Give Thanksgiving More Than the Bird ....

.... or maybe "Put the Thanks Back in Thanksgiving" or perhaps "The Most Important Ingredient"

I had a lot of alternate titles for this post so of course I had to pick the one I thought was the funniest .....

Seriously, so much is made of the food on Thanksgiving that I sometimes feel compelled to be a glutton or feel overly virtuous if I just eat normally. While my motto sometimes seems to be to leave no meal unexamined, in Thanksgiving's case it should refer to the event not (just) the food.

So while you plan the perfect menu (or diss your in-laws choices), shop and chop til you drop and debate if it really can be Thanksgiving with salmon instead of turkey or apple instead of pumpkin pie, spend a few minutes thinking about the feelings, meanings and lessons behind Thanksgiving.

I don't mean to get political, but if that is your bent, go for it. Don't make your guests uncomfortable (unless that is your bent, too, and you are trying to whittle down the guest list for next year), but think of something special to say for the day. Or maybe ask a guest to bring some discussion questions or thoughts or a special prayer or blessing (suitable for all the religious or non-religious traditions of the guests please) instead of a cranberry mold salad. Or ask every guest to be prepared to say a bit on why they are thankful or what their families' immigration experiences were or about random acts of kindness they either participated in or witnessed in the last year. Or focus on how far we have yet to come, ask them to bring one example or anecdote of what still needs to change for America to be a better place for all. Give them some guidelines or let them decide, but if you are looking for meaningful guest participation, let them know in advance.

Or make up a Thanksgiving trivia contest on the holiday, the Pilgrims, the Native Americans, etc., and focus on the real, not commercial, history of the day. (Winner gets the wishbone?)

I have been struck that how Thanksgiving is this big meal and celebration at home, much like the Jewish Passover. But unlike Passover, there are no scripts or readings designed to touch on the history, the symbols and the meaning of the day. A few days ago I heard an ad on radio from the American Jewish Committee. The ad tied the Pilgrim's celebration of Thanksgiving to the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot. The organization also offered a (non-religious) "Thanksgiving reader" for Americans to share as they celebrate the holiday. The reader, called "America's Table: A Thanksgiving Reader Celebrating Our Diverse Roots and Shared Values" is available for free as a pdf download through the committee's website. Readers from past years are also available.

This year's version tells the stories of seven individuals of very different backgrounds and relates their American experiences. It is one way to tell the Thanksgiving story. Whether you use it or not, I hope you will be inspired to say more at Thanksgiving this year than "pass the gravy."

May you have a happy, meaningful (and, of course, tasty) Thanksgiving.

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Blog Appetit hits the road tomorrow for its own Thanksgiving trek. More when I return.
Happy Thanksgiving.
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About the photo: "Waiting for the Turkey," Thanksgiving table at my sister Laura's, 2005

Thanksgiving Trivia Game



Felix the Cat was no turkey


Do you know what character was the first Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon?  Who was the first woman who stepped off the Mayflower onto Plymouth Rock?

You would if you played my Thanksgiving trivia game.

I created this to use an icebreaker at a recent event by sticking labels on attendees' backs. They had to ask others questions about who they were.  When guests come, label their backs and pass out copies of the explanations to help with the questions and answers and add to the learning.  If you have guests who are strong on Thanksgiving facts, you could make it a trivia contest over dessert.

Thanksgiving Trivia and Name Game


Who or What/Description

Squanto/A Wampanoag Indian who traveled to England and was later kidnapped and held to be sold into slavery. He helped the Pilgrims and was a friend of the colony. He helped with food and agricultural practices as well as translation and guiding. He died in 1622. His loss was mourned by the Pilgrims.

John Weymouth/The English explorer who traveled with Squanto and later paid Squanto’s way back to the New World after Squanto was rescued from slavery

Samoset/A member of the Wabanake tribe who Squanto met in England and who traveled back to New England coast with Squanto. He made the actual first contact with the settlers by saying “Welcome.”

Massasiot Ousamequin/ Leader of the Wampanoags. He sent his tribe members back for more food during the celebration when it appeared that the Pilgrims had not realized how many Native Americans would be attending.

Myles Standish/ Military leader of the Plymouth Colony and Mayflower expedition. Supposedly asked John Alden to woo Pricilla Mullens for him. Never a Piligrim, he helped found the town of Duxbury, Mass. The Pilgrims met him in Holland.

John Alden /Said to be the first person to set foot on Plymouth Rock. A ship’s cooper. In Longfellow’s 1858 poem is said to have courted Priscilla on behalf of the widowed Standish, but there is no evidence to that. He had Priscilla have the most descendents of any Mayflower arrival – including John Adams, Jodie Foster, and Longfellow himself

Priscilla Mullens /See above. Only 17 when the Mayflower set sail, her parents and brother died during the first winter. Her marriage to Alden was the third the Pilgrims celebrated in the New World.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow/ American poet and descendent of Alden and Mullens. He based his famous 1858 poem “The Courtship of Miles Standish” on family tradition, although there is no historical evidence. A great-great-grandson of the Aldens did publish the story in 1814

Mary Chilton Winslow /First woman to step upon Plymouth Rock. She later married the brother of a Mayflower passenger, moved to Boston and had 10 children.

