Thanksgiving Side Dishes – Branching Out
Sometimes Thanksgiving food gets a little old. We have stopped doing mashed potatoes altogether, because no-one in this calorie conscious age wants to waste their calories on potatoes and gravy, not when there is roquefort dressing and pecan pie to consider! So here are some relatively low calorie additions we have made in recent years, trying to substitute rich taste for fat.
Balsamic roasted Sweet Potatoes
(Oh, so easy!)
Scrub sweet potatoes and take off any growths, etc. Leave skin on and cut into circles about 1″ thick (2.24 cm) Spray a baking pan with olive oil, and lay sweet potato rounds in the pan – they don’t have to be flat. Sprinkle with sea salt (yes! it matters!)
Make up a mixture of about 1 cup olive oil to 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, and sprinkle about half of this mixture over the sweet potatoes. Put them in the oven about two hours before the turkey is finished roasting, and after the first hour, every fifteen minutes or so, when you baste the turkey with turkey juices, baste the sweet potatoes with the balsamic vinegar and olive oil solution. The roasting concentrates the sweet flavor, which is complemented by the vinegar.
Green Beans
It’s the French in me. I gotta have the green beans.
Fresh green beans are best – make sure to take off the strings, and I like to cut off the little ends, too. Bring a pot of water to a boil, pop the beans in and WATCH closely! As soon as they turn bright green – about one minute – take them off the heat, and maybe one minute later, pour out all the water. Put 2 Tablespoons of butter in the pot with the green beans. Sprinkle a little sea salt over them. That’s it. They’re good, just like that.
Thanksgiving Spinach
If you can get your hands on fresh spinach, that is the best. In a very tall pot, sautee about five cloves of finely chopped garlic in really good olive oil (about 1/4 cup), turn the heat down, add just a little water and add a whole lot of fresh spinach. Put the lid on. Give it maybe five minutes to steam down, then open the pot, add a little sea salt, and stir so that the spinach glistens and the garlic is mixed well into the spinach. Oh! So simple. So delicious!
*If I knew, really knew the way Kuwaitis and Qatteris know, how to make machboos, I would serve Machboos with the Thanksgiving meal. It would be perfect.
More Side Dishes – Salads to Give Thanks For
For me, the cranberry salad is mandatory – but not for you! If you want to give it a try, the Sultan Center has cranberries in the frozen section. Frozen is good enough. I have even made this with jellied whole cranberries from a can, but that is sheer desperation.
Mom’s Cranberry Salad
I must have given this recipe to nearly 100 people by now – it never fails to make a big hit. In Tunis, and in Amman, where fresh cranberries were no where to be found, whole cranberry sauce dissolved down worked wonderfully. It’s amazing what you can do when you are motivated! Note – I use raspberry or cherry or strawberry jello instead of lemon, because I like it to be red for the holidays.
1 1/2 C cranberries (wash, pick over and cook until soft
1 1/2 C water
add 1 Cup sugar and boil one minute
add 1 small pkg lemon jello (I use raspberry or cherry or strawberry because I like red)
When all is dissolved, add juice of one No. 1 can of pineapple (Mom’s recipe says a #1 can – use one of the small cans.) When cool, add diced pineapple from can, and 1/2 cup finely diced celery and 1/4 cup chopped walnuts. Refrigerate until firm.
One small buffet mold.
(This recipe is from the 1950’s. I double everything, Pour into mold for the holidays, or into a crystal bowl from which it can be served without having to unmold)
Mom’s Roquefort Dressing
This recipe is so BAD for you. So much salt! So much fat! So incredibly rich and delicious, and so simple to make. They have REAL French Roquefort right now at the Sultan Center. No, I do not work for the Sultan Center. Momma says if it isn’t real Roquefort, don’t bother.)
1 pint sour cream
1/2 teaspoon each:
garlic salt
celery salt
pepper
paprika (red powdered paprika, best from Hungary)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 lb Roquefort cheese
Mix all ingredients together except Roquefort, then carefully fold in cheese. Serve with green salad, but in a separate serving bowl so guests can control how much or how little they want to use! This is also good as a dip with fresh raw vegetables. Oh, so rich!
Side Dishes – More to Give Thanks For!
Take another deep breath. These are not mandatory, these are just options!
Shrimp Cocktail
Buy BIG shrimp. Take the shells off, and with a tiny paring knife, make a tiny line down the back of the shrimp where you see that black stuff, and take the black stuff out. (Don’t think about this, just do it.) Bring water to simmer, put shrimp in and TAKE OFF heat. Let them turn pink – about one minute – and pour water out immediately.
