Wednesday, December 3, 2008

I am thankful for...

Capay farms!

Look at what I got delivered to my doorstep yesterday:

All organic and local (as long as you specify Capay only) and all for $29. I suppose that might seem like a lot, but it's all very fresh and tasty and I don't have to shop for it.

The leeks and chard are going into some soup for me tonight. I feel on the brink of a cold, but I hope to stave it off with this magic concoction.

Thanksgiving


Due to a last minute freakout on my part, Nate and I found ourselves sitting through 17 hours of traffic the day before Thanksgiving. I decided, last minute, that I absolutely could not be in the same country as my family and not see them on Thanksgiving. So we went, and listened to a very bad audiobook, and Nate was nice enough to drive most of the way.

I am so happy we did. Really, the only way I am able to live 1500 miles from my family is that I somehow manage to see them once every couple of months.

Above you see the beautiful turkey my Grama roasted in the oven. It was very good, as turkeys go (turkey is not my favorite fowl). We had all the other usual suspects. One thing that was missing from the table, that I sorely missed, was the sweet potato, bacon, Gruyere, and rosemary casserole. This recipe was adapted from a Martha Stewart twice baked potato thing-y many years ago, and we have loved it ever since. However, this year, Grama's friend brought the sweet potatoes. No bacon, no love, in my opinion.

My contribution was Grama's famous onion and mushroom casserole (weird how we switch jobs around here) - I believe this is adapted from an ancient Sunset magazine recipe. We made it with fresh onions this year, instead of frozen, and I thought it was an improvement. Here's how it goes:

Blanch a bag of pearl onions in boiling water for a minute. Once they are cool, slip them out of their skins. Saute the same amount of mushrooms in a chunk of butter until they are a bit browned.

Remove mushrooms to a casserole and combine with the onions.

Saute a spoonful of flour in the leftover fat and then slowly whisk in a cup of milk. Remove from the fire and whisk in a cup of grated Swiss cheese, along with a bit of oregano and parsley. Pour this into the casserole and fold in the veggies.

Top with buttered croƻtons and pop in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes.