Closing in on Thanksgiving

Yesterday at the manor, almost 200 residents and family members were served a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  It seemed to come off without a hitch, and everyone was in good humor.  Julie even had the opportunity to play with a tiny puppy brought in by a teenaged family member.  The puppy was less than two pounds, named Bentley.

 

Ed, Food Manager

There were two seating times, and Gene and Julie and I ate during the later time.  We were seated with Louise and her daughter Linda, and it was almost like any other weekday lunch, except my usual soup was not packed and reheated, and it was a tasty and festive holiday lunch. Activity Director Cindy made place cards and pretty table decorations.

Marianne made some delicious artisan bread last week and forwarded the recipe that you can pick up here.  Another loaf of bread that I made over the weekend was also pretty darn delicious, but it called for half a cup of olive oil, so it was more calorific. That recipe can be found here. Both recipes are delicious and easy to make.

Nephew Jeremy and his family are driving up from Georgetown, Texas this week.  I will try to get some old fashioned Quaker Oats Vanishing Cookies made for snacking, along with a few loaves of the no-knead breads.  We will be having our Thursday noon meal at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic parish along with a few others sharing in a Thanksgiving potluck. Jeremy and Martha and Evan and Edie will be staying at a bed and breakfast in Montrose this week, but we plan on getting lots of visiting in while they are here in Colorado.

Remember the St. Brigid cross that my friend Sharon was on the lookout for while she was in Ireland over the summer?  I put all the crosses, including St. Brigid's, on a wall mount for display. The red makes me happy! The cross on the right is made from olive wood and was crafted in Bethlehem.  The cross on the bottom left is from the youth group fund raiser as they are collecting money to go to an alternative Spring Break in El Salvador

And then, after two weeks without posting, I feel compelled to update knitting news.  I am making this free headband pattern as my hair is thinning and a cover-up can't be beat, especially when it is cold outside.  I have made a couple of knit flowers that are fun and look pretty on the headband.  That flower pattern is here.

Drops Headband Pattern

Easy Knitted Flower

Happy Thanksgiving!

Who? Me? Cook?

"What is your favorite holiday recipe?" asked a columnist who writes for the Grand Junction Senior Beacon.  She asked, also saying that she would like to take my picture and have my favorite recipe in the upcoming November issue, along with several other contributors.  We had just come out of an evening meeting at church last week when she caught me, and I was actually thinking of how quickly I could jump into my pj's and then into a warm bed.  Food was not on my radar when the clock was nearing 9 pm.

Taken a little off-guard by her question, my first thought was of the shockingly pink cranberry relish that Susan Stamberg shared several years ago on the radio.  I had made that, and it was a bit different from what others might share.  Then I gave the old brain a minute more to think and said, "well, it is not my recipe, and err...actually, I don't cook it, because my husband is outstanding in the culinary category, but I can tell you what it is and give you an internet link to the recipe."  By this time, Writer Lady could hardly back out of her offer to feature my favorite holiday recipe. So she went ahead and took my mug shot and wrote down the information.

Here, let me just do a cut and paste job and reveal the Gene Amole Recipe for Thanksgiving Stuffing that my husband makes semi-annually (we like it with chicken in the summer, too.)

from Living The Grand Life: 

I first started posting this recipe in 2007. Folks seem to like it. We still make it every year. Here it is again so that you can get your shopping list finished. 

Gene Amole was a columnist for the Rocky Mountain News. He was a hometown writer who knew the city well and wrote on a variety of topics.

In 1982, he was looking for a Thanksgiving topic. In desperation he published his recipe for stuffing.

In 1998 he wrote about this about his recipe column: "It was a smash. I had more favorable comments about that column than anything I had written previously. Since then, I have reprinted it twice, the last time eight years ago, but I still get a flood of requests each year to send people copies because they had lost theirs."

 And so he printed the recipe one final time in November of 1998.

My wife is from the south and always had cornbread stuffing. I grew up in Denver and was used to a rather plain white bread stuffing. We adopted this recipe as a new family tradition and have enjoyed it for many years. It is a recipe that responds well to variations. I like to use a whole pound of Italian sausage and Texas pecans.

Gene Amole’s Thanksgiving Turkey Stuffing

20 slices of white bread (or use a package of dried bread cubes)
6 slices of dark, Jewish pumpernickel (don't leave this out)
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon sage
½ pound breakfast sausage
½ pound Italian sausage
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped walnuts, pecans or macadamia nuts
3 to 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 to 2 Granny Smith or Jonathan apples
Handful of cranberries
2 cups thick-sliced mushrooms
¼ lb. butter
2 cans chicken broth
2 tablespoons Harvey's Bristol Cream or jug sherry

Gene Amole’s directions:
Now, relax. It is impossible to screw up turkey stuffing. First, let's assume you are roasting a 15-20 pound bird. You'll need about 20 slices of white bread and a half-dozen slices of dark, Jewish pumpernickel. Lightly toast and cut each slice into crouton-size cubes and put into a large bowl.

It's a good idea to mix spices separately in a small bowl. Combine a tablespoon of Salt with a teaspoon of Pepper and a tablespoon of Sage. Be careful not to use too much salt because there is salt in some of the ingredients. Next, mix the spices and sprinkle them over the bread cubes.

Now, you are ready to go to the stove. Crumble and brown in a skillet a half-pound each of breakfast sausage and Italian sausage. Drain off the grease and remove sausage with a slotted spoon and add to the bowl with the bread crumbs and spices.

Add a cup each of chopped celery, chopped onion and chopped walnuts. If you are a big spender, use macadamia nuts instead of walnuts. Add three or four tablespoons of chopped, fresh parsley. Peel, core, chop and add one or two Granny Smith or Jonathan apples. I like to mix in a handful or so of fresh cranberries for color. To all of this, add a couple of cups of mushrooms, sliced thick.

The last thing to add is the liquid. Melt a quarter-pound of butter in two cups of canned chicken broth. After it is blended, add two tablespoons of either Harvey's Bristol Creme or jug sherry. Take a little nip for yourself.

You are almost there. Drizzle the liquid over the ingredients in the large bowl. I like a reasonably fluffy stuffing. You can add more liquid if you like. Toss the bread cubes and spices with the liquid until evenly mixed.

Food science no longer recommends stuffing the bird. We make up the recipe and bake it in a ceramic casserole dish. I guess that makes it dressing as opposed to stuffing - whatever you call it, it's good.