William Bradford/ Governor of the colony for more than 30 years. Took major responsibility for arranging Mayflower exodus. One of the founders of the religion the Pilgrims practiced.

William Brewster/ Only one of original Pilgrims to have any university training. Helped organize the separatist religion and helped win approval from the Virginia Company to settle in the New World

George Washington /Created the first “national” Thanksgiving Day in 1789

Abraham Lincoln/ Created the recurring national Thanksgiving Day in 1863 with annual observances after campaign by Hale

Sarah Josepha Hale/ Wrote “Mary Had a Little Lamb” – Writer, editor - She campaigned for national day of Thanksgiving

Adding Meaning to Thanksgiving -- A Resource List

An America's Table reader

Here's the list of websites I found to help create readers and other materials for creating Thanksgiving home rituals.  These resources are generally non-religious or ecumenical.

• Eight different “Seders” or readers are available at the American Jewish Committee’s website at

http://www.ajc.org/site/c.ijITI2PHKoG/b.2178745/

These are readers that highlight America’s diverse roots and shared values. The readers were created after 9/11 and are endorsed by a wide variety of organizations representing the full spectrum of Americans.

• Freedom’s Feast is another approach to the same concept. The founders looked to the Passover Seder model to help bring more understanding and meaning to the Thanksgiving celebration with a service/program suitable for all Americans. The site offers extensive background and other material, including songs and crafts. http://freedomsfeast.us/thanksgiving/index.html

• Fifty Thanksgiving story starters to get table conversations flowing: http://pubs.aarp.org/aarpbulletin/201111_DC?folio=46#pg50

• Background on the Pilgrims, Native Americans and Thanksgiving myths and facts, with discussion questions and a prayer of Thanksgiving from the Iroquois people: http://www.2020tech.com/thanks/temp.html

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Photo credit: America's Table

Thanksgiving in Absentia

Once again I'm on the road for Thanksgiving, but thanks to having been blogging pretty much since the beginning of time I still have lots of tips, recipes and ideas for your holiday.

Looking for an ice breaker, try my trivia game.
Need cranberry sauce recipes or maybe want to try a pumpkin hummus, I've got you covered.
Pumpkin pie recipes, pumpkin cheesecake ice cream, yep, got those.
Looking for ways to make Thanksgiving more meaningful?  I've got the links for that as well.

For all this and more, click here and see all my Thanksgiving posts past.  I look forward to sharing Thanksgiving recipes with you next year.

Here's wishing you a happy, meaningful and delicious Thanksgiving.

P.S.  Need ideas for those leftovers?  Check out my j weekly post this Friday on some creative ways to re-purpose them

Hanukkah Happenings and Thanksgiving Leftovers

Happy Hanukkah or Chanukah or Hanukah!

Looking for information on the holiday's history? Check out this "blast from the past" post from last December. The history of Hanukah might not be just as you thought.

Want a tried-and-true recipe and technique for making potato latkes? Click here.

Do you light the candles left to right or right to left? For a hanukkiah (menorah) how to, go here.

Feeling guilty about not knowing about gelt and how to play dreidel? Got you covered on that, too. Read all about it here (including a resource for a paper pattern to make your own spinning top.)

You may have read my thoughts about stuffing more thanks into Thanksgiving. Did Blog Appetit practice what it preached? Well, yes, kind of. Plus Blog Appetit (well, really it was I) learned a valuable lesson.

At my family Thanksgiving (which featured my sisters' bronzed and moist turkey and two kinds of sweet potatoes with yummy toppings), I tried to start a discussion about the issues raised in the post. To say my tablemates were resistant to connect on a more meaningful level as decided by me during the meal would be politer then they were. However, once the dishes were cleared, my very excellent husband proposed we play some games. Uno cards were produced. And wouldn't you know it without trying so hard, without alienating anyone, we all bonded and related and shared. Just what Thanksgiving should be all about, without anyone being a turkey about it.

(Just for the record I still think one can successfully integrate a discussion of meaning and experience into the Thanksgiving feast, but it can't be imposed from the outside or sprung as a surprise. I'll try to advance the cause next year.)

Technical Difficulties Cancel Thanksgiving Special -- But Here's a Cranberry Sauce to Give Thanks For

Blog Appetit had planned (through FJK's inventive writing, incredible imagination and the use of You Tube and Photo Bucket) to present it's first ever Blog Appetit Thanksgiving Special and Variety Show, complete with guest stars, family members, entertainment, maybe a little singing and dancing (although not mine) and, of course, appropriate seasonal remembrances and recipes.

Technical difficulties made that impossible, since usually I can only operate my computer in safe mode right now. While I am relatively pure and practice fairly high ethical standards it appears my computer does not and it seems to have gotten rather corrupt.

So while I ponder the advisability of turning the BATSAVS into the first ever Blog Appetit After Thanksgiving Special, the Chanukah Cavalcade or the Just Name Your Own Winter Holiday Extravaganza, I move aside from the figurative raspberry I appear to be getting from Windows and on to cranberries. (And maybe on to an Apple -- but that is a different post.)

I have been making (and adapting) this sauce for years. I love it year round. Fresh cranberries in the bag freeze well and there is no need to defrost them before using them in this recipe.
Bag a few bags after Thanksgiving when the price goes down and you'll be giving thanks all year round.

