Family Thanksgiving 2008

Our little family of four has a pretty laid back Thanksgiving. We cook until we're done, then we eat. There are few dishes that we are attached to, those being squash dressing and cranberries. I guess the others wouldn't think it Thanksgiving without the turkey and ham smoked by our father. There are usually some sort of sweet potatoes, something to do with broccoli, greens the father grew and hash brown casserole. The spread this year was great, as usual. The sweet potatoes are under the towel, which is at least somewhat sweet potato-colored.

In an effort to cut down on the refined sugar, we made the cranberries with honey and a little orange zest, although they didn't turn out quite sweet enough. I think for Christmas (at which we will have basically the same exact meal, only probably with canned peas for the grandfather) I will suggest orange juice as well. There will be research in the meantime.

The sweet potatoes turned out fabulously. I had bought the sweet potatoes from a farmer at the last Market Square Farmers' Market, and had some Honey Cinnamon Dressing from Haze & Co., another MSFM vendor. Little sister chopped them, tossed them in canola oil, then tossed them with a bit of the dressing. Roasted on 450 until soft, they turned out perfectly. Definitely worth doing again.

Thanksgiving is also the one time of year I use cream of mushroom soup, that essential ingredient in most church cookbooks. Our squash dressing comes, in fact, from a church cookbook, but has been changed just about every year.

This is the basic recipe:
3 large yellow squash, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. sage
1 stick butter
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2c. vegetable broth
1/2 cup sour cream
1 pone cornbread (usually with one little slice that was eaten right after taking out of the oven)

Saute squash, onion and celery until tender. Smash some with the spoon. Place in a large casserole dish with remaining ingredients and mix. Bake at 350 for 20-30 min.

It didn't turn out as well as last year, but I didn't actually measure anything and used a new brand of cream of mushroom. It might be better with cream of celery. I have also made this recipe vegan by using margarine and tofu sour cream with a portabello mushroom soup. We could barely tell the difference.

At right, the matriarch's plate. I always put my dressing next to the cranberries for flavor mixing, but she doesn't, which just doesn't seem right. In the middle is an okra pickle and dilly beans I canned from fresh produce over the summer. I'm exited about having a proper pickle tray with deviled eggs for holiday parties. Some people like cookies, I like pickled things. Canning is really quite easy, and I'll include recipes in the future. Pickled okra has become a staple in my house.

The blob of green is collard greens grown, stemed and cooked by our father. He forgot to bring the meatless version for me, which is sad, but hopefully I'll get some at Christmas.

Add some pecan pie and cookies, and we had ourselves a Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to doing it all again at Christmas, but with grandparents.