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?
December 1, 2010
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: (more…)
November 29, 2010
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?
November 18, 2010
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.
September 20, 2010
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 
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