We have had a lovely Thanksgiving meal in Minnesota and while the pie and turkey and sweet potatoes and stuffing digest in my belly, I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very happy holiday.
Above was our “kid table” for the five little cousins–did you have one of those? Do you remember sitting at the kids’ table? I do. Always a rowdy good time…until you’re a teenager and find that you’re still there, then sort of a sulky good time.
We also had a diverse guest list: besides my family, my in-laws (who were the hosts), my sister-in-law, my brother-in-law and his family, we had cousins from South Dakota, one of whom is a square dance caller (Conor calls him the “cowboy”), and a college exchange student from China who knows more about American politics than I do.
The menu included: turkey, gravy, dressing (stuffing), mashed potatoes, a puree of sweet potatoes, corn, rolls, bread and butter pickles and beet pickles from South Dakota, and I also made brussel sprouts with bacon and lemon, and a salad with arugula, roasted beets, roasted butternut squash, blue cheese, toasted pecans, pomegranate seeds, and a sherry vinaigrette. I’m going to make this lovely salad combination even on non-holidays: you can roast the beets and squash in the oven at the same time (squash cut in chunks, tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper and spread out on a baking sheet; the beets scrubbed, drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper, and wrapped tight in a foil package) at 425 for about 40 minutes; a handful of pecans toast quickly in a skillet, the the dressing is finely chopped shallots soaked in 1 part sherry vinegar for about a half hour or so, then add a spoonful of
