[Sca-cooks] Holiday Meal with Medieval Dishes

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

OK, so i'm planning to make Thanksgiving dinner in 2006.

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Our Standard Thanksgiving Menu is more or less:

-- Green Salad (real lettuce - although my now-dead Dad preferred a 
wedge of iceberg)
-- Vinaigrette Dressing for everyone except for my mother who prefers 
chemically-thickened, corn-syrup-sweetened Kraft brand salad dressings

-- Turkey
-- Stuffing (usually herbed cubes from a bag, mixed with sauteed 
onion and celery)
-- Gravy - really pan juices - we don't thicken with any kind of 
starch or cream

-- Cranberry Sauce - usually from a can - made some a few years ago, 
but my mother complained that it wasn't sweet enough.
-- One or two Green Vegetables - broccoli, Brussels sprouts, green 
beans, asparagus, etc.
[could sub in here one green and one other vegetable]
-- Sweet Potatoes - usually canned candied mashed and topped with 
marshmallows, which only my mother likes, and she will heap just the 
marshmallow topping on the boys' plates, especially after my brother 
says they've eaten enough sugar and are getting hyper.
[i don't know how "wedded" the family, other than my mother, is to 
sweet potatoes, so regular potatoes or rice or something could be 
substituted in here]

-- (Dinner Rolls) (in parens because no one actually eats them, as 
there's plenty of other food)

-- Pumpkin Pie
-- Spray-on whipped cream (NOT cool whip! I think it's called 
Redi-Whip, which my mother likes because she can abet the boys 
playing with it)
-- Real whipped cream for me and my daughter

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The three generations of the two families involved are all pretty 
sophisticated, grew up well-to-do, and have experienced eating in 
expensive restaurants. While they are not all necessarily extremely 
experimental, their palates are moderately educated.

Then we get to individual issues.

My mother says she has lost all sense of smell and all sense of taste 
except for sweet.

My brother has told me that food doesn't really taste very good to 
him and he doesn't understand why people like to eat.

My sister-in-law is starving herself so she can stay thin and often 
just pushes her food around her plate. She did eat a nearly whole 
piece of pumpkin pie because she thought i was giving her half a 
piece.

They have two kids who will be almost 15 and almost 13 in 2006. They 
eat like kids, i.e., not much and only certain foods, but are not 
insanely "picky". They have not been raised eating fast food.

My bro's mother-in-law is a modest eater, usually avoiding a lot of 
fats, but has an sophisticated palate and seems to enjoy experimental 
foods.

I will eat almost anything, as long as it is well prepared and of 
quality ingredients. I am an experimental eater and i like to imagine 
i have a sophisticated and discerning palate.

My daughter is a vegetarian (NOT vegan) and has a sophisticated 
palate and is a good cook. She is an experimental eater, although 
eschewing animal flesh (this includes critters from the waters too).

Sometimes there are other guests. I won't worry about them. They get 
what there is... unless they have life threatening food issues.

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I would like to serve a *good* dinner. I'm tired of the same old 
bland crap. The only ones who might complain are the boys, and who 
knows, they could be more interested in food in two years, although 
if the boys complain my mother will complain - she thinks they will 
love her if she sides with them and feeds them sugar. However, they 
aren't real complainers. David hardly eats anything anyway. He's 
quite small for his age while his younger brother is quite big for 
his age (and yes, my bro and sis-in-law taken them both to doctors).

So while i was downloading "holiday" recipes from the web, it just 
dawned on me that i could work in some Medieval and Renaissance 
recipes! Doh!

We *have to have* turkey and pumpkin pie. I suspect almost everything 
else is negotiable, although i really like cranberries, so i'd like 
to keep them. And i'd like to make another dessert for those among us 
who are willing to experiment.

It can't be too fatty or too highly spiced (my daughter and i love 
spicy food, but no one else does).

So, without straying terribly far from the basic menu, what would 
folks suggest?

Armored turnips might be too rich... but i'm considering it.

Other ideas?

Oh, yeah, i'm in California, where we can get darn near anything...

Anahita