We haven’t had a TLT reader exchange in a long time, so how about one in honor of Thanksgiving? Maybe sharing a favorite recipe, family tradition or other creative twist on the day? (I realize this isn’t strictly kids and food, but I’m in a holiday mood, so indulge me.)
OK, I’ll start. My native Texan husband keeps begging me to turn the entire Thanksgiving repast into a Mexican feast — turkey mole, jalapeño cornbread stuffing, etc. — but I’m too much of a traditionalist to give in. However, I did improvise a jalapeño cranberry relish last year that’s pretty tasty. Its based on this Epicurious recipe for a crystallized ginger-flavored one, and both are easy and a nice change from a cooked sauce (which I also make.) One caveat: Both recipes should sit in the fridge for a few days, so if you’re going to give either one a spin, it would be best to get on it today or tomorrow at the latest.
Kid-related traditions in my house: every Thanksgiving my husband takes the kids to work at a soup kitchen in the morning, a nice way to send a message about gratitude that also frees me up for cooking. And for some reason, it’s become a tradition that my kids can’t put the marshmallows into the sweet potatoes (yeah, I know it’s low-brow, but a crowd-pleaser) until my brother gets into town and the three of them sit at the table and do it together. I now have a series of photos of this momentous event, starting from when the kids were tiny.
This year my daughter is particularly interested in helping with the cooking, which is great. Last night she made the cooked cranberry sauce while I made a batch of spiced pecans that I always like to have around the house at this time of year. (Both are also Epicurious recipes – here and here.) And now that I know I have a willing helper, I plan to offload the pumpkin pie on her tomorrow. 🙂
Those are my contributions. Anything Thanksgiving-related — recipe, tradition, musing — you’d like to share?
jenna Food w/ Kid Appeal says
hubby’s fave holiday is thanksgiving. he loves to spend the morning helping his mom get the stuffing ready and dressing the bird for the oven. my 6yo has taken to helping with getting the turkey in the oven. kids and hubby usually help me make the 3-4 pies for our large family feast.
funny you mention marshmallows, i was looking for a natural option this year as those uber-white sugar puffs made by kraft have FOOD DYE in them, gasp. 4 types of sugar OK. blue #1 get out of my marshmallows! Kraft, are you reading this?? i want them to top my conversion recipe, the cranberry jello salad i grew up eating. this year i’ll be making it from gelatin, 100% cranberry juice, whole cranberries, local meyer lemon juice/zest and sugar.
happy thanksgiving!
bettina elias siegel says
Love that you’re updating an old, not so healthy favorite like jello salad! BTW, have you tried Whole Foods marshmallows? The texture isn’t quite the same, but sans chemicals, of course.
Maggie says
Things I make for the holiday season…covering the whole time from Thanksgiving to New Year are lefse, rosettes and Lukken wafers.
There’s not really anything I do or cook specific to Thanksgiving – but I do recall helping make cranberry relish from fresh cranberries…the pop of the berries in that old hand crank grinder, fastened to the edge of the kitchen counter. Sadly, don’t really love the cranberries, so no relish made here!
bettina elias siegel says
Maggie: I consider myself a foodie but had to look up all three of those delicacies! All sound delish. Thanks for sharing here. – Bettina
Maggie says
Uh oh, my German/Scandinavian heritage coming out, I guess. LOL. The Lukken wafers are a Belgian item, not my heritage, but the area I grew up in had a lot of folks with that heritage, so they made their way into our traditions too.
Now, lutefisk is a Scandinavian tradition that I don’t partake in!
I’ve noticed/learned that many cultures seem to have items that are very similar – the Belgian cookies are close to an Italian Pizzale and the Norwegian krumkake. I’m surprised every year when I plan my grocery list – the foods all have such very basic ingredients, yet make such “special” foods!
bettina elias siegel says
Fun lutefisk fact from Wikipedia: ” The Wisconsin Employees’ Right to Know Law specifically exempts lutefisk in defining ‘toxic substances.'”
Maggie says
That’s good! I’d hate to envision the folks working at the church suppers in HazMat gear! 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving wishes to all!
Em says
Garlic mashed potatoes! It’s not the holidays without ’em. There are several ways to get the garlic in there, but most years I simmer the whole peeled cloves in the milk and then put them through the potato ricer with the spuds. I’ve also roasted a whole head and squeezed the cloves out and into the potato pot.
We also do a really nice, simple pearl onions & green beans dish every year. No canned fried onions or canned soup. Just start the onions (still frozen) on low with a little butter. Once they’ve started to thaw and brown a little, add the cleaned beans until they’re tender-crisp.
Oh. And homemade pie. Whole things gotta be from scratch or it ain’t worth eating, in my book! Pecan this year– no corn syrup, thankyouverymuch.
Happy eating!
bettina elias siegel says
Em – every time you write in, I get hungry. 🙂 – Bettina