From the Kitchen: November 2009 Archives

Following Thanksgiving dinner, my family offered up four desserts. We probably could have done away with all but one, but in my magazine reading for the holidays I came across two recipes that I couldn't resist.

It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without the dark, spicy pumpkin pie that my mother made when we were children. My oldest sister has taken over the duty, and for years she has made pies on Thanksgiving morning. This is really the only version of pumpkin pie that I care for. When she brought them in, the house was suffused with the scents of cinnamon and cloves, and it made my mouth water!

If you have a copy of the December 2009 "Southern Living" issue, one of the desserts I made was featured on the cover: Chocolate-Citrus Cake." Actually, the making of the cake was a collaboration. I made the two chocolate cake layers (bittersweet chocolate with 62% cocoa solids). I also learned how to make ganache (which I assure you I will be making again, soon!), that was used as the filling between the layers. My niece, Kim, who is the family cake specialist, brought a vat of fresh whipped cream, assembled the cake and then iced it with whipped cream (in place of the 7 minute boiled icing). She decorated it with an orange slice and thin chocolate wafer cookies. It's to die for......

Usually at Easter, Kim's sister makes her famous iced sugar cookies. I've been the recipient of a personal bag of those cookies, which I really treasured. One of the kids begged for the sugar cookies, so we were blessed with a bowl of them half a year early!

I found one more dessert that I wanted to make: Pecan Pie Cheesecake, from the December, 2009 issue of "Cuisine at Home." I put this together on Tuesday only to find that the spring-form pan had not been sealed and wrapped properly. Water from the boiling water bath around the cheesecake leaked in, and ruined the crust. I decided that I would try it just one more time, and started over on Wednesday.

The crust is made of chocolate wafer cookies, toasted pecans and butter. Over that, you bake an incredible cheesecake that has a quarter cup of bourbon in the filling. This cake can be made a day ahead. All you need to do to finish it is to make a sauce of brown sugar, heavy cream, butter, MORE BOURBON, kosher salt, and toasted pecans. Make the sauce before you are ready to serve dinner, and it will be thickened and ready to serve in time for dessert. Yummy!

We were all so stuffed after dinner there wasn't much room left for dessert....and half the cake, and half the cheesecake are in my refrigerator. Oh, DARN! I really did try to get my family to take it home with them. I should count my blessings that I got to taste it at all, and not worry about leftovers! *G*

I believe that yesterday was just about the best Thanksgiving I've ever hosted. Actually, I think it might have been the best Thanksgiving ever. Perhaps because of all the health problems, and financial problems, and relationship problems the family is suffering, that they were able to gather and enjoy each other's company, and put all that aside, made it very special to me.

There were 37 people seated to dinner yesterday. To accomplish that, I started working on things more than a month ago. I tried to get the gardens and grounds done by early November so that I could concentrate on things within the house the closer we got to "The Day." My oldest sister will be happy to tell you about the file I sent her with the names of those attending, and list of what they were bringing for the meal.

One of my nieces helped me with two marathon cleaning sessions. Unlike most of you, I do Fall cleaning rather than Spring cleaning. (Well, actually, I do both, but we do a really thorough Fall cleaning before the holidays.) The china and glasses and silverware were washed and dried. I gathered seasonal items to decorate the tables (there were 5 tables), and seasonal quilts were laid out or hung.

I ironed napkins, cleaned out the office and my quilting studio, and moved things from the laundry area and mudroom counter to make room for desserts and a turkey roaster.

Dear Husband is an old hand at Thanksgiving with that many guests. He took care of the seating, made two huge pans of lasagna (Wednesday night), and at the last minute, prepared a Caesar salad. He is a genial host, and makes everyone welcome. Toward the end of the afternoon, I saw him playing with the three little girls (including one of our granddaughters) who were in their twos.

My oldest sis arrived early, followed by part of her family, and they all helped out with the last minute preparations. We peeled potatoes and cooked two huge pots of them for mashed potatoes (we only needed one, I sent most them home with her.) I made two dishes of dressing (we only needed one, and I KEPT the second one! lol) We made iced tea, filled the ice bin, put out the pickles and olives and appetizers. Sis had set the tables on Wednesday afternoon while I worked on desserts, so all they had to do was move chairs in place.

Enough of this detail....Suffice it to say, we had TONS to eat, all of it great, and a lot was left over. No one goes hungry in this family, ever. What's most important is that so many of my family members were able to gather for a meal. We have several people who are dealing with serious health issues, some with relationship problems, and some who are trying to hang on through difficult financial times. They were able to put all that aside and have a day to simply enjoy the extended family. When I asked before dinner if there was anyone feeling particularly thankful who would like to say grace for us, my six year old great-nephew raised his hand. I was floored. He did an outstanding job! He was succinct, and clear voiced. It was the perfect blessing to our gathering.

It's my hope that you all had just as perfect a day as we did. If not, come join us next year, and we'll share our blessings with you. Happy Thanksgiving to you all, and a relaxed month leading to Christmas.