Williamsburg Peanut Soup
(If you have help and want to serve in courses)
Fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes or stewed tomatoes, chopped and heat in pot.
Chicken broth – together with the tomatoes, about enough for all who are coming.
Sauteed onions if you like them can go in, too.
Add glops of CHUNKY peanut butter into the hot liquid and stir until you like the consistency. Salt if you think it needs it. Ladle into bowls and then sprinkle a few chopped peanuts over each dish. People will think you labored for hours on this soup, and it is SO delicious. Big bang for the buck on this one!
Shrimp Cocktail Sauce: Take about a cup of Heinz Ketchup, add 1 Tablespoon Horseradish and 1 Tablespoon very fine SWEET, finely chopped pickle or pickle relish. Mix together. Some people add a little chili powder, but you know your own family.
Use bowls or champagne glasses. Put a little salad greens in the bottom, and place shrimp over the rim around the glass or bowl. Put cocktail sauce in the well formed in the center, right on the greens (Hardly anybody ever eats the greens, they are just there to be pretty.)
Cornbread Stuffing
(Mandatory if you are married to a Southerner)
You can find cornmeal in any grocery store, but we like the coarser grind found in the health foods section.
Make a batch of cornbread according to the instructions on the corn meal you have bought. Cool it slightly.
While the cornbread is baking, sautee:
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley
in 1/2 cup butter.
(You can use corn oil, but it won’t have the same flavor.)
Sautee 1/2 lb Jimmy Dean sausage, mild (here, in Islamic Kuwait, I am using smoked turkey sausage)
When cornbread is slightly cool, crumble it into a large bowl, add the sauteed onion, celery, parsley, butter and sausage, and stir together. Add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans. At this point, you can store in the refrigerator until the turkey is baked.
Gather one – two cups turkey broth, mix into cornbread mix with one egg, salt, pepper, a little sage and thyme to taste. Pour into baking dish and bake 30 minutes at 300°. Serve with turkey as side dish.
The Turkey: Centerpiece of the Meal
I imagine it is possible to have Thanksgiving without a turkey, but I have never, never in my life seen one. Wherever we are, by hook or by crook, we find a turkey.
The irony is that it doesn’t even matter if you like turkey that much – and turkey can be tough and dry if overcooked – it is tradition. You can skip other things, but if you don’t have a turkey, you probably should at least have a paper turkey in the center of your table, something, anything, that will satisfy the need for “rightness” as in “this isn’t right!” if there is no turkey.
The good news is that left over turkey makes great sandwiches, filling for burritos, makes great sweet n’ sour, makes great turkey-noodle soup, cassarols – there are a lot of uses for cooked, left over turkey. If that doesn’t appeal to you, buy a bunch of those wonderful tin trays with lids at the supermarkets and send all your guests home with leftovers!
Your turkey will come with instructions. I usually thaw mine in the refrigerator – it takes up space that on Thanksgiving Day, when take the turkey out to cook, there is space for things I need to store for dinner. Space in the refrigerator will be a very good thing (says Martha).
Be sure to take out the innards. If you are going to make gravy, this is what most people use. You slow simmer the neck and gizzards in about a litre of water. You can pull meat off, and be sure to get all the bones out. That stock will be part of the gravy later on.
Your turkey roasting pan should have sides at least 10 cm (4 inches) high, because of all the turkey juice that leaks out. HINT: Spray that pan liberally with oil – it will be easier to clean down the road, trust me on this. I have a wonderful kitchen gadget that you put olive oil in and pump, and it sprays pure olive oil just like one of those store-bought sprays full of chemicals.
Spray the pan. Spray the turkey. Place the turkey in the pan, breast side up. (I have cooked them upside down and they were OK, too.) Put strips of fatty bacon over the top of the turkey.
Now here is the great secret: Put your turkey in a paper bag, tray and all, and staple shut. If you are using a meat thermometer, put it in the turkey right through the paper bag, it’s OK. Put the turkey in the oven at the temperature it says in your instructions that came with the turkey. (Usually around 180 C.) Every 30 minutes or so, spray that bag with water, like with the sprayer you use to spray clothes that need ironing.
When the turkey has an hour of cooking left, tear off that paper bag and begin basting, which is dripping the turkey juices back over the turkey. Baste every 15 minutes or so.
