[Sca-cooks] Thanksgiving food

[Susan Fox-Davis]

My holiday was an unqualified success, except for the part where I was
embarrassed about making too MUCH food.  Two turkeys turned out to be one
too many.  Good thing my parents have four house guests.

In a dazzling victory of family politics, my mother granted me the privilege
of cooking Thanksgiving, formerly HER exclusive holiday, the rest of us were
just there to praise her, alleluiah.  When she declared her retirement, we
were subjected to a few years of restaurant Thanksgivings, with varying
levels of mediocrity.  This year she decided that these SCA people couldn't
all be wrong, maybe her baby was a worthy cook, and to let me have a try.

Since some of our family friends are lacto-vegetarians, I went out of my way
to make it workable for them.  Only the Turkey and the Turkey Pan Gravy had
anything they wanted to avoid;  I did make a batch of gravy with just veg
bouillion and flour just for their taters and stuffing.

My husband and cousins were of extreme help with vegetable chopping in
particular, a task made pleasanter with many hands and Dad's new wide screen
TV showing the Macy's Parade and the dog show following.

The menu included:

The Good Eats Brined Turkey from Food Network
     The notion of overnight infusion in stock-water-spice solution as an
osmotic substitute for basting was hailed by one and all.  I swore a mighty
oath upon Mum's retirement from Thanksgiving, No More Dry Turkey Ever!
Tasty too.  Even the moody-but-cute 3-year-old wanted two helpings.
 
Stuffing adapted from Thompson's Black Turkey
     Not as insanely difficult as usual with a bit of prep the night before.
I went through the dozens-long list of half-teaspoons for different spices
and measured them into a container which I took with me and sprinkled into
the chopped bread and fruit etc.  Mum thought this was brilliant.  I don't
know about brilliant, but she wouldn't have thought of it anyway.  No
giblets nor fat from the birds, some extra butter and veg bouillion added,
baked in casseroles whilst the birds were resting.

Corn Pudding
     corn, milk, eggs, cracker crumbs, generally similar to the Williamsberg
original.

Turnips simmered in Vegetarian Chicken Broth.
     Inspired by Platina, "seethed in rich broth"  and not at all nasty.
YES, I did managed to get my SCA cookery in there someplace!

Oven Roasted Vegetables
     from the South Beach Diet book, v. nice.  Used little tiny baby green
and yellow squashes, plus cut-up yellow and red bell peppers, slender
asparagus tips, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

New potatoes of white and purple, steamed instead of baked.  We had a bit of
a logjam at the ovens, but this turned out to be a plus.  Nice and
moist-ish, no browned bottoms, the colors stayed clear as they might not
have if boiled.

Sweet potato casserole brought by Myra Waldo - I must get this recipe.  It
was one that she knew she had put in one of her cookbooks but she couldn't
remember which one.  [If anyone else knows, we'd be much obliged!]  The
texture was really interesting, I think she =ground= the potatoes before
cooking rather than mashing them afterwards.  Honey and pecans in the flavor
as well.  

The desserts were all brought by others; Margaret's usual wonderful
hand-made apple strudel, her sister-in-law's lovely walnut-whipped cream
roulade and a Linzer torte [a'la boysenberry], an apple pie from The Apple
Pan, a legendary never-closed restaurant in downtown Los Angeles that boasts
the best apple pie in town and they might be right, and Jared's Dobos Torte,
which impressed everyone with six layers of chocolate intensity.

All in all, a successful evening.

Selene Colfox