Baked Cranberry Sauce

This is more of a flexible guideline than an actual recipe since I probably make it different every time I prepare it. It is easy to do and can be made well in advance so it doesn’t tie up the oven on the big day. This version calls for it to be baked in the oven, but I have also made it on the stove top and in the microwave (be sure the dish has a microwave-safe cover to prevent splatters). You can use more or less cranberries; just adjust the sugar and other seasonings appropriately. We like our cranberry sauce tart, so we use the lesser amount of sugar.

4 cups of cranberries, rinsed (frozen and not defrosted okay, but you may need extra baking time, see directions below)
1 to 2 cups sugar (see note above)
¼ cup orange juice (optional)
¼ teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
Zest of 1 orange (orange part only), finely minced (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the cranberries in one layer in a baking dish. (Use two dishes and divide ingredients if you can’t get all the cranberries in a single layer.) Add the sugar and any or all of the optional seasonings. Mix well, making sure the cranberries end up in a single layer. Cover the baking dish with foil. Bake for about a quarter of an hour, uncover and stir, spreading the cranberries back out as before. Put the foil back on and bake for another 15 minutes. If the sauce is too liquid, uncover and bake for a few minutes more as needed. (The sauce will also thicken up a bit when standing or cold.)

When the sauce has cooled a bit, taste. If it is too tart mix in sugar to taste and stir well.

This can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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About the image: From RStamp -- online rubber stamp store, where stamps "are made fresh daily."

Adding Meaning (and Jewish Flavors) to the Thanksgiving Table with Recipes for Pumpkin Hummus and More

Pumpkin Hummus with Za'atar Drizzle

I recently had the opportunity to speak about inviting Judaism to the Thanksgiving table.  Other folks were talking about prayers and traditions and I was to focus on the food, but it seemed to me to be a larger issue -- that what we really wanted to do was to add meaning.

My resulting presentation started off with a Thanksgiving trivia game and then I gave a number of resources to help add meaning, explanation and participation to the dinner to make it a more of a home ritual observance beyond friends, family and football without losing its all-inclusive, American nature. I've also ruminated on adding more meaning to the meal (including some suggestions) in this post.

I also developed some recipes to give the food a bit of a Jewish twist.
The Pumpkin Hummus with Za’atar Drizzle is a versatile appetizer with Middle Eastern and New World flavors. It is quick and easy to put together. Make the Challah “Stuffing” Kugel with Fresh Herbs in a shallow baking dish for lots of crusty bits or a deeper dish for lots of succulent ones. Either way, it’s a savory way to serve dressing this Thanksgiving. If the fresh herbs are not available, substitute about a third of the amount of dried, ground sage and thyme. Canned whole berry cranberry sauce is the basis of a Cranberry-Date “Charoset” with pecans and orange zest. It combines North American and Sephardic elements.

Pumpkin Hummus with Za’atar Drizzle
Makes 8 appetizer servings

7-8 oz. container of unflavored hummus
1 cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree (do not use canned pumpkin pie filling)
2 Tbs. za’atar seasoning mix (or use 5 tsp. ground oregano, 1⁄4 tsp. of cumin and 1 tsp. sesame seeds)
1/4 cup olive oil
6-8 flatbreads or pita breads

Mix hummus with pumpkin puree. In a separate bowl, combine za’atar with olive oil and stir well. Heat flatbreads or pitas in dry fry pan or griddle until warm and toasted. Either serve as a topped flatbread or dip. To serve as a flatbread, spread the pumpkin hummus on the bread, drizzle with za’atar mix and cut into triangles. To serve as a dip, stir half of the za’atar into the hummus until just combined and you can still see “streaks” of the herb oil mixture. Drizzle the remainder on top of the pumpkin hummus. Cut the warmed breads into triangles and serve with dip.

Challah “Stuffing” Kugel with Fresh Herbs
Serves 6-8

Tofurky makes an a good vegan Italian sausage. Use that and vegetable broth to make this dish vegetarian.

1 Tbs. plus 2 Tbs. oil
2 cups chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped carrots (cut into 1/4” chunks)
1/2 cup chopped celery (cut into 1/4" chunks)
2 cups chopped mushrooms (cut into 1/4" chunks)
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 lb. turkey Italian sausage, removed from casings and crumbled
1 Tbs. minced fresh sage leaves
2 tsp. minced fresh thyme leaves
1 lb. challah, torn or cut into 1” pieces
4 cups chicken stock
4 eggs, beaten
½ tsp. paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large baking dish or casserole with 1 Tbs. oil. Put remaining oil in large pan, and when heated, add onions and garlic and sauté until softened. Add carrots, celery and mushrooms, sautéing until just softened. Add red pepper, salt and black pepper and stir well. Add crumbled sausage, stirring often to break up clumps until browned. Add minced sage and thyme. Sauté for a minute.
Remove for heat. Combine with challah in a large mixing bowl. Add chicken stock and eggs, mix well. Place in greased baking dish. Sprinkle top with paprika. Bake for 50-60 minutes until top is brown and crusty and kugel is set. (Timing will vary depending on dimensions of baking dish.)

Cranberry and Date “Charoset”
Makes about 2 cups

Besides serving this as a cranberry sauce with the turkey, it makes a great topping for goat cheese as an appetizer.  Serve it with toasted baguette slices.

