Le Menu

My brother and I are vegetarians; my husband a “vege-preferian”; my seven-year-old nephew will list his top 3 cheeses upon request (for the record: cheddar, provolone, brie); and my mom uses her oven for storage — all of which means I get to be chef for Thanksgiving, a tradition that started in 2010. In years past, I have stuck closely to the menu from the first time I hosted:  stuffed acorn squash, homemade cranberry sauce with port and pecans, beer and mustard braised brussels sprouts, and some other vegetable side dish. Usually there would be a soup to start and a pie to finish (my favorite: Brandied Pumpkin and Chestnut Pie). However, I decided to be a little extra fancy this year now that I’ve been a subscriber to Food & Wine for a few months. The menu is heavy on starches and dairy, something of an unavoidable emphasis when cooking decadent vegetarian cuisine.

Pickled Butternut Squash with Mixed Greens and Sage Dressing
John’s Deviled Eggs (Sriracha, pickle relish, paprika — everything that belongs in a deviled egg)
A crisp Riesling

Sweet Potato and Goat Cheese Gratin
Spinach Spoon Bread
Barley Risotto with Butternut Squash, Collard Greens, and Wisconsin GranQueso
A soft red blend 

Maple-Bourbon Banana Pudding Cake
Coffee and tea

Cheese Plate: Cabot Extra Sharp, Bellavitano Black Pepper, Saint Angel
Cranberry-Apricot Chutney
Solomon’s Island Chocolate Raspberry Port *in the end, we decided to save this for Christmas

Thanksgiving Eve. John and I celebrate the fact that his department sold out of turkeys and that he is still alive.

Psychedelic tubers

The requisite out-of-focus dinner plate picture taken with a cell phone

 

 

Autumnal Procession

I read something once which pointed out to me one of the small sadnesses of being areligious: One looses the celebrations that mark the passing of time, give the year structure, and chart a trajectory for excitement and anticipation. Fall may be my favorite season for the reason that there is much to look forward to! With my birthday and assorted holidays looming in swiftly approaching December, I have found a few rituals that help me savor October and November, two months that dissipate as quickly as the light.

Pumpkin, a popular sculpting medium

All Things Pumpkin

I joined a CSA for the first time this year and now I’m hooked. Most of all, I like getting vegetables that I would not have bought otherwise. I’m forced to do something with them, a challenge that often results in great discoveries. Early in the season we received a giant pumpkin (which I managed to lug all the way back to the apartment). Having no idea how to prepare it, I found instructions for steaming and proceeded to make pumpkin bread, a spicy pumpkin dish from Trinidad, and simple mashed pumpkin. Despite the effort of cleaning, peeling, and chopping up this hardy squash, I wanted more! This weekend I bought a small one to make pumpkin cranberry muffins. Now I’m deciding what to do with the other two cups of fresh pumpkin puree. Pie? Pancakes? More bread?

Silver Spring Zombie Walk

Muppet Nightmare

John and I attended our first zombie walk, only as spectators, and had a great time. First, we couldn’t believe how many zombies there were and, second, the zombies were super creative. I’ve told a lot of people about how much fun this was; clearly, I haven’t gotten over it. Next year, we’re definitely bringing a better camera.

AFI EU Film Showcase

I saw two films in this film festival last year and saved many more to my Netflix queue (although, let’s face it, some of these movies will never make it to release on DVD in the States). I’ve been waiting all year to get out a pen, start marking up the guide, and whittling down my viewing selections and now it’s here!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving can be a bit of a downer; there’s increasing the cold and darkness, awkward family, questionable food, obnoxious football… One of the best things about growing up, for me at least, has been being able to do things my way. For my mom, it’s perfect: she can continue using her oven as a storage bin and get a tasty meal. I’ve had this year’s menu written out for weeks and, amazingly, even John couldn’t resist participating in my neurotically early planning process. We’ve decided on a mix of old favorites (squash and cider soup, mashed potatoes, braised brussels sprouts with mustard and beer, homemade cranberry sauce, apple pie) and some new experiments (mock meatloaf with mushroom gravy, cranberry sorbet).

Here’s to the remainder of 2010!