The house should smell wonderful by now. The turkey needs to come out of the oven about half an hour before serving. It needs to sit for 10 minutes and then someone needs to carve it, i.e. cut slices of it for serving. Often the big turkey wings are put on the plate of sliced turkey and some young man will eat the turkey right off the bone.
Second – Get Organized
Here’s what you need for this step – paper, pen, phone, e-mail, WOM (word of mouth). Figure out who you want to spend Thanksgiving with. Give them a call. If they sound genuinely disappointed because they have visitors from out-of-town, tell them to bring their visitors – Thanksgiving is a great holiday for flexibility. (We usually have more than one table going, one for the kids, too, or several mixed up)
Our book says that we are to entertain strangers, that sometimes when we welcome strangers, we welcome angels without knowing it. Sometimes a stranger adds the most amazing memory.Our first married Thankgiving, we had a soldier join us who would soon be leaving the military. We still remember his delight and amazement at being included. We’ve never fogotten him – he added so much to that day.
When someone asks what they can bring – have some ideas ready! It’s usually safe to ask someone to bring a dessert – or drinks – or dinner rolls. If they have something else in mind, unless it is totally outlandish, say “yes” and just roll with it. It’s part of the fun.
Outline what you want to serve – finger foods before dinner, dinner – courses if you are including soup, dessert and coffee (in the same room? move to another room?)
Make a grocery list. Do the major shopping now, so you have everything you need. Go with what is available – for example, last night in the fish market, I saw the most amazing, huge shrimp, and the man told me they are from Kuwait. Believe me, we will have shrimp cocktail on our menu this year!
Figure out how you want the table(s) and check your linens to be sure what you need is clean and ironed. Make sure the silver is polished, the crystal washed and sparkling. Do this now! You don’t want to have to worry about this close to Thanksgiving. Give yourself the gift of time, by doing the little things in advance that can throw you off course if you let it go to the last minute. We want you to be thankful on Thanksgiving, happy and relaxed and delighted to see your friends – and that takes some preparation and work ahead of time.
(My preference is to set up a buffet table – that way people can eat what they want and pass on what they don’t want, without being conspicuous. You know, like you may adore creamed onions, and the kids will hate them! It’s OK. They’re kids. It’s Thanksgiving.)
Take another deep breath – honestly, this is going to be fun.
First – Take a Deep Breath (Thanksgiving 2)
You inspired me! I didn’t expect such a response to the post on Thanksgiving. Once again, I am baffled, and delighted, at what strikes your fancy.
So – how to do Thanksgiving. To do it properly, you have to focus on the right things. So first, take a deep breath, close your eyes, and allow yourself to feel thankful. Even in the worst of years, there are blessings. Bring them to mind. Feel them. Rejoice! Now you are prepared.
It’s all about the gathering. Yes, we have traditional foods, but in different parts of the country, traditions vary. Turkey is traditional, for example, but it can get so boring. In the South, you can buy a turkey that has been smoked (lovely!) or a turkey that has been stuffed with a duck that has been stuffed with a chicken. When we lived in Germany, I inserted tiny slivers of garlic under the skin – like hundreds of slivers – and served the slices with a variety of French mustards (WOW!). We’ll talk turkey in the next post.
Some Thanksgiving favorites:
Turkey
Stuffing (also called Dressing)
Cranberry sauce
Mashed Potatoes + Gravy
Sweet Potatoes (usually served “candied” i.e. with a sweet sauce, covered with tiny marshmallows)
Green Salad + dressing
black pitted olives (kids put them on their fingers)
green beans
(South: creamed onions, cornbread stuffing, macaroni and cheese, jambalaya, peanut soup)
(Pacific Northwest: shrimp cocktail, smoked salmon, smoked oysters)
Desserts: Pumpkin Pie, Mincemeat Pie, Fruitcake, etc. etc . . . )
The Thanksgiving Table is an excuse to get out all the good stuff you don’t use every day – beautiful white linens for the cloth and napkins, your silver, your crystal, the best china . . . polish up the silver candlesticks, put fresh candles in the crystal ones . . . but this is not the HEART of Thanksgiving, only the icing. We have had fabulous Thanksgivings with plates on our laps, as we gathered together with friends in countries where Thanksgiving is totally unknown. It’s the gathering that is important, not the food, not the table.
The Feast of Thanksgiving
This coming Thursday, the fourth Thursday in November, is the American Thanksgiving. Although it has a religious context – giving thanks for all we have been given – it is not a church holiday, but a secular one.
