Well, we had Thanksgiving at our house, and we had a good time. We invited a friend of Eleanor's and her family: the mom is Hatian, and was very interested in trying American Thanksgiving dishes. She said she had never had cranberries!
We did very traditional dishes: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberries, green beans, pie and apple crisp. Except for the stuffing and the pie, it was entirely dairy, egg, soy, wheat, nut and tree nut free! This was actually not as challenging as it sounds: the key was having a good margarine (we use Benecol).
Cooking a big meal like this is fun for me, although it wasn't always and it isn't without its own stresses. After many years of practicing, cooking makes me feel competent. When I change recipes to make them fit my needs but still taste good, I feel creative. And when I provide a healthy meal for my family (whether or not they eat it) I feel satisfied.
Of course, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a turkey story, and we had one this year. We got a fresh turkey from whole foods, we've gotten them in previous years and they've been extremely tasty. Plus, if you get a fresh one, you don't have to defrost it. We put onions, celery and herbs into the cavity after Michael felt around in it for the neck: since we had gotten an herb rubbed bird, we assumed that it was ready to go, and the legs had already been trussed. There was a little surface frost on the vegetables around the turkey, but we figured they had stored the turkey at near freezing to keep it fresh.
When we took it out of the oven our thermometers read 185, and it was the right time. However, when Michael went to take the stuffing out, he also pulled out an uncooked neck which had been frozen to the inside of the turkey. The turkey had been frozen when we put it in, and so it was definitely not done. Sigh. Well, we butterflied it a little bit to expose the raw meat and put it back in the oven, and decided to have turkey for dessert.
The rest of the meal was fantastic. Michael made his sweet potatoes in the brand new crockpot, and they were very good and didn't take up any oven space---I've included the recipe below. Luke loved turkey, mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes. The apple crisp was very good, despite using margarine instead of butter. Eleanor ate lots of pumpkin chiffon pie, and would have eaten more if we had let her (although she might have been eating the pie in order to get the whipped cream...) Amanda ate lots of potatoes and turkey. Our guests said they enjoyed it, despite its being so late. Overall, a good day. Happy thanksgiving to you!
Michael's Crock Pot Candied Yams
Serves 8
yams or sweet potatoes (4 large or 8 small)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 bag marshmallows (large if possible)
All amounts approximate.
Peel raw yams (or sweet potatoes if you can't get yams),
and slice approximately 1/2 inch thick. Mix brown sugar
with cinnamon and nutmeg; alter proportions to taste. Layer
peeled sliced sweet potatoes with crumbled brown sugar mix.
When layering, fill large voids between slices in each layer
with smaller pieces of yam, and stagger the layers to avoid
holes from top to bottom, to ensure that the butter cooks into
the yams. Dot the top very liberally with butter (or benecol
or margarine). Optionally, mix the butter with the remaining
brown sugar mixture (add more brown sugar if necessary) and
dot with the butter/sugar mixture. Add vanilla.
Cook on low for 6-7 hours without ever removing the lid. The
sugar on top of the top layer of yams will carmelize.
Remove liner from heating element. Top potatoes with
marshmallows. Broil with marshmallows at least 6 inches below
broiler element until marshmallows are brown and puffy, about
4-5 minutes. (If marshmallows are too close to the broiler
element, they will brown unevenly.)
We did very traditional dishes: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberries, green beans, pie and apple crisp. Except for the stuffing and the pie, it was entirely dairy, egg, soy, wheat, nut and tree nut free! This was actually not as challenging as it sounds: the key was having a good margarine (we use Benecol).
Cooking a big meal like this is fun for me, although it wasn't always and it isn't without its own stresses. After many years of practicing, cooking makes me feel competent. When I change recipes to make them fit my needs but still taste good, I feel creative. And when I provide a healthy meal for my family (whether or not they eat it) I feel satisfied.
Of course, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a turkey story, and we had one this year. We got a fresh turkey from whole foods, we've gotten them in previous years and they've been extremely tasty. Plus, if you get a fresh one, you don't have to defrost it. We put onions, celery and herbs into the cavity after Michael felt around in it for the neck: since we had gotten an herb rubbed bird, we assumed that it was ready to go, and the legs had already been trussed. There was a little surface frost on the vegetables around the turkey, but we figured they had stored the turkey at near freezing to keep it fresh.
When we took it out of the oven our thermometers read 185, and it was the right time. However, when Michael went to take the stuffing out, he also pulled out an uncooked neck which had been frozen to the inside of the turkey. The turkey had been frozen when we put it in, and so it was definitely not done. Sigh. Well, we butterflied it a little bit to expose the raw meat and put it back in the oven, and decided to have turkey for dessert.
The rest of the meal was fantastic. Michael made his sweet potatoes in the brand new crockpot, and they were very good and didn't take up any oven space---I've included the recipe below. Luke loved turkey, mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes. The apple crisp was very good, despite using margarine instead of butter. Eleanor ate lots of pumpkin chiffon pie, and would have eaten more if we had let her (although she might have been eating the pie in order to get the whipped cream...) Amanda ate lots of potatoes and turkey. Our guests said they enjoyed it, despite its being so late. Overall, a good day. Happy thanksgiving to you!
Michael's Crock Pot Candied Yams
Serves 8
yams or sweet potatoes (4 large or 8 small)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 bag marshmallows (large if possible)
All amounts approximate.
Peel raw yams (or sweet potatoes if you can't get yams),
and slice approximately 1/2 inch thick. Mix brown sugar
with cinnamon and nutmeg; alter proportions to taste. Layer
peeled sliced sweet potatoes with crumbled brown sugar mix.
When layering, fill large voids between slices in each layer
with smaller pieces of yam, and stagger the layers to avoid
holes from top to bottom, to ensure that the butter cooks into
the yams. Dot the top very liberally with butter (or benecol
or margarine). Optionally, mix the butter with the remaining
brown sugar mixture (add more brown sugar if necessary) and
dot with the butter/sugar mixture. Add vanilla.
Cook on low for 6-7 hours without ever removing the lid. The
sugar on top of the top layer of yams will carmelize.
Remove liner from heating element. Top potatoes with
marshmallows. Broil with marshmallows at least 6 inches below
broiler element until marshmallows are brown and puffy, about
4-5 minutes. (If marshmallows are too close to the broiler
element, they will brown unevenly.)
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