14 oz. can of whole berry cranberry sauce
1 cup large Medjool dates (about 8 dates)
1 Tbs. sugar
2 Tbs. minced orange zest
2 Tbs. orange juice
3/4 cup pecan pieces (1/4” bits)
1/4 tsp. ground ginger, optional

Break down sauce using a fork, being careful not to mash berries. Pit dates, toss with sugar and chop into 1/4” pieces. Combine with cranberries. Add zest, juice, pecans and ginger (if using), stir well.

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A slightly different version of this post originally appeared in j. weekly.

From Knish to Cheesesteak and Back Again. A Story of Diners, Delis and the Opposite of Dives

Well, this report has been a few months coming, but I'm finally taking a few minutes (when I'm off on another adventure, of course) to report on what Gary and I did on our Thanksgiving vacation.  (Note:  due to the limitations of Blogger aps and ipad interfaces I can't easily add the links to this report. I'll update with those as soon as I can. In the meantime, Google, bing or any other search engine should be able to find what you need. Nothing esoteric here. You can blame Blogger for the mishmash of fonts and odd photo handling as well.  Blogger doesn't seem to do mobile well.)

We spent two weeks on the East Coast, obsteniosuly to visit friends and celebrate Thanksgiving with family, but It was also about eating delicious things, seeing sights and riding public transit.  Below are some highlights. Watch for more analytical and recipe filled posts on some of the dishes and experiences I had.

Gary and I first flew into JFK and took the AirTrain and two subway trains to our hotel by Lincoln Center.   It was a fine hotel, especially since we picked it blind off Hotwire.  Great neighborhood with lots of nearby restaurants on 9th and 10th avenues (Hell's Kitchen) to choose from for reasonably priced ethnic food.  Our first night we had Turkish tapas (that's what the resto called what I'd call a mezze platter).

Next day we headed to my people's version of the Old Country -- the Lower East Side.  We had a late breakfast of Yonah Schimmel's knishes, a full afternoon of tours at the LES Tenament Musuem, and a late lunch of a Katz's pastrami sandwich which was big enough to share.  Yes, Katz's still has that sign posted about sending a salami to someone in the Army.  They also have a sign over the both where Harry Met Sally filmed the "I'll have what she's having" scene.

We also checked out the Essex Market and Russ and Daughters, but we were full, so we only looked and didn't taste.

Next up was the taping of the 13th to last Colbert Report ever with special guest Jon Stewart.  Between Steven Colbert and Stewart we couldn't stop screaming and laughing, although part of that might have been sheer terror the staff would do something to us if we didn't respond BIG.  (At least four staffers had us practice our screams, yells, claps and laughs before the show started.). They need not have worried, we the audience were so psyched on our own and so entertained we would have shouted ourselves hoarse without the pre-show encouragement. 

Dinner that night was back in Hell's Kitchen for more ethnic food, this time empanadas at Empanada Mama, open 24 hours for all your meat and veggie stuffed pastry needs.

The next day we headed to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.  It was moving, affecting and extremely effective at making the stories of victims and their families come alive.  A somber but necessary high spot of our visit.

Dinner that night was with friends at the vegetarian Candle 79.  The company was great, the food tasty as well as beautifully presented and it's quiet white tablecloth ambiance  perfect for catching up with old friends.  Afterwards we took in as light but fun Broaway musical -- Honeymoon in Vegas.

Next up was a subway ride to Penn Station, a short jaunt on NJ Transit and AirTrain to Newark Airport to rent a car for a visit to friends in Philly.  Highlights included Independence Hall, the Barnes Collection, a great tapas meal with some college friends and lots opportunity to visit with other dear friends who also hosted us.

Of course and we had a cheesesteak, which we split.  I've eaten the classic Pat and Geno cheesesteaks before, so I was willing to try something new, Sonny's. It was good, but surprisingly NOT that much better than my local cheesesteak shop.

Then it was off to Long Island where my sisters made a scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner and I got a chance to eat in a number of diners where I had my old standby soup and tuna melts. (Until they bring back automats, diners are my fave retro food destinations.)

A few days later we wrapped up our trip by returning our car at John F Kennedy airport and taking public transit to NYC.  We stayed at the Hyatt Herald Square, this time a Priceline find.  We ate breakfast and a few other meals at one of the city's amazing salad bars which was part steam table, part short order cook, part grill and part sandwich shop. 

We walked and walked.  Spent time at the Cloisters, New York's restored middle ages monastery, explored the Met museum, and saw the Tony-winning Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder.  

We also had dinner in the West Village with high school friends of our oldest son.  

Soon enough it was time to roll,our suitcases out and return to JFK for the trip home.

Inviting Judaism to the Thanksgiving Table -- A Talk on November 13 in Oakland

If you are in the Bay area, I hope you will come hear me (as well as a panel of other speakers) talk about how to add layers of understanding to your Thanksgiving meal.  I'll be exploring some of the roots of this very American tradition and explore how we can bring use some of our experiences with Passover, Sukkot and other holidays to add ritual and meaning without necessarily remaking the holiday as "Jewish" since many of us share the holiday table with friends and relatives of different backgrounds.

We'll also discuss (and sample) some Thanksgiving foods with a Jewish twist.

