Thanksgiving | The Rambling Epicure

Pumpkin and Anchovy Pudding

Published by Jonell Galloway + Wednesday, December 27, 2017 Permalink 0

I baked my “yellow pumpkin,” my zucca gialla, which the greengrocer recommended as being the sweetest for my baked pumpkin pudding. While pulling out the seeds and flesh with my fingers, I noted some little hard, dark bits, so I pulled them out as best I could, all the time thinking it strange that they were there. When I went to my cutting board to get the chopped anchovies to add to my liver pâté, they were gone. I had kneaded them into my pumpkin. This may be the beginning of a new and improved (?) pudding. Some people like sweet and savory together, right?

An Ode to Thanksgiving: A Poem by Mark Manning

Published by Jonell Galloway + Wednesday, November 21, 2012 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

While there is an abundance of Christmas songs, both religious and simply festive, there aren’t many Thanksgiving songs to remember, so Mark Manning decided to take a stab at one. It’s a jolly effort!

Randolph the Red-beaked Turkey

by Mark Manning

Randolph the red-beaked turkey
Had a very shiny beak.
And if you ever saw it,
It would be Thanksgiving week.
None of the other turkeys
Ever laughed or called him names.
(That’s just because they’re turkeys —
Turkeys all have tiny brains.)
Then one bright Thanksgiving eve
Th’ farmer came to say,
“Randolph with your beak so bright,
You’ll be on the plate tonight.”
Then all the diners loved him,
And they shouted out with glee,
“Randolph the red-beaked turkey,
You taste great with mom’s gravy!”

Not to miss: Bittman on Thanksgiving as a model for Sustainable Cooking

Published by Jonell Galloway + Thursday, November 24, 2011 Permalink 0

Don’t miss Mark Bittman‘s “Thanksgiving as a model for sustainable cooking” in The New York Times.

The one thing that is different about Thanksgiving is that we are less wasteful. For the rest of the year, Americans have a record for throwing out at least 40% of their food, while even before Thanksgiving we are figuring out what do do with all the leftovers. Perhaps we should make this our model for the rest of the year.

…The holiday also contains a solution to one of our greatest problems today: our eating. We’re finding it incredibly hard to feed ourselves the way we want. It’s not, as many think, because food is so expensive or we’re so short on time, but because we have a perspective on cooking that impedes our getting real value from our ingredients, or the most from our time.

On Thanksgiving, though, we get it right.

Click here to read the rest of this very important article.

A Thanksgiving Quote: The thankful heart sweeps through the day finding blessings

Published by Jonell Galloway + Thursday, November 24, 2011 Permalink 0

Happy Thanksgiving!

The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!— Henry Ward Beecher, American Congregationalist clergyman

Make your own pumpkin pie spice for pies and lattes

Published by Jonell Galloway + Tuesday, November 22, 2011 Permalink 0

Save money on those pumpkin spice lattes by making your own pumpkin spice with this recipe. Click here to see recipe.

Find variations on this spice recipe here.

And if you get a craving for pumpkin pie spice lattes from time to time, here’s a low-calorie version. For an all-out version, whipped cream and all, you might go for this recipe. For a simple version using fresh pumpkin purée, click here.

Thanksgiving: The thanks we have to offer in these hard economic times

Published by Jonell Galloway + Tuesday, November 22, 2011 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

Despite the gloom and doom we hear in the financial news, despite the news about obesity and general unhealthy eating in the U.S., there are things to be thankful for, and this week, it’s perhaps more important than anytime in our lifetimes to remember them.

The food world and eating habits were certainly worse 10 years ago than now. Awareness was less. And above all, hard economic times do not necessarily mean bad times for food. People starve during wars, but during hard economic times, they often tend to go back to basics. They raise vegetable gardens and chicken; at the moment we’re witnessing urban gardens popping up all over the country. They think before they buy, before they throw something in the shopping cart, and that often leads to healthier eating. Fresh, simple, healthy food will always be cheaper than processed and junk food. And then we have a Super First Lady in Michelle Obama is going all out for the future of our children, even planting a vegetable garden as a good example for them.

These are things to be thankful for, but once again, Mark Bittman’s list is better than mine, so I suggest you continue reading. Click here to read his heart-warming, thoughtful list.

I’m having baked sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving!

Published by Jonell Galloway + Monday, November 21, 2011 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

Sweet potatoes are a traditional part of a American Thanksgiving dinner. Every family has its own favorite or traditional recipe. Here’s mine, in all its simplicity.

I love sweet potatoes for their natural flavor and texture, so I simply scrub them really well and bake them, with the peeling on, at 200° C / 400° F until they’re soft enough to eat. The time depends on the time and variety of sweet potato. I then cut them crosswise into chunks (still leaving the peel), put them into a serving dish, and slather them with butter with sea salt, which I buy from my cheesemonger.

No marshmallows, no brown sugar, no maple syrup, just au nature.

It’s interesting to watch Europeans’ reactions to them. At first they’re puzzled, but on their second bite, they usually find them interesting and like them.

Note: If you peel them, they will dry out in the oven.

Health Challenge: Luscious Red Cranberries, good for your Health and Good for your Heart

Published by Jonell Galloway + Wednesday, November 16, 2011 Permalink 0

by Tamar Chamlian

5 Easy Ways to Use Cranberries to Make Dishes Healthier and Add Pizzazz

Cranberry harvest in New Jersey in U.S.

It’s autumn, a season when the color of much of nature goes red by default — vineyards, trees, Japanese oaks, Virginia creeper. Houseware and kitchen accessories — and even Starbucks — magically sells everything in red, even the paper cups. Except for cranberries, which are naturally red, and we have plenty of good reasons to eat them in abundance during the two months they are available, not just for their color, but for their taste and health benefits.

Here are five easy ways to incorporate cranberries into pretty much any dish you’re whipping up.

What, no pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce at the Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving in 1621?

Published by Jonell Galloway + Monday, November 7, 2011 Permalink 0

Kathleen Wall, the amazing Colonial Foodways Culinarian at Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts, a living history project sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute, shared this on her Facebook page the other day. It’s a DVD about the true history of Thanksgiving, made by Kathleen herself.

The story of Thanksgiving, with its costumed Pilgrims, turkeys and pumpkin pie, zigzags through American history with some surprising twists. At the iconic Thanksgiving feast of 1621 — no pumpkin pie or cranberry sauce was served, and that event was wiped from the history books for 200 years! In the 19th Century, some southern states thought Thanksgiving was an abolitionist plot and refused to celebrate it. Thanksgiving didn’t become an annual national holiday until World War II! What started as a somber Puritan day of prayer is now about football and food. How did we get there?

Click here to listen to “Miles Standish” talk about the first harvest in Plymouth.

Click here to order Kathleen Wall’s DVD.

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, August 15, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Monday, August 15, 2011 Permalink 0

by Simón de Swaan

Green beans, or string beans as they are usually called, must be done [boiled] till very tender — it takes nearly an hour and a half.—Sarah Josepha Hale, The Good Housekeeper (1839)

Sarah Josepha Hale was an American writer and editor who wrote the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” She is also known for campaigning for the creation of the Thanksgiving holiday, and Hale served as editor of Ladies’ Magazine from 1827-1836 and Godey’s Lady’s Book from 1837-1877.

Click here to listen to “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”