On the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving, our power went out. I had 3 loaves of cornbread in the oven at the time, both the dishwasher and the washing machine running, and untold pounds of food for the next day in my fridge.

Thankfully, there was a turkey looking out for me somewhere, and the electricity was restored just a half hour later. It was 30 minutes of panic, as you might imagine, but smooth sailing from then on out. Even the cornbread turned out fine. Although we were missing some of our far-flung family members, this Thanksgiving turned out to be one of the most relaxing holiday afternoons and tastiest meals we’ve ever put together.

You can see my whole menu at Thanksgiving 2011: The Plan, but here are some highlights:

My dad asked my mom on Thanksgiving morning, “Is this the holiday with the cheese?” Yes, it is at our house — it’s a tradition J. and I started when we took over hosting the holiday. We make up a cheese plate as an appetizer before everyone sits down to the table. This year we had, clockwise from the top, Roncal (a hard, aged sheep’s milk cheese similar to Manchego); La Tur (a runny, butter cheese made with a mix of cow, goat, and sheep’s milk); Caveman Blue (a raw, whole milk blue from a single herd of Brown Swiss and Holstein cows); and La Serena (a semi-soft sheep’s milk cheese). J. picked out the cheeses at Murray’s, and they were all winners.

J. tried something new with the turkey this year: spatchcocking. To spatchcock a bird, you remove the backbone and then press it flat, so that it’s butterflied. He cooked it on our smoker, but with just charcoal and no wood, so it had a bit of a grilled flavor but still a traditional taste:

Prepped this way, the turkey took only a couple of hours to cook, and my kitchen stayed nice and cool without a bird in in the oven.

We usually serve one additional protein with the turkey, and this year J. wanted to try making a leg of lamb. He used his smoker for this beauty as well, seen here after marinating overnight in honey, whole grain prepared mustard, lemon zest, and pepper and getting an additional dusting of zest, salt, and pepper seasonings before heading for the smoker:

The lamb was tasty, and a worthy experiment, but probably not something we’d repeat. It was definitely not as well received as other entrees we’ve made for holidays; J.’s Favorite Goulash and sweet & sour meatballs have gone over better.

The steamed artichokes and Green Olive Dressing were my favorite part of the meal.

Although it was a horrible yellowish-brown color, people were ready to eat the dressing by the spoonful — it was that good. It was similar to a tapenade, but not as thick. We had a lot of leftover artichokes, so I know not everyone had one, but I was very excited to have leftovers in the fridge the next day.

I didn’t photograph them, but we also got rave reviews from the Onion Jam (we slathered it on top of the cornbread), Mustard Vinaigrette Beet Salad, and wild mushroom stuffing (I doctored a stuffing mix by adding dried and fresh wild mushrooms, plus sauteed celery and onion — don’t forget to add in some of the soaking liquid from reconstituting the dried mushrooms for an extra burst of fungi goodness). And of course, as a group we were able to almost finish off a tray of sweet potatoes with marshmallows. It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without them.

Dessert was comical, but delicious. We had 12 adults and 2 kids at our dinner, and twice as many desserts as I’d planned: pecan pie, pumpkin pie, coconut pie, fruit salad, brownies, apple pie, cheesecake (a birthday cake for J.’s cousin), and some other assorted brownies that were never even opened. The overage came from extra sweets making their way into the house with our guests, but I didn’t hear any complaints about the bounty.

Aside from the dessert leftovers, we had a very reasonable amount of side dishes to put away, and quite a bit of the lamb and turkey. No problem, we vacuum-sealed the meats in boilable bags, and froze them. Now we’ve got lots of quick meals we can pull from the freezer: our Thanksgiving keeps on giving.

I’m counting down to Thanksgiving. Although we won’t be doing any cooking this week, I do need to order the turkey and lamb, so I wanted to get a head start on our whole menu. I’m pretty happy with it overall, though I did see a chef on “Chopped” make potatoes sauteed in duck fat and I can’t get that out of my mind. I’ll have to just file that idea away for another time.

Thanksgiving doesn’t seem complete without pecan pie, but I am forgoing it this year since we already have a ton of dessert — more than 15 people can eat. What’s on your holiday menu?