A group of people fled England (we call them the Pilgrims) seeking a place where they could practice their particular and very fundamental religion without persecution. They landed in a new country and established a colony. A good many of them died in the first year – from starvation, from minor ailments like ear infections that went untreated and became more serious illnesses. At the end of the harvest, the following year, they gave a great feast to celebrate those who had survived.
Honored guests were the Native Americans, who had welcomed the newcomers, showed them berries and forms of wildlife good for gathering and hunting, and without whom the Pilgrims could not have survived. At the table were foods never seen in the old world – turkey, corn, cranberries, possibly potatoes. . .
Wherever we are in the world, we take this 4th Thursday in November to give thanks, and to feast, preferably with family and friends.
My nieces, Little Diamond and Sparkling Diamond grew up going to the local soup kitchen on Thanksgiving with their parents to serve the poor and homeless their Thanksgiving meal. Many of us have special church services that day. Most of us spend a good part of the day in the kitchen!
We have so much to be thankful for this year. Although my parents are old, I have been able to go back and help them several times this year. The next generation of our family has (mostly) finished school and all have jobs they love doing. We shifted our tent successfully to another country this year, and are having a great time getting to know Kuwait. We have found a church here and are thankful to be able to worship freely. Through another friend, we met a family here we dearly love, and we will spend Thanksgiving with them. I am sure it will be a mountain of food.
I will be fixing my Mom’s cranberry salad, cornbread stuffing for my husband-of-Souther-origins, a pumpkin pie, and some balsamic roasted sweet-potatoes (the potatoes are tradition, the balsamic is not) and a few other dishes. We try to balance the traditional with something new from time to time. We will break open one of the fruitcakes to serve with the other desserts. Mom’s Fruitcake Recipe
You will know where people will be gathering and feasting by the delicious aroma of roasting turkey as you take advantage of this gorgeous weather to go out walking . . . We give thanks for the beautiful weather, too.
Secret Santa Unveils
I found this story on AOL news this morning. I am printing the whole story, with full credit to AOL, because I am afraid if I just put in a “click here” thingy, you won’t go to the trouble. This complements a recent blog entry by Jewaira on opportunities for charitable giving locally . . . this man made a career of secretly giving back.
Grave Illness Unmasks Generous ‘Secret Santa’
Man Who Gives Money to the Needy Reveals Himself to Pass Mission on to Others
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Nov. 17) – The answer to one of the happiest mysteries in the Kansas City area is being revealed this year. A man who has given away millions of dollars and become known as Secret Santa for handing out Christmas cash to the needy is allowing his name to be publicized after 26 years.
In April, doctors told Stewart that he had cancer of the esophagus. It has spread to his liver and he is undergoing treatment.
But the reason for the revelation is an unhappy one. Secret Santa has cancer. He wants to start speaking to community groups about his belief in random acts of kindness, but he can’t do that without telling people who he is.
The man who has spread cheer for 26 years is Larry Stewart, 58, of Lee’s Summit, who made his millions in cable television and long-distance telephone service.
Stewart told The Kansas City Star that he was the man who would walk up to complete strangers, hand them $100 bills, wish them “Merry Christmas” and walk away, leaving astonished and grateful people in his wake. He handed out money throughout the year, but he said it was the Christmas giving that gave him the most joy.
Now, he wants to inspire others to do the same. He said he thinks that people should know that he was born poor, was briefly homeless, dropped out of college, has been fired from jobs, and once even considered robbery.
But he said every time he hit a low point in his life, someone gave him money, food and hope, and that’s why he has devoted his life to returning the favors.
Stewart grew up in Bruce, Miss., reared by his elderly grandparents, who survived on $33 a month and welfare staples. They heated water on the stove for baths and used an outhouse.
After he left home and college, he found himself out of work in 1971. After sleeping in his car for eight nights and not eating for two days, Stewart went to the Dixie Diner in Houston, Miss., and ordered breakfast. When the bill came, he acted as if he’d lost his wallet.
The diner owner came to him.
“You must have dropped this,” the owner said, slipping a $20 bill into the young man’s hand.
He paid, pushed his car to the gas station, and left town. But he vowed to remember the stranger’s kindness, and to help others, when he could.
He arrived in Kansas City because he had a cousin here. He got married and started his own company, with money from his father-in-law.
But the company failed in 1977 and he couldn’t pay the bills. It was the lowest point in his life.
“I was a failure in business. I was a failure as a husband. I was a failure as a father,” he remembers thinking.
