Friday, November 19, 2004
Because I know the Friends of PTMYB (kind of like Friends of Thirteen, only with better premiums) want to know, here is what the well-dressed table at Chez Us will be wearing next Thursday:
Celery remoulade, made from peeled diced celery root, mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, diced cornichons and a pinch of cayenne, served on Stoned Wheat Thins. This is our official starter, but really it's a little something for us to nosh while I check on the stock for the gravy and Lloyd cues up something interesting for us to watch.
Big ol' turkey, a nice free-range bird from the poultry farmers at my local market, never frozen. Rubbed with butter and Bicentennial Rub, a poultry seasoning from Penzeys Spices, stuffed and popped into a hot oven. I am a fan of the high-heat roasting. Yes, I will share in plenty of time for the holiday, if you're game.
Cornbread and prosciutto stuffing, a creation of my cooking mentor, the late Laurie Colwin. Every year that I make it, I tell myself that I shouldn't be saving it for Thanksgiving, that we should maybe get a nice little turkey in February and make cornbread and prosciutto stuffing to go with it. I never do.
Mashed potatoes, for me. Candied sweet potatoes (no marshmallows, please) for Lloyd.
Some sort of green vegetable, either a tossed salad or steamed broccoli, just because I like something to break up the starch brigade.
Cranberry sauce, the whole-berry sauce recipe found on the Ocean Spray bag, with red wine replacing the water. I never thought one could improve on the basic recipe, but there is something about cooking cranberries in wine that makes them magnificent; the color is brighter, the acids are more pronounced, the taste is more intensely cranberry. (Now I want a bowl of that to go on top of my pan of cornbread.)
Pie of some sort. Or birthday cake. 
Yes, there are stories. And recipes. Stay tuned, dear friends.
Have I posted the recipe for pumpkin custard pie flavored with maple syrup yet? I don’t believe so.
It’s the pie that everyone who’s ever tasted it has declared, “That’s it! The perfect pumpkin pie. It cannot be improved on.”
I’ll be taking bids between you and PCAMB for who should host this bit of heaven.
The loser can host the re-print of the cranberry-apple-ginger pie that will also grace the ‘Mouse family table.
And the official Thanksgiving recipe swap begins! By all means, I’ll post the stuffing recipe—and Lulu, if you are not an eater of pork products, Ms. Colwin says that dried porcini and toasted walnuts work well as a substitute. I’ve never tried them, but I’ll bet they’re great in this. The stuffing is also made with butter and chicken stock, but if you want to make it vegan, you can substitute corn or olive oil and vegetable stock.
CJ, this stuffing definitely works outside the bird. We usually make more than will fit in the turkey, so we bake some in an open casserole. If you bake it outside the bird, it keeps its fluffy integrity and gets a bit crunchy; inside the bird, it’s much moister, more condensed, almost pate-like. Either way, it’s fabulous. And one of these days, when we’ve planned appropriately, Lloyd and I *will* show up on the JoDI doorstep. Be warned. 
Molly, we’ll have plenty of food, so catch that train! A pie from your punk pie place and a six of Boh are not required but always appreciated.
Sheesh, ‘mouse, you know better than to pit buddies in pie-dom like me and Collena against each other. We will merely form a united front and post both recipes on both pages. Nyeh. Seriously, no, you have not shared this ur-pumpkin pie with us, but I think you must.
And to the puckish Collena and Nina (heeee): it was always one of my brother’s favorite riffs to say “Stooooooooned Wheat Thins” in his best Spicoli voice. Stoned Wheat Thins are actually a graham-cracker-sized savory cracker, not too tasty on their own but pretty nice as a vehicle for horse doovers. They are made by a company called Red Oval Farms, which I thought was some hippie-granola Canadian company, but now appears to be owned by Kraft Foods. Ah, well.
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Have I posted the recipe for pumpkin custard pie flavored with maple syrup yet? I don’t believe so.
It’s the pie that everyone who’s ever tasted it has declared, “That’s it! The perfect pumpkin pie. It cannot be improved on.”
I’ll be taking bids between you and PCAMB for who should host this bit of heaven.
The loser can host the re-print of the cranberry-apple-ginger pie that will also grace the ‘Mouse family table.