Pre-Feast:
Bourbon & Ginger Apple Cider
Cheese Plate (Build a Cheese Plate / …Ring in 2010 / Cheese Saves Us…)
Grapes
Crackers

Feast:
Roasted Turkey + gravy
Roasted Leg of Lamb (J. has been wanting to cook one)

Cornbread
Onion Jam
Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows*
Wild Mushroom Stuffing
Cranberry Sauce (we like the canned stuff)
Steamed Artichokes with Green Olive Dressing
Mustard Vinaigrette Beet Salad

Sweets:
Fruit Salad*
Apple Pie*
Pumpkin Pie (from Connie’s Bakery, through a school fundraiser)
Coconut Pie*
M&Ms Brownies (at the request of my boys)

* being brought by a family member

We had the second night of Rosh Hashana at our house this year, and it was very intimate with just 9 people — us, my parents, J.’s parents, and his grandma. I love these people very much, so although I look forward to the bustle of a full house on a holiday, having just our immediate family to celebrate with us was a different but equally wonderful to start a new year. I’ll get the bustle at Thanksgiving!

I sprained my ankle a couple of weeks ago, and although it has improved significantly it is still swollen and stiff, and hurts if I don’t remember to take it easy. I tried to plan our menu so I didn’t need to spend hours standing in the kitchen — it’s too painful. So the kreplach I’d wanted to make, based on a 1949 cookbook recipe that my grandma used, will have to wait for another time.

We didn’t start with any appetizers this year, which we normally serve in our living room as everyone gathers. It just seemed unnecessary with our small crew, so we sat down to the table right away. We served two main dishes: Honey Spiced Chicken (drumsticks and bone-in breasts) and Miso Salmon (J.’s recipe — marinated for a couple of days in a vacuumed-sealed bag and then grilled). Side dishes included Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Wild Rice with Wild Mushrooms, Maple & Bourbon Glazed Acorn Squash (based on ButterYum’s recipe), and a tomato & corn salad with a cilantro vinaigrette dressing. Apples and honey (with the honey served in a hollowed-out apple) and challah were on the table as well. For dessert, we had an apple pie baked by my Dad (always fantastic), fruit salad, and rugelach from Rockland Bakery.

The only miss food-wise was the acorn squash, which was just average. Roasted Brussels are always a hit with my family, and I’d made the wild rice for J. and I before so I knew it would be good. J.’s impromptu tomato & corn salad with cilantro dressing — we decided to make it that morning — was delicious and a fresh compliment to the otherwise very autumnal menu. We were joking with our family that this may have been the first time we didn’t serve any beef at a holiday meal. Since J. is so good at grilling and smoking, I try to tap his skill for everything from smoked brisket to burgers. But we stuck with grilled salmon (J. made it) and chicken, and they were both well-received. Actually, the salmon was devoured! I know J. will have requests for that dish again.

This was the most peaceful holiday I’ve ever hosted. At Thanksgiving, we need to save room on our dining room table to carve the turkey, so I don’t wind up being able to set the table until the last minute. For this Rosh Hashana, I had the table done early and even had time to think about a simple centerpiece of pomegranates and apples. It really put me in the holiday mood to have the table ready to go with a cloth J.’s mom made for me when we got engaged, and to enjoy the look of the completed table each time I walked through that room to the kitchen. I’m hoping to be able to recreate the calm and joy I felt in preparing for this Rosh Hashana for Thanksgiving as well.

We host our family for lots of holidays — Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Rosh Hashana, Thanksgiving, sometimes Hanukkah, and lots of birthdays — but we have never hosted a seder for Passover. As much as I enjoyed this holiday growing up, it is not one I’ve ever wanted to be responsible for as an adult with my own home. I am more than happy to cook and bring food to whatever family member is gracious enough to host, however!

I made my Apple & Almond Torte again this year, but I added the zest of one lemon to the batter, and doubled the amount of lemon juice the recipe called for. I found that my 16 oz. bag of ground almond flour was just a bit more than the 3+ cups needed, so I used the full pound. I also baked it for slightly longer, and I think all of those changes made it a more flavorful and structural sound cake.

I also made Crispy Smashed Roasted Potatoes, though I roasted mine in the initial cooking instead of boiling them. These are easy to make ahead, so they’d be good for any festive meal you have planned. Cook and smash the potatoes the night before; then drizzle with olive oil and salt and bake again 30 minutes before serving. Lots of compliments on this side dish.

Honey Spiced Chicken has become a go-to recipe for me. It’s easy, a little out of the ordinary, and easy to prepare. Since this chicken was being served along side another main dish, I chose to use chicken breasts cut into strips. I thought they’d be easy to serve for a large group, and the small size would let people get a taste of everything on the table.

With this seder done, I’m taking a break from cooking while the boys are on spring break from school. I’ll be back with a meal plan on Sunday, April 24.

