Thanksgiving Day

THANKSGIVING DAY

It is one of my greatest pleasures to host 

Thanksgiving Dinner 

in my home year after year.

Here is my brother Don at the outside bar.

Don, Kristy and the kids travel here to LA from Chicago.

Wendy, Jett, Mom, Stone and Lisa in the backyard.

Wendy is from Scottsdale, Arizona.

Mom lives in Santa Barbara, California.

Lisa is from Germany.

Getting ready to serve dinner, buffet style.

Appetizers are on the counter.

Wendy wrote the menu for me on a platter. 

Very artistic! 

Lil' Smokies, because everyone likes 'em, especially the kids. 

They disappear every year. Haha.

Steve and his son, Kyle

26 Pounder.

My "Do Nothing" recipe for cooking a turkey:
1. Loosely stuff the cavity with roughly chopped onions, carrots, and celery, lots of butter and salt and pepper.
2. Rub the entire outside of the bird with soft butter and salt and pepper.
3. Put more roughly chopped onions, carrots and celery in the bottom of the roasting pan with enough chicken stock so that the pan does not dry out.
4. Roast at 400° for the first 45 minutes, then at 325° for a total of about 5 hours. Lower the heat to 300° if it is cooking too fast. Leave the bird alone, don't baste, don't cover, just "do nothing" and then marvel at the beautiful bird when it reaches 165 degree internal temperature. Use a remote thermometer to monitor the temperature.

5. Remove from oven and let it rest. 

6. Have a Skin Party.

I believe the secret is to start with a great turkey. This is a fresh Diestel Turkey Ranch Premium Range Grown Broad Breasted Young Hen Turkey.

Tom makes canned cranberry sauce look gourmet.

I had an idea to make a cranberry gelée, but ran out of time.

Tom improvised for me.

I love it!

Tom's Sushi-style (ahi) Cranberry Gelée.

Getting ready for our tradition: THE SKIN PARTY

I guess that skin-lovers will like this ritual, others may cringe. But hey, this is all family and the best of friends. So we can pick the skin together. Nice crispy skin, help yourself! Don't be shy!

Mom and Chip kick off the Skin Party.

Stone and Don. 

I think this is the first time Stone participated in the Skin Party.

Mom, Kyle, Stone, Tom, and Lisa

During the Skin Party, I make the gravy.

Once we finish the Skin Party, Chip carves the turkey. Kyle is stirring the creamed corn and Linda and Tom are heating the mashed potatoes.

Pat's heavenly popovers (my personal favorite).

They are also great for breakfast the next day, with a cup of coffee. 

Right, Mom?

Mushroom, Leek, Sage Stuffing

I make it with Ciabatta Bread.

Chip serves gravy to Mom.

The Feast!

Red roses from my garden.

Stone makes the place cards the day before.

Gratitude Sharing

We put a place card at every seat at the table and scatter some pens about. During the beginning of the meal everyone is encouraged to write on their card the things they are grateful for this year. We save these cards so friends and family that have been coming to Thanksgiving at my home now have several cards at their setting. It is fun and poignant and sometimes sad to read what we were grateful for in past years. We read our current card out loud and some from the past. We also cherish the cards that have been written by those who are no longer with us.

Gratitude Old and New

"I am grateful to have two nephews and the opportunity to cook with them."

"I am thankful for everything my parents have done for me."

"I am thankful for all the experiences this year. I thank my family and my best friends for all the support they give me, for spending beautiful days with them and for all the love they give me. And I want to thank Kristy, Don, Stone, and Jett for being part of their family, sharing their American-way-of-life, and for giving me the best year of my life. I love you all. Thank you."

"Here's to a healthy 2010."

"I am thankful for my family and friends. I am also thankful that my college applications are almost done. "

"The freedom we have."

"Good friends."

"Good health and old age."

"Having exciting happy moments, lots of them, with my family."

"I'm grateful for my family and friends."

"I am grateful for my lovely daughter-in-law."

"I'm grateful for my job and my life."

"We are thankful for fresh air from the ocean, good earth to grow vegetables, clean water for seafood, and friends to share with."

"I am thankful right now to be sitting among all these lovely people."

"Great food!"

"Thank you for yesterday, today, and tomorrow."

"I am thankful for God."

"I am thankful for this great opportunity to get to know a different country and new people and to be part of a traditional Thanksgiving in America."

"I am thankful to be able to watch the kids grow."

"I am thankful for the lives we live and all our loving friends and kin."

A Thanksgiving Poem

Thanks to all for being so dear
And I hope to see you again next year.

The same faces have again appeared
Along with some new ones which we cheer.
With our friends and family we remain very close
As we celebrate Thanksgiving
With those we love the most.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Later that night, Tom and Jett with Wilson.

Thanksgiving Day Humor: My brother-in-law once shared with us about a year in the past when he was reluctant to eat the Thanksgiving turkey because there were two necks in the cavity. He assumed it was a two-headed bird. 

Leftover Day

LEFTOVER DAY

We are not done yet! It's our traditional Leftover Day. We put all the leftovers on the buffet, add a honey-baked ham and bread for sandwiches, and voila, we have another party on Friday!

Gail brought her famous grilled shrimp.

Put all the leftovers on the buffet. Help yourself! No rules, eat in any order.

Roasted cauliflower with mustard lemon butter, is good at room-temperature too.

The Ham.

Served in this beautiful new platter, a gift from Wendy.

Thanks Wendy, I adore it!

