Middle of the Road

Looking back to our 2014 Thanksgiving menu and reworking it for 2018!

Apps:
– Homemade Fromage Frias, crackers, various jams
– Carrot soup (Modernist Cuisine)

Mains:
– Smoked Turkey from Yarko
– Cornbread stuffing
– Mashed potatos
– Baked sweet potatos
– Cranberry Salad (Lesya)
– Broccoli Casserole (Mom)
– Cranberry sauce
– Gravy
– Beet Salad (Cyanya)

Desserts
– Pecan pie (Mom)
– Pumpkin Pie (Dave)
– [Andrijko & Natalka]

– A cranberry cocktail using actual cranberries! Or should we stick with Negroni?

– Broccolini-Cheddar Gratin with Rye Breadcrumbs
– Cornbread, Chorizo, Cherry, and Pecan Stuffing (using a double recipe of cornbread from WS)
– Sweet and Spicy Chile Pepper Jelly

– Instead of the broccolini: brussels sprouts with bacon and raisins from Bon Appetit

– Serious Eats sous vide turkey breast

– Dead Simple Turkey Gravy (from Serious Eats)

– Jeni’s Cranberry Royale Sorbet (recipe from book, found online here)

– Mark Bittman’s Cranberry Relish with Orange and Ginger

A few days ago I planted the last sunflower seeds of 2017, mostly because of running out of space. Decided to plant six rows simultaneous and shoot for a bolus of flowers being ready at once… although in hindsight one of the varieties is 60-70 days unlike the 50-60 for the other two.

Also, planted in two ~30 inch beds with a 12 inch walkway. Three rows per bed spaced at about 7 inches. Rather than put one variety per row, I filled the bed with the same variety across the rows so that taller varieties don’t block shorter ones.

Planted the remainder of the Sunrich Orange Summer, the remainder of the Sunbright Supreme (60-70 days), and about half the remaining Pro Cut Peach.

Lots of fungus and other stuff going on in the garden these days. Just realized that powdery mildew is a problem on some cukes and even what remains of the summer squash. Will be spraying Serenade later today, and probably fertilizing with fish emulsion.

I really need to keep a garden journal, because I have a lot to learn, I’ve spent more time than usual gardening this year, and I need to keep track of what has and hasn’t worked. So this will likely be very boring to everyone else in the world, hopefully for the rest of the gardening season.

The green beans I planted a few days ago are coming up nicely. Along with the kohlrabi that Dad planted (about a week ago?) and the harvested seeds from what I believe is probably a broccoli raab which was a spring volunteer.

Harvested 11 sunflowers, mostly from the second planting but a couple reds from the first. Together with the 5 from yesterday, these all went out to the curb with a new sign.

Planted a row of cilantro (seed from plants here at home, untested), a row of bulb fennel (80 days, is there enough time?), and two shorter rows of swiss chard.

Placed the final stakes for the pepper plants. Harvested about a dozen Jalapenos yesterday.

Caught a small rabbit and relocated him a five minute walk away.

Based on Allrecipes http://allrecipes.com/recipe/57326/bobs-habanero-hot-sauce—liquid-fire/

100 g seeded and stemmed habaneros from the garden
400 g canned mango puree
75 g agave in the raw
50 g red pepper from the garden
50 g yellow pepper from the garden
50 g yellow mustard
100 g light brown sugar
2 cups white vinegar
6 g paprika
3 g black pepper
3 g coriander seed
6 g ground ginger

Batch #2

90 g seeded and stemmed habaneros from the garden
10 g seeded jalapeno from the garden
390 g canned mango puree
50 g red pepper from the garden
65 g yellow pepper from the garden
55 g robust molasses
44 g honey
56 g brown sugar
2 cups white vinegar
6 g paprika
3 g black pepper
6 g ground coriander
6 g ground ginger

…and this was the dinner from last night, Cuban skirt steak and vegetables, which was delicious. Both kids ate very well but Anya in particular.

New Ideas for Thanksgiving 2014 (a “live” post which will be updated a few times) (and a few non-Thanksgiving ideas)

From Bon Appetit Thanksgiving issue:

– A cranberry cocktail using actual cranberries? I’m in.
– Not really Thanksgiving-specific, but I’m intrigued by Tahini Cookies
– Again not Thanksgiving-specific, but this also looks delicious: Spiced Lamb Patties with Nutty Garlic Sauce
– Broccolini-Cheddar Gratin with Rye Breadcrumbs
– Cornbread, Chorizo, Cherry, and Pecan Stuffing (using a double recipe of cornbread from WS)
– Sweet and Spicy Chile Pepper Jelly

– Instead of the broccolini: brussels sprouts with bacon and raisins from Bon Appetit

– Serious Eats sous vide turkey breast

– Dead Simple Turkey Gravy (from Serious Eats)

– Jeni’s Cranberry Royale Sorbet (recipe from book, found online here)

– Mark Bittman’s Cranberry Relish with Orange and Ginger

– Modernist Cuisine Caramelized Pumpkin Pie

The twinkies were looking great outside:

Whilst the ladies were inside getting photobombed:

A great time was had by all… Mike and I really enjoyed the pig tail and the bone marrow. Would go back again just for those two dishes.