Flashback to Tofurkey Day

One upon a time, when I was an angsty teenager, Thanksgiving was my not my cup of tea. A whole day dedicated to two of my least favorite things (football and poultry)? No thanks. Over time, however, two major factors dramatically changed my point of view.

First, during and just after college, I elected to spend the national holiday with friends and boyfriends and their families. Through these experiences, I realized that this time the grass was not greener on the other side. My family, it turned out, was actually kind of awesome and it felt as if no other family had such a fun and traditional holiday. Similarly, I really began to miss seeing my family. While so many take this for granted, living almost 2,000 miles away for almost 10 years really changes things. Especially when my adorable and tiny niece and nephew, and three (originally 5) feisty grandparents are thrown into the mix.

The second major change in my approach to Thanksgiving is, big surprise!, my foodie ways. You probably know by now that I'm mostly self-taught in the kitchen. So back during those teenage years of aforementioned angst, it just hadn't quite yet occurred to me to make Thanksgiving my own. But now that I am a little too comfy in the kitchen and utterly obsessed with fall flavors (cinnamon, nutmeg, pecans, anything pumpkin) I understand better than ever that Thanksgiving has more foodie potential than just about any other holiday I know. And my family's turkey? No match for my favorite tofurkey. (Just because no one I know agrees with this, doesn't mean it's not true!)

When cooking and baking throughout the year, it's usually just me and my pan. Sometimes I'll bake for Baked from the Heart with one of the talented Js, but more often than not cooking is a solitary affair. Thanksgiving, however, is a whole other crock pot. Unless your time in the kitchen is after everyone else is asleep, which I did a few times this year--I won't lie, it's pretty much impossible to work alone. Almost every dish on our Thanksgiving table this year was a collaborative effort. There's something really lovely about that--even if some people like the heat more than others. Here is the spread from our Turkey day buffet (A special thanks to my sister for providing the photos!) :

From left to right, top to bottom: Our Shabbat candles were an important part of the spread because we actually had our feast on Friday night (all the men in the family spent Thursday at a football game). No Thanksgiving is complete without a Corn Casserole--my absolute favorite dish!--and a Green Bean Casserole, which we made from scratch this year. Naturally, my non-veggie family has a kosher turkey on the table--my beloved tofurkey had the honor of a special place on the actual table next to my plate. This year, I added to the spread a savory squash. If you look closely, you'll notice that I carved Butternut Squash Leaves from the thick trunk of the gourd. We also made an Orange-Cinnamon Cranberry Sauce, a recipe that my mom and I created last year. After years of hearing from the rest of the family all about her incredible Apple-Cranberry Sweet Potatoes (below), I was really excited to try it out this year in place of the old standard, marshmallow-topped dessert, er, I mean casserole (which obviously I adore).

I wouldn't dream of posting about Thanksgiving without a pie montage! This year, I made a Classic Pumpkin Pie with Leaves of Crust. This recipe was actually a challenge because I was not so sure how to make the pie parve (non-dairy). As it turns out, you can just replace the condensed milk from any recipe (including that one from the back of an orange can) with the same amount of parve soy milk.


Meanwhile, my Grandma Sylvia made an Apple Pie with a nice melted brown sugar topping and my sister created the classic Jello Chocolate Pudding Pie.

You didn't actually think I'd deprive you of some recipes, did you?

Corn Casserole

1 can creamed corn
1 can regular corn, rinsed and drained
4 T corn meal
1 c milk (or ½ c soy milk)
½ c butter, melted
3 eggs, beaten
3 T sugar
dash salt

Butter a 9x13 casserole dish and preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together every ingredient thoroughly. Pour into casserole dish and bake for 1.5 hours, or until set.


Green Bean Casserole

1 - 2 cups fried onions
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
14.5 ounces mushroom or veggie broth
1 cup soy milk

Pinch salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Parboil green beans until just tender, about 5 minutes. Soak in cold water, drain and dry. In a large saucepan, melt margarine over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and sautee until soft. Sprinkle salt, pepper and flour. Stirring constantly, cook for 1 minute then pour in soy milk and broth. Whisk until smooth. Simmer for 5 minutes, until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. Fold in the green beans and pour into a 9x13 casserole dish. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, or until the casserole is bubbling around the edges. Top off with fried onions in any pattern you choose and enjoy! This recipe is an adaptation.

Butternut Squash with Leaves (low calorie!)

1 whole butternut squash
cooking spray
chili powder
garlic powder
salt
pepper
dried oregano

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut squash trunk into several 1/4 inch round slices. Peel bulb, scoop out seeds and chop into small chunks. Place in a greased baking dish. Coat squash with cooking spray and set aside. Use a small leaf-shaped cookie cutter or a pairing knife to cut the squash into leaves. Make small lines with a knife to create veins and coat with cooking spray. Place leaves on greased cookie sheet. Lightly sprinkle a desired amount of spices over the tops of the squash leaves and chunks. Bake until squash is soft and can just be pierced with a dull fork. Form a wreath with the leaves around squash chunks in the dish.

Orange-Cinnamon Cranberry Sauce

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
12 ounces fresh cranberries
2 t cinnamon
zest of one half orange

Bring water and sugar to a boil. Toss in the cranberries and return to a boil. Toss in the zest and cinnamon. Stir and let boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and set aside until cool. Refrigerate for an hour and serve cold.

Apple-Cranberry Sweet Potatoes
Recipe TK!

Classic Pumpkin Pie with Leaves of Crust

pie filling:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 t ground cloves
1/4 t ground nutmeg
2 eggs
15 oz pumpkin puree
12 oz soy milk

pie crust:
2 1/2 cups flour
2 Tbsp sugar
pinch of salt
3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup ice water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Sift together the flour, sugar and salt. Combine with butter and ice water. Knead on a floured surface and cut in half. Refrigerate for 30 minutes – 1 hour. Roll out into 2 large circles or 10 small circles. Place one circle in pie pan and trim edges to fit. Pinch the edges to make a decorative trim, if desired. In a large bowl, combine all filling ingredients and mix thoroughly; pour into pie crust. Bake for 15 minutes. Use tinfoil or silicon cover to cover the crust of the pie to prevent burning. Decrease heat to 350 degrees and bake for 40 -50 minutes, or until set. Meanwhile, use a leaf-shaped cookie cutter and make several leaves. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until golden. Place decorative leaves on pie as desired.