Party Post the First: Thanksgiving 2010

Now that I've gotten some old business out of the way, I can move on to the much newer: yesterday's Thanksgiving Feast.

Here it is pre-oven

Husband likes to do a turkey, as he's the only omnivore in the nuclear unit and doesn't necessarily eat all that much meat most of the year. The Girls and I are happy to look the other way and encourage his culinary expressions. He has perfected the Garlic Turkey over the past few years, and the Great Turkey of 2010 may well be his best yet. He stuffs a turkey with about 3 pounds of peeled garlic cloves and sprinkles more garlic around in the roasting pan, and then just bakes it.

Sadly, tragically, I never got a photo of my fabulous vegetarian option. Let's just piece it together. First, I took "Tender Bits", the the Superior, perhaps because Salty, vegetarian product from the Loma Linda foods line. Sounds odd, comes in a can, and is absolutely fabulous and I LOVE THEM. I then wrapped these lil nuggets in veggie bacon strips from Morningstar Farms. So fake, so salty, so delicious. Then I breaded and fried the suckers. I must say, a lot of guests ate these and had a wide variety of positive responses (ranging from I-had-no-idea-it-wasn't-meat to yeah-it-was-ok). Good thing is, those who found themselves not so much loving these left More for Me. This was fine.

• Sweet potatoes
• bread stuffing made with whole wheat bagels and Italian bread, miso stock, sage, caramelized onions & garlic, and about 4 sticks of butter
• cranberries
• green bean casserole
• brown & red rice pilaf
• a ham
• deviled eggs
• peanut butter cookies
• pumpkin pie
• pecan pie
• cherry pie
• hot apple cider, spiced rum, zinfandel

...you get the idea. Very traditional, very yummy. But the best part of course was the company. So many lovely people! I'm truly grateful. Truly.

Noteworthy food, part 3: homemade pizza and birthday cakes

Continuing the documentation of deliciousness: this one's not so unusual, but it sure is yummy.

Step 1: make the crust. Not too hard. We like to use a combination of all purpose, whole wheat, and semolina flours.

Top with sauce, slices of tomato and rings of onion.

Step 2: add a bunch of chopped fresh basil.

Step 3: lots of mozzarella and feta cheeses.

Enjoy.

And for dessert: birthday cake. Sometimes it's a gloopy gloppy chocolate cake, like when Little One turned 4.





Sometimes it's a platter of ice cream sandwiches topped with frozen whipped cream and peanut M&Ms with a Simpsons-like portrait of the birthday boy. With decorative mauled dolls' heads.





Either way, it's delicious.

 

 

 

We Eat, part 2

More deliciousness from the past few months, for your viewing pleasure (and I hope culinary inspiration).

Exhibit C: Multinational Vegetarian Sushi

These were Italian rolls:

• sushi rice inside
• a bit of mozzarella in the middle
• a topping of sundried tomatoes and capers. 

In a traditional nori roll of course.

And these ones are the same vinegared sushi rice with veggies inside a rice paper wrapper. Fillings included

• pan fried and salted strips of tempeh
• red bell peppers
• pickled ginger
• spinach leaves
• tofu
• cream cheese
• zucchini

We did some research, largely because 4 out of 5 of us are vegetarian and wanted to come up with as many filling options as possible. First info: "sushi" means vinegared rice (no mention of raw fish in there at all). Second info: nori wraps taste good, but rice paper is flavor neutral and therefore lens itself nicely to a huge variety of ingredients. We tried Mexican, Italian, more traditional Japanese, and sort of Pacific Rim Fusion.
Yum.

Randomly Timed Update: There Are A Lot Of Us, And We Eat.

Well, I began this blog with the idea of documenting how the work on our big  weird building progressed. And it has progressed, just not in the sense I was anticipating. We haven't been able to do much to the infrastructure beyond last winter's attic insulation, though we will continue over time to nibble away at the huge project that is "greening" this 90+ year old brick building.

So, environmental pioneers we may not yet be. However, we've managed to be pretty busy nonetheless. Our household has expanded from the five of us (me, husband, three daughters) to a homey eleven with the addition last February of the niece of an old friend (age 20), then two of her buddies (19 & 22) by the end of last Spring, and over the summer the return of our Prodigal Extended Family of Choice (parental denizens of Black Rock City and their 15 year old Boy). Plus a naughty cat and three small and enthusiastic dogs. Sounds a lot more hectic than it actually is, largely because we have a lot of elbow room and a lot of wildly divergent schedules and so don't have to run into each other very much unless we feel like it (see following post re. Thanksgiving).

Now that I've managed to sum up the household, let's take a look at some of the things we like to do.  Basically we eat. OK, there's a lot of school involved in day to day life (one in preschool, one in elementary, one in middle school, one in high school, two in college, and a teacher live under this roof). But we eat. And when food turns out especially nice looking and/or momentous, we like to document it. Behold, the beauty that is Food With Heart:

Exhibit A: ShishKebobs, courtesy of The 9 Year Old

These included golden-fried nigari tofu, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, and a delicious sauce of dijon mustard, mayonnaise,  horseradish, Italian dressing, and plain yogurt. She stuck them on bamboo skewers and broiled them, though grilling would work too.






Exhibit B: The Great Tomato Fest. It was summer, 'maters were in season, and we went all out.

This feast consisted of

• slices of heirloom tomatoes with salt & pepper
• cherry tomatoes stuffed with fresh basil leaves, perlini mozzarella balls, and a  few drops of  balsamic vinegar (Husband calls 'em Italian Salad Shooters)
• baked stuffed tomatoes, filled with bread crumbs, sauteed onions, & cheese
• sandwiches of  hollowed out hoagie rolls with beefsteak slices and cheese
• bloody marys
• and a fine film: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (completely dada and inexplicable)

Additional food related exhibits to follow. Stay tuned.