I made a batch of latkes tonight to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah. They were fantastic — perhaps the best I’ve ever made. (My secret, which is really J.’s secret? Cheesecloth.) I was so happy to heap on the sour cream and apple sauce, and enjoy this infrequent treat. The boys wouldn’t try a single bite, even though G. helped me make them and thought the individual ingredients looked acceptable in the mixing bowl. So, leftovers went to the head latke-maker in our house when he got home from work, and he said “I wish I had twice as many.” Isn’t that always the way with latkes?

I have been mulling over Thanksgiving 2010, a holiday that went smoothly overall, but fell a little short of what I thought I could have put together. I have mentioned various elements that bugged me to friends, acknowledging that I am being a bit of a loon to have been bothered by things like my mismatched but at least color-coordinated (and slightly wrinkly) tablecloths. These things sound so silly coming out of my mouth that I am reluctant to repeat them here and give them more power over me. Still, I think it’s good to make notes of what did and didn’t work for next year. Plus I deeply missed my sister and her husband, who moved to Australia at the end of the summer and couldn’t be with us. Their absence made me think even more about grandparents no longer with us, and especially after our families went home Thanksgiving eve, I was preoccupied with missing people instead of being thankful for what was in front of me. What a mess I am!

The meal turned out well. I was seriously on the ball with prep beforehand, but then made a rookie error: I had no plan for reheating any of it, and had not thought to put my stove top and Crock-Pot into service on the day of the feast. Everything needed to go in the oven all at once to be warmed for the meal, so all my glee at being extra-prepared on Wednesday went out the window. I’ve written notes to myself in the past about including a cold item as a side (such as the Celeriac and Apple Salad I made in 2009), but didn’t do that this year and should have. I also failed to locate infrequently-used items before the holiday, so I was scrambling to find our gravy separator at the last minute (still can’t find it). I would guess none of our guests (we had 20 people in total) had any idea we were flustered, though, and that is fine with me.

So, the meal:

We kicked things off with Apple Sangria, which was apparently delicious — I didn’t get to try any! I based my recipe loosely on the link above, but used Travis Hasse’s Apple Pie Liqueur when I couldn’t find a reasonably-sized bottle of schnapps. It was recommended to me by Manor Wines & Spirits in Briarcliff Manor, and I am thankful I took their advice, as I did sneak a taste of the liqueur on its own before it went into the sangria. It was very good, and not too sweet. I would definitely make it again.

We continued our tradition of a cheese plate before the meal. J. chose Delice de Bourgogne (an OMG! triple creme, the only cheese on the plate that was finished), Tomme d’Abondance (nutty cow’s milk cheese, very smooth), Rogue River Creamery Rogue River Blue (always one of our favorites), Le Chevrot (like licking a freakin’ goat — I am shuddering just thinking about it, but with a very cool, lacy exterior), and El Trigal (a young Manchego which was pleasant but not very interesting).

It was a really well-rounded assortment, though maybe a bit unapproachable for our crew, who left a lot of it over. I can’t remember having so much cheese left over in previous years, but we were happy to have it. We gave the Chevrot one more try and then pitched it. Ugh. We had cut-up carrots, celery, and red peppers, plus a creamy spinach and artichoke dip in a bread bowl from Jenny, which everyone gobbled up.

Then we sat down for the main event:

We roasted the turkey in our oven this year, rather than smoking it. I think everyone prefers this more traditional preparation. I made an obscene amount of roasted Brussels sprouts — 5 containers of raw sprouts, plus a big stalk from my farm share. They were almost all eaten. The Roasted Maple-Bourbon Carrots & Parsnips were just OK. Ann’s Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows are always a hit. I went with a traditional stuffing (dressing, really) this year, starting with Arrowhead Mill’s Organic Savory Herb Stuffing and doctoring it up with a large amount of chopped and sauteed celery and onion, plus ground savory. The flavor was great but it was a little too dry (easily remedied with some gravy, Lauren informed me). Lauren also brought us Ritz Cracker Stuffing, a side dish my brother-in-law remembers fondly from his childhood. It’s basically Ritz crackers, sauteed onion, and margarine to hold it together. Although we ribbed them a bit about its ingredients, I liked getting a chance to have a peek into another family’s traditions, and the flavor of it was pretty good — it’s hard to go wrong with salty and buttery.

The new and most interesting item to me on the table this year was Mushroom & Onion Phyllo Cups:

I based these little beauties on Mushroom and Caramelized-Shallot Strudel. When I went to buy the phyllo sheets, I saw Athens Mini Fillo Shells and knew they would make my life much easier. The shells are pre-baked, about the size of a mini muffin, and ready to accept a savory or sweet filling. I wound up make a non-dairy version of the mushroom filling the night before, then mounded the filling into the frozen cups, and baked them for about 10 minutes just before serving. Very cute finger food, and an unexpected side dish on what wound up being a very traditional menu. The phyllo gets soggy if you store leftovers, so don’t plan on having any! The mushroom filling would also be great mixed with pasta.

