Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!


As my friends are probably tired of hearing, I think of Thanksgiving as a sortof gateway between the season of guilt (beginning with Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) into a season of unfettered greed, crass commercialism, and selfishness: the winter Holidays. You see, after Thanksgiving comes what a good friend calls Black Friday, which is the biggest shopping day of the year in the US, when retailers can best count on getting in to the black. And then there are all the historical fallacies and political nightmares surrounding this holiday.

When you come right down to it though, Thanksgiving is about food. Every family has its own traditions, its own recipes - some secret, some not - and its own idiosyncrasies. My family gathers, en masse, at the home of whichever relative calls it first - this usually happens around Passover, because whoever hosts doesn't have to worry about driving home, and gets the best/most leftovers - sits around a big table, drinks too much wine, eats too much...errrr....everything, and talks a bit too much about politics. A true Washington Thanksgiving!

Which brings us back to the food. Pictured above is something I wish I'd thought of, or at least seen earlier: a gelatin turkey. Technically, yes, it's a Cornish game hen, but these details certainly do not diminish the comedic potential and horrified reactions my relatives would have if I brought such a thing. She used lite evaporated milk and a bit of green food coloring to cloud and tint watermelon Jell-O, though from my previous experience making brain Jell-O, you can use cottage cheese, too (if you like your turkey chunky, that is).

What are your favorite things to make for Thanksgiving??? Leave your recipe in the comments.

My traditional Thanksgiving contribution, however, is Pecan Pie, largely because I'm the only cooking member of my family who doesn't find it revolting. My recipe is ridiculously easy, and goes something like this:

1 9-inch unbaked pie shell (buy frozen if you must, but be clear a graham cracker one will. not. work.)

3 eggs (you can use egg beaters -- no problem)
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons rum
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup shelled pecans (halves are fine)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Beat eggs in a medium-size bowl until they are light-colored and fluffy.

Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, salt and four tablespoons of the rum and stir by hand with a spoon until the
Sugar is dissolved and the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Stir in the butter and pecans. Pour into the pie shell and bake for 40
minutes or until a knife inserted in the filling comes out clean.

Let cool; you can reheat at about 150 degrees 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with whipped cream, to which you have added the remaining two
tablespoons of rum and the tablespoon of sugar.

When I make whipped cream, I generally add about 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla.
This is not necessary, but I think it gives a nice touch.

Dark rum probably works best with this pie, but any kind will do.