Buffet on Leftover Day

Turkey Sandwich, of course.

We are so fortunate to have such great weather. Leftover Day is from 1 -5 PM, we eat outside in the backyard.

Don, Scott, Lauren, Jett, Mom, Wendy, Gail, Kristy, Tori, and Tom

This year I bought a stack of take-out containers to send everyone home with all the leftovers.

Wilson's Thanksgiving Treat

A Toy Drumstick!

Thanks Lauren!

The Absinthe Ritual

Absinthe is distilled from a mixture of whole herbs in alcohol. These herbs include grande wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), green anise, sweet fennel and other culinary plants.

Created as a medicinal elixir by a French doctor living in Switzerland around 1792, it achieved great popularity as an alcoholic drink in late 19th- and early 20th-century France, particularly among Parisian artists and writers where the drink was said to act as an aphrodisiac and stimulate creativity.

The Absinthe Fountain

"Rimbaud's Poison"

"The emerald hour when the poet's pain is soothed by a liquid jewel held in the sacred chalice, upon which rests the pierced spoon, the crystal sweetness, icy streams trickle down. The darkest forest melts into an open meadow. Waves of green seduce. Sanity surrendered, the soul spirals toward the murky depths, wherein lies the beautiful madness - absinthe."

by Peggy Adams Amond about Arthur Rimbaud

The bar at Chaya Downtown in Los Angeles, and our Absinthe Guide (bartender) Victor.

He pours ice water into the absinthe fountain.

Then pours 1 oz. absinthe into the special glass. Places a sugar cube over an absinthe grille or spoon in a saucer and soaks the sugar cube with absinthe.

Traditionally, the sugar cube is not ignited, as purists believe the caramelized sugar detracts from the herbal flavors. Apparently the use of fire in the absinthe ritual is a newer phenomenon was not a part of the custom during the Belle Époque. Sugar is used to cut the bitterness of the strong herbal spirit.

The spoon is placed over the glass and the sugar is lit on fire. As the sugar begins to caramelize, the absinthe water drip is begun.

Ice water from the absinthe fountain spigot slowly drips over the sugar into the glass, extinguishing the flame and melting the sugar and sweetening the absinthe.

L'Absinthe

Edgar Degas

1876

Oil on canvas

The cold water releases the oils from the absinthe, unlocking the powerful anise bouquet, and causing it to louche or cloud up into a light opalescent green. Absinthe is usually diluted in a 1:3 or 1:5 ratio to water. La louche has a symbolic meaning as well - As the water transforms the absinthe, so will the absinthe transform the mind.

La Fee Verte

The Green Fairy is the affectionate French nickname given to absinthe.

Can you spot the green fairy?

Absinthe had been portrayed as a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug. The chemical thujone, present in small quantities, was singled out and blamed for its alleged harmful effects. By 1915, absinthe had been banned in the United States and in most European countries.

Although absinthe was vilified, no evidence has shown it to be any more dangerous than ordinary spirits. Its psychoactive properties, apart from those of alcohol, have been much exaggerated.

Absinthe’s popularity grew steadily through the 1840s, when absinthe was given to French troops stationed in North Africa as a disease preventative. When the troops returned home to Paris, they brought their taste for absinthe with them. It became so popular in bars, bistros, cafés, and cabarets that, by the 1860s, the hour of 5 p.m. was called l’heure verte (the green hour).

A revival of absinthe began in the 1990s, when countries in the European Union began to reauthorize its manufacture and sale. In 2007 French absinthe "Lucid" was the first authentic absinthe brand to be legally imported to the US since the ban in 1912. The absinthe must contain less that 10 mg/kg of thujone to be legally imported. Also that year, the first batch of legally produced absinthe was made in California.

Absinthe produced for consumption outside the US can contain up to 100 mg/kg thujone, like Century Absinth. Some aficionados claim that this is the true absinthe which creates the "effects" cherished by famous absinthe drinkers of the day: Edouard Manet, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Oscar Wilde, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, and Ernest Hemingway.

(some information for this post from wikipedia.com)

Black Garlic Risotto with Peas

Black Garlic Risotto with Peas

Black Garlic

The flavors and texture of black garlic are so unique. It did not taste like I had expected. It was like a garlic candy; sweet, and slightly savory, with subtle garlic notes and a jelly-candy texture. The deep color and flavor is the result of a month-long aging by a special high-heat fermentation process. It has umami flavors of molasses, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and licorice. For more information and a recent culinary history about Black Garlic, go to blackgarlic.com.

Risotto Recipe

I started with this wonderful olive oil from the California Olive Ranch, 2009 Olio Nuovo, a gift from the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival. It was one of the oils we tasted at Michael Tuohy’s Olive Oil Tasting seminar. We learned from Michael to use this oil now, when it is young. Olio Nuovo: A "living liquid" bottled at time of milling, it has a thick texture and rich flavor.

Heat 1/2 c. olive oil in a heavy saucepan. Add a finely chopped onion. Sauté until light golden brown.

Add 1 1/2 c. arborio rice and stir until each grain is coated with oil. Add 1/2 c. white wine and cook until the wine has evaporated. Add about 5 c. hot chicken stock gradually as absorbed, stirring continuously until the rice is almost al dente.

Add sliced black garlic and continue stirring, adding the final stock, until the rice is al dente.

The black garlic gives the rice a deep caramel color.

Cook peas separately, then combine peas with risotto.

Black garlic imparts such interesting and complex flavors to this risotto.

Crispy, juicy pork chop optional.