The event is from 3 to 5 p.m. at Temple Beth Abraham, 327 Euclid Avenue, Oakland, CA.  The event is free to members of Women of Temple Beth Abraham, $18 for others.

Please email me at clickblogappetitATgmailDOTcom if you would like more information or to RVSP. 

Update:  See my post here for the recipes and links to the trivia contest and resource guide I created.
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Photo credit: MS Clip Art

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Contest

Can you guess the weight of Big Bertha over there?

Leave your best guess in the comment section below.

Answer will be posted on November 28th.

I suspect that it is not a great eating pumpkin, but bonus points for figuring out approximately how many pumpkin pies this behemoth would make.

(If you are a food or other blogger and have a related link you would like to share, such as one to pumpkin recipes, pie crust tips, thanksgiving thoughts, etc., please include it in your comment.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Hummus Redux -- Putting This Hummus in a Pumpkin Shell Does Very Well for Thanksgiving

I love this recipe for pumpkin hummus.  It's perfect for Thanksgiving.* It's easy.  It's tasty.  It is always well received.  I've included it in recipe demos, I shared it in my j weekly column and here in Blog Appetit.

Despite how much I love this recipe, I couldn't resist tinkering.  First I thought it would do very well in a pumpkin.  Which it did -- just look at the beauty above.  Then I amped the taste by adding about 1 tsp. of smoked paprika to the hummus when I added the pumpkin puree.

Other changes:  I made sure the za'atar mix had plenty of time to soften in the olive oil before blending half into the pumpkin hummus.  I drizzled about a third of what was left over the top of the dip and drizzled the rest in batches as the top layers of the dip were consumed.

I also garnished the spread with roasted pumpkin seeds saved from when I cleaned the squash out to make the dip container.  I cleaned, rinsed and dried the seeds and then roasted with lots of sea salt and smoked paprika on a well oiled tray in 325 degree oven, turning occasionally to make sure seeds were coated on both sides, for about 20-25 minutes.

Here's the original recipe including the smoked paprika addition above. The version shown in the pumpkin is a double recipe which I served with jicama sticks and thin, toasted slices of a pretzel baguette.

Pumpkin Hummus with Za’atar Drizzle Makes 8 appetizer servings

7-8 oz. container of unflavored hummus
1 cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree (do not use canned pumpkin pie filling)
1 tsp. smoke paprika
 2 Tbs. za’atar seasoning mix (or use 5 tsp. ground oregano, 1⁄4 tsp. of cumin and 1 tsp. sesame seeds)
1/4 cup olive oil
6-8 flatbreads or pita breads

Mix hummus with pumpkin puree and paprika. In a separate bowl, combine za’atar with olive oil and stir well. Heat flatbreads or pitas in dry fry pan or griddle until warm and toasted. Either serve as a topped flatbread or dip. To serve as a flatbread, spread the pumpkin hummus on the bread, drizzle with za’atar mix and cut into triangles. To serve as a dip, stir half of the za’atar into the hummus until just combined and you can still see “streaks” of the herb oil mixture. Drizzle the remainder on top of the pumpkin hummus. Cut the warmed breads into triangles and serve with dip.
*It's also lovely for Halloween or Day of the Dead parties, or really any time!

Pumpkin Tricks and Treats for the Cook

It's not quite as bad as Thanksgiving, when a turkey has to get a presidential pardon to protect him or her from the dinner table, but it does seem to be a trend of cooks preparing pumpkin (or other winter squash) for starter, main course and/or dessert at Halloween.

Blog Appetit yields it's love of orange winter squash to no one and I have very happily served pumpkin dishes for dinner at Halloween since I graduated college and from a hot plate to a real stove.

Here is a kind of pumpkin boot camp, complete with recipes to help you prepare for your Halloween feast.

• How to choose, prep and cook pumpkin. Plus recipes for a pumpkin turkey chili and low-fat pumpkin tartlets. Also hints for ways to use up left over pumpkin. The tartlets can be made as custards for even fewer calories, or plop the filling into a regular pie crust for a full-size, low-fat, high-taste pumpkin pie.


• Winter Vegetable Saute for over pasta, potatoes, polenta , etc.


• This recipe for Butternut Squash Soup would work well with a cooking pumpkin (such as sugar baby). The post comes with a bonus since it was based on leftovers, you get the recipe for squash and braised greens as well as the soup.

Here's some tips for cooking with pumpkin:

• Don't choose a big field or jack-o-lantern pumpkin for cooking, the flesh is too watery. See the post on the first link above for what to buy and how to choose.

• If I am starting with cooked pumpkin, I prefer to bake my pumpkin and then scoop the flesh away from the peel. It concentrates the squash's flavor and makes peeling it a much easier job.


• If you need or chose to use canned pumpkin puree, start with the kind that is NOT labled pumpkin pie filling. That type is already spiced to the manufacturer's taste not yours.


• Be careful whacking into any hard winter squash with a sharp object. Make sure the squash is stablized on your cutting board (slice a bit from the bottom or side if need to be to help it stay in place) and make sure you are focused and your cutting board is placed on a solid enough surface. I use my heaviest Chinese cleaver, but a strong, full-size chef's knife would work well. Focus on where you want to cleave the squash, take a few practice swings, raise your arm up high, check your fingers and children are safe and then, bam! If the knife doesn't go all the way through, don't worry. With the knife still "engaged" in the body of the squash, whack the knife and pumpkin down on the cutting board a time or two and the vegetable should split cleanly in half. More prep info is in that first link.

