worse or who knows what would have happened! This is a Thanksgiving I don't wish to recreate!
with a happy heart |
|
|
|
MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Nov 30 2004 : 11:31:18 AM
|
Wow Bramble I am sorry your little one got hurt and hope he is doing much better now... I can't begin to count how many times I had to sit and wait for hours in the ER for medical treatment for my girls over the years, and on holidays too... We do what we have to do... You will remember this for a long time... I always wrote these emergency trips down in their baby books... Part of Motherhood and the circle goes on and on...
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi, 13th century. |
|
|
| |
Holidays: Thanksgiving coming! |
|
Thanksgiving coming!