He got into his car with a handgun and thought about robbing a store. But he stopped and went home – and got a call from his brother-in-law, offering him money to tide him over.
After being fired from two jobs on two successive Christmases, Stewart stopped at a drive-in. Although he had little money himself, Stewart gave a cold and miserable carhop the change from a $20, much to her delight.
That’s when Stewart’s mission to secretly give away money at the holidays began.
Eventually, Stewart became a success and started Network Communications in 2002. The firm used independent sales agents to enroll customers for Sprint long-distance service.
In 1996, an arbitration panel ordered Sprint to pay Network and its sales agents $60.9 million in commissions it owed. Stewart got $5.2 million.
The poor boy from Mississippi now had a family, lived in a nice house and drove nice cars.
So, he started giving away more money, to dozens of causes. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. The Salvation Army. The National Paralysis Foundation. The ALS Foundation. He supports the Metropolitan Crime Commission’s Surviving Spouse and Family Endowment program.
And, all along, he gave away money to needy strangers.
But Christmas was special. He’d distribute thousands of dollars during visits to coin laundries, thrift stores, barbershops and diners.
People shouted with joy, cried, praised the Lord, and thanked Stewart repeatedly.
But Secret Santa moved on quickly to avoid attention.
He did sometimes invite newspaper and TV reporters along, if they promised not to reveal his identity. It was reporters who dubbed him “Secret Santa.”
In 1989, after some people chased his car when they saw the cash he carried, he decided he needed protection. He called Jackson County Sheriff’s Capt. Tom Phillips.
“I thought, ‘OK, this guy’s nuts,”‘ recalls Phillips, now the Jackson County sheriff. “But at the end of the day, I was in tears – literally – just seeing what he did to people.”
Eventually, Secret Santa took his sleigh ride to other places.
In 2001, after the terrorist attacks, he went to New York. The New York cop who accompanied him said he’d never forget the experience.
In 2002, Secret Santa was in Washington, D.C., victimized by the serial snipers. In 2003, it was San Diego neighborhoods devastated by wildfires. And in 2004, he was in Florida, helping thousands left homeless by three hurricanes.
Last Christmas, Secret Santa went back to Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast.
He stopped in Houston, Miss., where the diner owner had helped him so many years ago. On a previous visit he had surprised the owner, Ted Horn, with $10,000. This time, they stamped $100 bills with the name “Ted Horn,” and gave Horn money to distribute. And Horn took money from his own bank account to give away, too.
Stewart has enlisted “elves” for years – George Brett, the late Buck O’Neil, Dick Butkus. He’s already inspired copycats.
Four other Secret Santas plan to distribute a total of $70,000 of their own cash this year.
And Secret Santa plans to give away $100,000 this year. Since he started, he estimates he’s given out more than $1.3 million in Christmas cash.
But this will likely be the last Christmas for Stewart’s tradition. In April, doctors told Stewart that he had cancer of the esophagus. It had spread to his liver. He needed treatment, fast.
With help from Brett, he got into a clinical trial at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Texas. Doctors tell him the tumors have shrunk, but they can’t say whether the cancer is in remission.
“I pray for that man every single day,” former Kansas City Chiefs star Deron Cherry – one of Stewart’s elves – says. “There’s a lot of people praying for him.”
Skidboot: A Man and His Dog
You will need about eight minutes to watch this U-Tube video of a TV news item on this man and his dog. The man shoes horses in Texas, and discovered my accident that his dog understands the words he says and is eager to obey. He is so humble, and gives all the credit to his dog. If you click on Skidboot you can watch this marvelous story.
Humor For Word Lovers
Humor for word lovers…
A fellow word lover passed along these selections from the Washington Post:
These are creative and funny…
Once again, The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly neologism contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words.
The winners are:
1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.
6. Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.
7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle (n.), olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism (n.), (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your Soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent (n.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.
The Washington Post’s Style Invitational also asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.
Here are this year’s winners:
1. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
2. Foreploy (v): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
3. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
4. Giraffiti (n): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
5. Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn’t get it.
6. Inoculatte (v): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
7. Hipatitis (n): Terminal coolness.
8. Osteopornosis (n): A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
9. Karmageddon (n): its like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it’s like, a serious bummer
10. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
11. Glibido (v): All talk and no action.
12. Dopeler effect (n): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
13. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you’ve accidentally walked through a spider web.
14. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
15. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you’re eating.
And the pick of the literature:
16. Ignoranus (n): A person who’s both stupid and an asshole.
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