I have an idea for mac and cheese with winter squash, but I don't have the kinks worked out yet. I'll post after I test it. (Update 9.30.12 - it took awhile but here it is!)
Please add your own pumpkin tips, tricks, treats and links in the comments below.

Two Fall Dessert Recipes -- Apple Caramel Cheese Flan and Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Ice Cream

Was it the brightly colored fall leaves that inspired me?  The crisp juiciness of the season's first apples?  The promise of pumpkin pie?  I'm not sure what lead me to create these two new fall-flavored desserts, Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream and Apple Caramel Cheese Flan, but there was one unifying theme -- cream cheese.

More precisely, a local dairy gifted me with six tubs of the stuff (but no other compensation).  I'm not mentioning brands here, but I will say I was motivated to develop some recipes, the result of which are posted below.  Use lactose-free cream cheese and the non-dairy margarine if you have lactose issues.  The recipes are tested and work with those products.  If lactose toleration is not an issue for you, use regular soft (not whipped or brick style cream cheese) and pile on the whipped cream.  Most commercial caramel sauces do contain some dairy, so you may also need to seek out a non-dairy caramel sauce for the flan or make your own based just on sugar and water. 

Try one of both of these as an ending to your fall (and even Thanksgiving) dinner.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream

Makes about 1 Quart

This frozen dessert has the flavor of pumpkin pie with the added tang of cream cheese. Not too sweet, it is rich and satisfying.

No pumpkin pie spice in the house?  May your own.  Combine four parts ground cinnamon, two parts ground ginger, one part ground nutmeg and one part ground allspice.  Add a dash of ground clove if you'd like.

2-8 oz. tubs soft cream cheese, at room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup sugar

1-15 oz, can of plain pureed pumpkin

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Pour cream cheese in a large bowl.  Stir until smooth.  Mix in vanilla, sugar, pumpkin and spice.  Stir until very smooth and well combined.  Cover and chill.  Process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer instructions.  Eat immediately or store in airtight container in freezer.  Take out of freezer about 20 minutes before serving.  Scoop into serving dishes. If desired top with caramel syrup, whipped cream and chopped pecans or walnuts.

Apple Caramel Cheese Flan

Slice of flan with extra caramel sauce

Serves 8

This flan variation combines sweet, buttery, crisp and tangy for a refreshing dessert.  If you use the sugar and water homemade caramel option (see above), you won't need extra to drizzle at the end. Double the apple and butter if desired to use extra as a topping.

About 6 Tbs. caramel sauce, plus extra for drizzling

2 Tbs. butter or margarine

1 large Granny Smith apple, cored (peeling optional) and diced

1-8 oz. tub soft cream cheese, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla

1/3 cup sugar

8 ox. apple juice

4 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat bottom of 9-10" cake pan with about 6 Tbs. of caramel sauce (heating sauce slightly if it is not easy to spread). 

Melt butter in large skillet, saute apple pieces until softened.  Scatter apple pieces on top of caramel sauce in cake pan. (Apple pieces will distribute through flan as it cooks.)

In a large bowl, stir cream cheese until smooth.  Stir in vanilla, sugar and juice, mixing until smooth and well combined.  Stir in eggs, again mixing until smooth.  Pour over apples in prepared pan.

Plan cake pan inside a large, rimmed baking pan.  Boil water and pour hot water inside the larger pan until it comes up about halfway to the outside of cake pan with the flan (do not pour water into cake pan).  You are making a ban marie to help the flan bake evenly and without cracks.

Bake about 45-60 minutes until the flan is somewhat set (it will still be somewhat jiggly) and lightly browned.  Carefully remove cake pan from the hot water, cover and chill for at least 2 hours.

When ready to serve, run a thin knife around the outside of the flan to loosened it from the pan.  Dip bottom of pan briefly in a basin or bowl of hot water.  Quickly invert cake pan over serving platter.  If flan does not release from pan. Turn over and dip pan back in hot water and try again. (Usually flan releases just fine the first time.)  Or slice and serve from pan.  Drizzle with extra caramel sauce as desired.

National Pie Day -- The Life of Pie on Blog Appetit -- A Round Up of Pies, Tarts and Other Pastry-Crusted Things

Today's National Pie Day so I thought I would list out a sample of pie and similar recipes available here on Blog Appetit.

While I  yield to no one on my love crust-enclosed goodness, I was a bit surprised to find out there is an American Pie Council with corporate members and sponsors ranging from ingredient producers, bakeries and equipment manufacturers to a pie plate maker. The fun continues with contests, festivals and a tie to the movie Labor Day (which apparently features lots of pie making and or eating going on).

No mention of band camp (American Pie movie reference), slapstick pies in the face, the number pi or other related things.  The council also did a survey of 1000 American pie eaters to find out their preferences.  Alas, they did not present this information in a pie chart -- perhaps I will feel ambitious later and cook one up.

From the overblown and relatively hard to read news release:

"The survey revealed that pie is a preferred dessert even on special occasions other than Thanksgiving, with 70% favoring it on Christmas and 67% considering it a staple of family gatherings. And, it’s not just an after-dinner treat. Pie is a great late-night snack, too, 58% of the respondents said."