Finally, we were ready for dessert. My mom baked the beautiful pecan pie at the top of this post. Ann brought pumpkin and coconut custard pies. Lauren baked chocolate chip cookies. And I made Ina Garten’s Outrageous Brownies. They are aptly-named. I cut the butter by 25%, because some reviews said the brownies tended to be a little greasy. I also omitted the walnuts altogether. They were phenomenal. The recipe is easy but just takes a while — melt the chocolate and butter over a double boiler, let it cool (but not too much!), then mix up the batter. I liked watching the brownies deflate just like they were supposed to when you slam the baking pan against the oven rack half-way through baking. These are dark and dense brownies that I will make again. We had fruit salad too, and though it was a gorgeous arrangement it didn’t get much play. Sorry, fruit!

We were left with a very moderate amount of leftovers, save for dessert (most of which we were able to give away). My friend Amy told me she stocks up on take-out containers before Thanksgiving, and sends her guests home with turkey (they prepare lots extra on purpose) and more. I love that final gesture of hospitality and will try to remember to offer leftovers next year.

Everyone is abuzz about Thanksgiving preparations, but I’ve got a big group coming to watch a football game here on Saturday (21 people in total) and no working oven or stove. So I’ve got more pressing entertaining on my mind. Still, I wanted to get my Thanksgiving menu written down so I could at least have that rattling around in my brain while we make coleslaw and smoked brisket this weekend. Anything with an asterisk is being brought by a family member.

Pre-feast:
Apple Sangria
Cheese Platter
Spinach & Artichoke Dip*
Crackers & Crudite

Feast:
Turkey (I ordered a fresh kosher turkey in the 19 – 21 lb. range)
Mushroom and Caramelized-Shallot Strudel
Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows*
Stuffing (maybe Fig and Pine Nut)
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Roasted Maple-Bourbon Carrots & Parsnips
Cranberry Sauce (we like the sliced stuff from a can)

I’m sure we’ll find room for:
Pecan Pie*
Chocolate Chip Cookies*
Fruit Salad*
Ina Garten’s Outrageous Brownies

What are you making for Thanksgiving this year?

I didn’t even download my photos from Rosh Hashanah until tonight, when I discovered that they were all blurry. That’s what I get for taking a couple of quick snaps once the food is already on the table. I did want to archive our menu from the holiday, though, so I’m posting this recap as a reference for next year. The food all turned out well, and though our crowd was small (12 people total, which is amount we often host for a plain old weekend barbecue) it was a warm, relaxed, and happy way to celebrate the new year.

We started off in the living room, with a bowl of dates and dried figs alongside David Lebovitz’s Baba Ganoush recipe. I did roast the eggplant on the stove first, which adds a tremendous smoky flavor to the dish even once you remove the skins. This dip would not taste the same without the step. It was fantastic. I was actually a little giddy about the way it turned out, and J. was enthusiastic about it too. Definitely a good enough dish to bring to a party. We served it with pita chips.

I don’t tend to serve multiple courses at my holiday meals. We used to do a soup to kick off Thanksgiving, but in the past few years, especially on the Jewish holidays where there are two nights of feasting, I leave the hard work to Lauren and company, who made the homemade gefilte fish, horseradish, and chicken soup for the night of Rosh Hashanah they hosted. We get our fix at her house and then I get a bit of a break on my night, unless you consider apples and honey a first course.

This year J. smoked a brisket for the main course, and I also roasted a chicken (cut up into 8 pieces), because I knew the kids would be happier with it than the beef. The most interesting recipe of the meal was new to me: Beet and Pomegranate Salad. It calls for pomegranate concentrate in the dressing, which I found at my local health food store. It was gorgeous and jewel-like, though it’s a little odd to crunch through the pomegranate seeds. This is definitely a novelty salad, and something I would only make on Rosh Hashanah, when it is traditional to eat pomegranates.

Another hit side dish was Roasted Maple-Bourbon Sweet Potatoes & Parsnips (no carrots here, we have family allergies). This recipe is so easy, and what’s great is you can roast the vegetables the night before. Then you reheat them in the maple and bourbon (I used Jack Daniels) before serving. I might make them again for Thanksgiving. I also made Israeli couscous with sauteed onions and mushrooms, which is a dish I could eat for all eternity. I think everyone else liked it just fine. We also roasted Brussels sprouts. There was challah, too.

