Thanksgiving 2024

[Wilfrid]

The number of people I am cooking for has shrunk. This is good.

After reconnoitering I think I am going to trust Wegmans this year. I usually go to Hong Kong supermarket on Hesther for interesting meats and a bucket of huge oysters.

Leaning towards scallops with a caper, raisin sauce, which would be a classic with cauliflower; not sure I care about the cauliflower. Appetizer. 

My daughter is in charge of the Indiana soofle of course.
 

 

[small h]

I have been called upon to make the sour cream apple walnut pie, for which I am justifiably famous. The past few Thanksgivings we've arrived on the day of, so my sister (the host) had assumed pie responsibility. Not today, Satan. I'm makin' a pie.

[Wilfrid]

I will not make a pie. I might buy a small one. Nobody really, to be honest, wants a pie.

[bloviatrix]

We're going to my brother-in-law and his wife for the first time in over 25 years. Trying to decide what to bring - I don't have an assignment.

[Mitchell101]

5 hours ago, bloviatrix said:

We're going to my brother-in-law and his wife for the first time in over 25 years. Trying to decide what to bring - I don't have an assignment.

I'm bringing a few edibles to my MIL's. Feel free to steal my idea. 

[MitchW]

2 hours ago, Mitchell101 said:

I'm bringing a few edibles to my MIL's. Feel free to steal my idea. 

Hey! You stole mine. (Along with half a case of assorted wines).
 

i sent Katz’s (and am bringing that giant tub of potato chips) for the day after.  My sisters et al. Are responsible for day of.

[voyager]

We combined the twins' birthday with Thanksgiving and celebrated Sunday, day before yesterday, breaking most traditions as individual requests were met.

Ham, stuffing, (store bought) turkey gravy, cranberry sauce, naked baked yams (slathered with butter at table). cauliflower in Amatriciana sauce (a restaurant discovery and choice of birthday boy), mile high chocolate carrot cake, special order bakery apple pie (again for birthday boy).   

My New England focused father would have been horrified, but current family members' itches were scratched. 

[splinky]

buttermilk brined turkey at my youthful ward's request, that's all she cares about so i have no idea what else is being served.

[Wilfrid]

I remember buying “heritage” turkey from Quattro’s when it wasn’t nose bleedingly expensive and putting it in a brine.

Talking to a friend last night, her mother is making capon, and yes I did capon for a few years; better than turkey and of manageable size. But last time I looked, capon was incredibly expensive too.

 

[Wilfrid]

Obviously we all choose where to spend and my restaurant dinners cost more than a fancy bird.

[StephanieL]

My contributions are, as per usual, cheese & crackers and a 1-pound dark See's assortment.

Oddly, my sister is bringing a Caprese salad. In November. To go with the turkey, roast beef, stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc.

[small h]

I will make the sour cream apple walnut pie, because I am the best at it, but it’s been a few years (flight delays, etc.), let’s see if I still got it.

And my sister is making my mac & cheese recipe, so that will be good.

[maison rustique]

We are going out this year--Lidia's. Their menu sounds fantastic. Was not a good year for me to host/cook and my sis felt the same. Oddly, our nephew and great-nephew who we had been led to believe are homeless, have said they are coming. Drugs figure largely into their lives and neither has attended a family dinner in years. They will either no-show or it will be an embarrassing 3-ring circus.

[small h]

1 hour ago, maison rustique said:

They will either no-show or it will be an embarrassing 3-ring circus.

Here's hoping you have something to give thanks for at midnight tomorrow!

[relbbaddoof]

On 11/25/2024 at 8:46 PM, Wilfrid said:

Indiana soofle

You'll be delighted to know that the dish now has the Christina Tosi stamp of approval:

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1026351-christina-tosis-corn-bake

[relbbaddoof]

Think, if you and your daughter had been more alert to the possibilities of theft, we could this very day have been reading in the NYT or WaPo:

Wilfrid's Daughter's Indiana Soofle

             by

Wilfrid's Daughter

[Wilfrid]

No, it’s not our recipe. A great gift from Carey, although the original posts were lost in the deluge.

[Diancecht]

guess who is cooking at 1:15 am

thanksgiving lunch for 6:

cheese plate/nibbles

cauliflower velouté

roast cornish game hens

wild rice stuffing with sausage and chanterelles 

spinach custard with cheese

green beans with extra-virgin olive oil and lemon 

cranberry sauce from a can for one very particularly picky eater 😬 and cranberry sauce from scratch for the rest of us

pumpkin pie

ice cream

coffee/tea/liqueurs/chocolates

[small h]

My job is done.

[voyager]

Would someone repost the soofle recipe? I made it years ago and family found it inedibly sweet.   Must have been my bad.    Many thanks.

[Diancecht]

someone brought a herrentorte - six layers of white sponge with brandy and white wine infused cream, surrounded by apricot jam and a dark chocolate marzipan shell. of course, you know i just had to have a piece.

the cake was from hahdough (1221 fell (divisadero))

[Diancecht]

some more pix

[maison rustique]

Aside from a bit of family drama at the very beginning, our dinner at Lidia's was fantastic. There was entirely too much food. First course was served family style: Caesar salad; a walnut, celery and cheese salad ( I lucked out and got the leftovers); mushroom arancini, beef and pickled veggie toasts; tuna on toast; salami; mortadella ; and bread with a hummus and avocado-something and olive oil. All were wonderful.

As if that wasn't enough, servers showed up with huge pans of pasta---a rigatoni in Bolognese and butternut squash ravioli in a sage brown butter sauce. The ravioli had a touch of cinnamon and something else slightly sweet in them. Delicious!

By the time my short rib arrived, I took one bite and left it to get packed up. It is fabulous and I can't wait to have it for supper tonight. Pete had manicotti that looked wonderful, Heidi also had the short rib, my sister Kathy had pork loin that was stuffed with bourbon-soaked prunes and Aaron had salmon that looked lovely.

They brought 2 trays of desserts--pumpkin cheesecake, various biscotti, tiramisu and candied orange peel. I had a couple of bites of tiramisu, but honestly at this point I was on overload.

We had a couple of bottles of a very nice red wine (Montepulciano of some sort, though I didn't pay that much attention) and a wonderful time was had by all.

Edited November 29, 2024 by maison rustique
typo

[Wilfrid]

On 11/28/2024 at 4:17 PM, voyager said:

Would someone repost the soofle recipe? I made it years ago and family found it inedibly sweet.   Must have been my bad.    Many thanks.

From memory, as my daughter has been in charge for a while now, it’s one of everything: Jiffy corn muffin mix, egg, cup of sour cream, can of regular corn, can of creamed corn, stick of melted butter. Recommended to hold back on the butter a little as it can add too much liquid. Scale the ingredients to the size of soofle you want. I think the above makes plenty for three or four people.

As for recipe, mix it all well and put it in a pan in a quite hot oven for 45 mins to an hour. You want the surface to be firm and lightly browned. 

[Wilfrid]

Scallops with raisin, caper, Albariño and butter sauce as planned. Duck leg, browned then braised, with some slices of magret, mushrooms in red wine and jugo de naranja agria with chopped shallots.

Soofle (not low carb).

Cheeses: Vacherin, Langres, Montgomery cheddar and something with truffles. Served with pieces of low carb herb and cheese croissant. 

Small, store-bought sweet potato pie.

Veuve-Clicquot

Clos Naudin Vouvray Mouelleux 2015*

Purple Hands Dundee Hills Reserve Pinot Noir

*Some people like a sweet wine, so why not get a good one so everyone can enjoy a taste?