No word on what percentage just prefer pie on non-special occasions.

The survey also asked about favorite pie flavors:

"Apple takes, ah, the cake, but perhaps surprisingly chocolate pie tied with pumpkin in the No. 2 spot, while cherry placed third, according to the survey."

I wish the APC provided more info (where for example are my favorites -- lemon meringue and strawberry rhubarb), but the rest of the new release touts the movie not the dessert.

For the record, pies also make a wonderful breakfast dish --- my mother was partial to apple pie with cheese as a way to start her day. (Honestly she would eat that pretty much any time of the day).  I've made oatmeal as well as white bean breakfast pies.  Savory dinner pies (think quiche among others) are also popular.  In addition to the usual slice, pies have gotten themselves tarted up lately with trendy pie pops and hand pies. 

Keep reading for a round up of appropriate recipes from Blog Appetit.

Gobble This: Happy Almost Turkey Day

The Blog Appetits are off for another adventure and I'm not sure when I'll be able to post again. I hope to share my fresh cranberry sauce recipe with you, but what with packing and wrapping up the office and all, I'm afraid I won't have time. Just in case I don't have an opportunity to say it, I thought I'd wish everyone a happy, healthy and meaningful Thanksgiving, especially my niece, Anna, who created this turkey costume last year. She made a very convincing turkey, complete with gobble.

I hope to have lots to share when we return from our vacation.

Craving Pumpkins?

Thanks to the Bravenet counter I slapped on this site 10 months ago, I can track back to where some of my visitors come from. Because I use the free version I can only track the last 10 views, so it is an imperfect glance at my audience at best.

(Don't worry, I can't tell who you are, what your email or isp account is or anything devious like that, but I can tell what your search words were or what the referring website was. If you typed in the address or clicked in from your favorites or bookmarks, I can't see you at all.)

The last few days little old Blog Appetit has been seeing lots of visitors who are searching for pumpkin info. Some, like those looking for pumpkin chili or how to cook pumpkin, make sense. Blog Appetit does that all here.

But I've gotten a large number of page views from folks looking for "pumpkin craving." I guess the search engines didn't correct the misspelled craving for carving and since I have a post that contains both the words pumpkin and craving, Google directed you right to my door step.

Well, if you are here because you crave pumpkins, welcome. We all crave pumpkins sometimes, especially around Halloween and Thanksgiving. And sometimes we even carve the pumpkins we crave.

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Photos of pumpkins and squash taken at the October 29th farmers market in the Montclair District of Oakland, CA.

Is That Spud a Dud?

My latest piece for Sugar Savvy is posted. Click on over to see if I roast See's Candies' St. Patrick's Day Potato candy or if I think it is one sweet potato.

Look for the candy's cinnamon-cocoa powder topping to inspire a future recipe here at Blog Appetit.

(After I wrote this I started thinking how the candy potato could work for other holidays if they just changed the box. Potato pancakes are a symbol of Chanukah, so how about a Chanukah Spud? Or potato salad is traditional for the Fourth of July, so maybe a Firecracker Potato with extra cinnamon? For Thanksgiving, maybe they could tint the inside orange and just call it a Sweet Potato? Or maybe not.)

Road Trip -- New York

Blog Appetit and family spent the last big holiday in suburban New York with family. It was not a big foodie adventure.

First off, I felt like part of a chain gang. Partly because of the presence of the distinctly non-foodie older son, largely for convenience, we ate in a lot of chains -- Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, TGIF, Ground Round (a regional chain that used to be a funky hamburger pub with free peanuts and lots of peanut shells on the floor, but is now the peanutless home of chicken Caesar wraps in colored tortillas) and the Hard Rock Cafe. (That was where we had our one meal in Manhattan. The ahi tuna sandwich with wasabi mayonnaise wasn't half bad, though.)

Thanksgiving itself featured a beautifully bronzed bird (which I almost forgot to take a photo of, hence the missing slice), home grown vegetables and a fridge full of leftovers for my sister.

Besides the chain food, my other disappointment was the lack of hot chestnut vendors the day we were in New York City. True, we were only in a few neighborhoods and the weather was only chilly and not freezing, but still, I wanted my brown paper bag full of hot chestnuts tasting slightly sweet and nutty with just a hint of acridity where the shells had been blackened on the bottom.

I did get teased by that smoky smell of charcoal braziers which always makes me think I've stepped back in time, haggling with vendors swathed in mismatched padded layers, wearing peaked caps, speaking strange languages and with calloused fingers poking out of knit gloves. But the pushcarts were selling hot pretzels and shish kabob. I wasn't tempted by the dried out pretzels and I just couldn't try the skewered street food, for hours earlier I had just tasted the Middle Eastern grilled food I have ever eaten.
(To Be Continued ...)

Fridge Clean-Out Soup -- Tomato, Carrot and Spinach with White Beans

Last week's soup wasn't my most successful at first, in fact it needed quite a bit of amendments before it was pronounced soup.

This was a fridge clean-out soup and it does demonstrate how flexibility saved the soup.

My key inspirations were 1 pint wrinkled cherry tomatoes and half a medium-sized bag of dried out peeled and shaped carrots. (Note: chop up the carrots first otherwise they take forever to soften.) I also had bought some Oxo Indian Herb and Spice bullion cubes which I thought I would give a try.