My dad’s apple pie was the stand-out dessert by far. I can only imagine the quantity of apples inside, since the top crust was still standing up nice and tall after baking. I made my usual Honey Cookies but used Star Wars cookie cutters to cut them out and the boys were thrilled. I think I still have a spare Boba Fett kicking around the freezer. I also made brownies from a mix, but they were terribly average. We didn’t even eat the leftovers and wound up throwing out half the batch. Of brownies. I can’t even believe I just wrote that sentence, but it’s true. Next time I’ll stick to my tried and true from scratch recipe. Fruit salad rounded out the dessert offerings.

Aside from the brisket, which was big enough to have a couple of meals worth to freeze, we didn’t have many leftovers. Over the years I have been trying to be conscious of what can be made ahead, so I am not furiously still preparing food once my family has arrived. This meal had lots of prepare-ahead dishes, but I got so relaxed about things already being done that I was still rushing at the last minute. Thanksgiving is the next holiday up for us to host, and I am going into it with a goal of being able to sit in the living room to have a glass of wine with my family before the meal goes on the table.

I am not turning over my house for Passover this year. (Here’s what I did in 2008 and 2009.) I’ve been thinking about taking this year off for a while, and my decision was reinforced when we dealt with a 4-day power failure a month ago. I had to toss everything in my fridge, and while it was empty it seemed appropriate to do a deep cleaning. It felt like Passover — the cleaning part beforehand at least — had come early.

I have never been good at explaining the “why” of the choices I make for my kitchen to my boys. The why, to me, is often “because that’s how my mom did it” and that’s not a very satisfying answer to a little kid. It’s not satisfying to me when I say it out loud either, though I guess that is the very definition of tradition. I label my kitchen kosher-style, but over the past year or so I have become a lot more lenient in what that means. Without the personal conviction that I’m keeping this set of rules because of my own religious beliefs, it has been harder and harder for me to see a reason to keep shredded mozzarella off the table when I am serving meatballs. The boys don’t eat the meatballs anyway, so there’s no actual mixing of meat and cheese going on — they just want some cheese on their pasta. And I could not care less if you want butter on your baked potato while eating a steak. I still don’t combine meat and milk in the same dish when I cook, but this is more a lifelong habit than anything else.

This relaxing of my overall nod to kashrut has definitely colored my feeling about keeping Passover, and the work involved in doing so in my home. So, 2010 is a trial year. As we get closer to the start of the holiday, I am feeling a little left out of that small club of people that completely turn over their kitchens. I am, however, really looking forward to making a great dinner for my parents on Sunday. They will be in the jaws of that no man’s land of no more chometz in the house, but the holiday hasn’t started yet — what do you eat? I’m glad we’ll be able to feed them! Then on Monday I’m looking forward to cooking for the first seder with my family at my parent’s house. The Pesadich dishes, silverware, and pots I grew up using for just 8 days out of the year are touchstones that bring the holiday home for me.

Still looking for Passover recipes? Here’s a roundup I put together last year: Passover Recipes, Past and Future. I’m going to be making a version of the Beet, Orange, & Arugula Salad pictured above, using my newly-learned knife skills to supreme the orange.

I went into G.’s school today to make latkes with a couple of other moms for Hanukkah. I am not the official latke-maker in our house — that’s J.’s domain. But I can still make a pretty delicious potato pancake, and it has nothing to do with the recipe. It’s all about controlling the moisture.

If you’ve never made a latke before, don’t worry about finding the “right” recipe. Any recipe you use will generally include potatoes, onions, eggs, flour or matzah meal, and salt and pepper. The secret is what you do with the potato and onion once they are grated. Place your grated potatoes and onions in a clean tea towel or some doubled-over cheese cloth. Pull up the edges so you’ve got the mixture in a ball at the bottom of the cloth, and the edges you pulled up around it are coming out the top of your fist. Over a sink or a bowl, hold the ball on the bottom in one hand, and wring those top edges tightly with your other hand, twisting so the cloth gets taut over the mixture and forces all the moisture out of potatoes and onions. Keep doing this until there’s not a drop of moisture coming out of those potatoes and onions.

You’ll wind up with a lot more liquid than you expected, plus a lot of starch (that’s the white stuff at the bottom of the bowl):

Now you can add the other ingredients, but add the eggs sparingly — they’re just helping to bind the mixture, they’re not meant to be noticed in the finished product.

That’s the simple, but critical, secret. When you cook with a dry-as-possible mix, your latkes will fry up quickly, super-crisp and brown. And those are the qualities of a perfect potato pancake, no matter what your recipe.