Thanksgiving 2011

This year, as I plan our menu, my mind turns to those who passed this last year. As some of you know, this has been a very hard year for our family because we lost many loved ones.

At Aunt Dora’s funeral in April, a friend said that soon after his mother died, he continued to pick up the phone to try to call her. It was both a habit and a wish. Another friend who lost her longtime partner was only part joking when she that she wished she could just Google to find out where he is now.

I have the same instinct to want answers and continued intimacy.

I haven’t spent Thanksgiving with my aunt since I moved out of New Jersey in 2008. My parents have travelled to spend the holiday with my husband and I first in Michigan and now Washington, D.C. While I spoke with Aunt Dora almost every day around noon, on Thanksgiving the call would be earlier and last longer. She’d ask to speak with everyone and then check on the menu. She’d ask not only what I was making, but how I was making it. And she’d joke that I should save her a turkey wing, her favorite part of a bird she otherwise disliked.

Aunt Dora was always my go-to person when I had kitchen disasters. Even when I called from Italy, she walked me through hamburger patties that were falling apart and ruined caramel sauces that wouldn’t unstick from my pot. She was a confident and generous home cook. While she would sometimes laugh at my questions (there were, after all, some funny problems), she would always (eventually) answer me seriously. 

I wish I could call her to wish her a happy holiday. She’d end the conversation by asking, as she always did, “When am I going to see you again, kid?”

While there is no longer an answer to that question, there is a menu and turkey to attend to. She would expect me to. And the things I do, starting with cooking, keep her memories awake in my actions and thoughts. It is far from being the same as it was, but it is what we have. 

Thanksgiving: Avoid the Drama

It is almost Thanksgiving, but if you follow food magazines and blogs, you’ve been thinking about it for some time. If you haven’t, don’t worry.

If you are hosting Thanksgiving, you might be overwhelmed trying to figure out how to put together a feast. You could try to cook your turkey like some NYC chefs (everything from pre-carving to adding chicken stock as the meat is cooking) or you could search on Epicurious for recipe suggestions, including a video on how to carve the turkey. Many home chefs, of course, appreciate the chance to revisit family recipes, perhaps interspersed with a few new ones.

The key to a successful, and enjoyable, many-dish-dinner is to make a plan and stay relaxed. Some tips:
1. Write out a menu and decide who is preparing which dish.

2. Add times to the menu: work out when the dishes should be served and then figure out when they should be prepared.

3. If you are sharing one, smaller kitchen, as we will be doing this year, decide who gets to use the kitchen at what time. (There are always a lot of emotions and personalities together for a holiday, so this will help to eliminate some of the inevitable drama.)

4. Shopping the day before Thanksgiving is not the best idea. If you can, make a shopping list early and start to integrate the non-perishable into your regular shopping list. This will help to spread out the cost and make that final, big shopping spree less heavy to carry up the steps. If something needs to be ordered, be sure to order it in advance and schedule the pick-up.

5. Be prepared for last minute changes. Maybe someone arrives at your door with another pie instead of a vegetable dish. So what? Remember that the holiday is mainly an excuse to get together with loved ones and be together. So enjoy the time together.

Other tips for organizing a great meal? Please share in the comments section below.

Egg & Swiss Chard Pie

I believe in using holidays as an excuse to eat a dish, but not limiting certain dishes to a prescribed day. If it is yummy, why wait?

I made this Egg & Swiss Chard Pie (a traditional Italian Easter Pie called Torta Pasqualina) for Easter this year and don’t intend to wait another year to make it again.

I followed the recipe in the Silver Spoon Cookbook. I admit that I’d never eaten it before, so I can’t exactly claim it as my own tradition. That said, it was delicious. With prepared puff pastry dough, Swiss chard, ricotta and eggs broken into the middle of the filling, it was also a dish that attracted attention.

What are your favorite holiday dishes that you make throughout the year?

Corned Beef: Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Thanks to Epicurious, I made Corned Beef with Cabbage to celebrate the holiday. I was surprised to discover how easy it was to make. Essentially, you slowly simmer the meat, onions and carrots. That’s it! I also bought sauerkraut and made mashed potatoes on the side. With a Guinness, the meal was complete. We’ll have leftovers for sandwiches for days to come, which makes the preparation seem even simpler.