I sauteed a half chopped onion and two minced cloves of garlic in olive oil. Added the tomatoes and carrots. Let that brown a bit, then added about 8 cups of water and the bullion cube and then let it simmer until the carrots were soft. I then used my immersion blender to puree until relatively smooth.

I tasted it at this point and wasn't satisfied. (Actually, I thought, yikes, there are way too many carrots in this!) I then added a box of chopped frozen spinach from my freezer and a healthy dose of curry powder, a pinch of ground ginger and a good slug of my own Below the Belt Hot Sauce (see info on post below). Better, but not quite soup yet.

I drained and rinsed off a 15 oz can of large white beans, added them to the pot. The next taste was it! I seasoned everything with lots of sea salt and freshly ground pepper and called it soup.

It wasn't a pretty process, but it sure was a tasty soup!

FYI - The photo is not actually of my overstuffed fridge, which prompted this soup, but of my sister's after our Thanksgiving meal. But you get the idea.
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Resources:
Oxo, recipes and product info: http://www.oxo.co.uk
Below the Belt Hot Sauce: http://clickblogappetit.blogspot.com/2005/11/hot-stuff-at-farm-stand.html

Soup

Road Trip -- Down the Pacific Coast to Santa Cruz

Friends of ours from the Midwest were visiting and Gary and I took them sightseeing for the day. These friends know the San Francisco area well and have already seen many of the traditional sights and sites, so Gary decided a road trip down the coast in search of sea otters, seals and sea lions was in order.

As we headed from downtown to the Great Highway, our first detour was to view the tasteful renovation of the Cliff House overlooking the Pacific Ocean and Seal Rock. There were no seals there, however. We gave our friends a history lesson about the long-gone Sutro Baths and Playland, instead. It was a good thing the bar wasn’t open yet, or I think Catherine and I would have voted to stay and try out the cocktail menu and drink in the view.

We didn’t get far. Just down the Great Highway is the Beach Chalet with its magnificent WPA murals. We chose to ignore the brew pub that now occupies the top floor of the building and concentrate on art, culture and history.

Our odyssey continued as we loaded back up in Gary’s van and wended our way down the spectacular Northern California coast line, stopping at a few of the rugged beaches to admire the pounding surf, wind blown trees and craggy coastline and looking in vain for our marine mammal friends.

Just above Half Moon Bay we stopped at the harbor at Princeton by the Sea. The majority of boats here are working fishing vessels of one sort or another and there are several fish related businesses on the pier. We poked around a bit and decided that since we didn’t have a cooler buying raw fish was not a souvenir we should consider when I declared I was hungry and I wanted fish. Now. We tried a colorful café overlooking the harbor. Barbara’s Fish Trap had fresh fish from rockfish (which Ferrol craved) to calamari. Preparations were simple, portions were huge. The four of us gorged ourselves on broiled fish with coleslaw, fish and chips (the fried fish was perfect, the chips less so), fried calamari rings (incredibly tender and moist with just the right crisp from the fryer) and the largest shrimp and crab louie that I have ever encountered. (The copious amounts of seafood were fresh and steamed until cooked through and not a second more, with a clean taste and a good texture, but I am sorry to say the sauce was a glop of sweet thousand island dressing and the lettuce was rough chunks of iceberg. I ate every bite, however.)

Satiated for now, we shoved off, continuing to explore the twists and turns of Highway One, past fields of Brussels sprouts growing on their stalks, looking like they would be harvested just in time for the nation’s Thanksgiving feasts. We stopped at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse and from the wind-whipped deck at land’s end we finally saw our marine friends frolicking in the waves – a sea otter and a harbor seal.

Mission accomplished, the decision was made to turn inland and head back via a faster (and straighter) highway. We had barely turned onto Pine Flat Road when Catherine, Ferrol (a big wine enthusiast) and I all yelled at Gary to stop. We had spotted the Bonnie Doon Vineyard Tasting Room. Luckily, Gary decided to be our designated driver, so we could imbibe to our hearts’ content. I’ll post more about our wine tasting experience in the future, but let’s just say after a full flight of wines that included a raspberry desert wine in a dark Belgian chocolate cup, I was ready for a nap or a mug of something caffeinated.

Now our route took us through the redwoods of the Santa Cruz mountains and when we popped out we were in the little town of Felton, which reminded me very much of a rustic Berkeley. We stopped at the White Raven Café, where they take their chai seriously. Their chai deserves a post of its own and will get one soon.

Then, somehow to our surprise, we were back on a major highway and on our way back to San Francisco. We’ve promised to visit them in Minnesota. They have a friend who keeps them supplied with fresh white fish and a friend who owns a Vietnamese restaurant. Sounds like it will be a great trip!
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Resources:
Barbara's Fish Trap, 650. 728.7049, no web or email, 281 Capistrano Rd., Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
Beach Chalet – http://www.beachchalet.com/
Bonnie Doon Vineyard Tasting Room: http://www.bonnydoonvineyard.com/tasting/bonnydoon
Cliff House -- http://www.cliffhouse.com/

Pigeon Point Lighthouse – http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=533

White Raven -- http://www.awhiteraven.com/