It’s Thanksgiving time on the farm
Thanksgiving Day is hands-down my favorite day of the year to
spend on the farm. A golden glow hovers over the land for the
entire day each Thanksgiving
– a hue usually only seen during the last seconds of sundown,
and that’s absolutely gorgeous.
No matter how rigorous the harvest season is I know I can always
count on a day of calm when all operations from our farm and
surrounding farms come to a halt, and for once, everyone can enjoy
the land’s bounty.
It’s Thanksgiving time on the farm
Thanksgiving Day is hands-down my favorite day of the year to spend on the farm. A golden glow hovers over the land for the entire day each Thanksgiving – a hue usually only seen during the last seconds of sundown, and that’s absolutely gorgeous.
No matter how rigorous the harvest season is I know I can always count on a day of calm when all operations from our farm and surrounding farms come to a halt, and for once, everyone can enjoy the land’s bounty.
I anticipate a morning of wandering around the farm taking in the crisp, cool air in my lungs, picking the last fruit from the fig tree and just enjoying the company of my family. Often during work days we are so busy we hardly have a minute to catch up.
After a relaxing morning, we will begin the cooking of our feast which will be a traditional turkey dinner with an emphasis on local foods. This year we are trying a local turkey for the first time. Raised by Paul and Letty Hain in Tres Pinos, we are expecting a very large, savory bird that pecked its life away in their walnut orchard. If their turkeys taste anything like their chickens, I suspect everyone will be pleased. 100 percent certified organic, as free range as you can get, and harvested just a few days before it reaches our oven. You can’t get much fresher than this.
Last year I introduced a vegetarian version of traditional dressing in lieu of the fact that 1) I have never liked stuffing but was determined to change that, and 2) several members of the family have become vegetarian over the last couple of years.
Eliminating any weird turkey ‘parts’ and including fresh locally baked organic bread as the base along with locally grown carrots, celery, onions, fresh parsley, apples, and walnuts, this stuffing recipe cured me of my distaste for dressing finally. The many fresh flavors combined together make an absolutely savory side dish and is now a new family favorite.
Ever eager to test out new recipes, this year I will also roast up a selection of root vegetables – most likely parsnips, rutabagas, and carrots – and whip up a batch of homemade horseradish dipping sauce to go with them.
Mom will make her delicious homemade cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes while my sister Laura will make enchiladas – a tradition on my mom’s side of the family that will never be excluded from the menu. Not many of us like pumpkin pie so Mom will also make a pumpkin roll instead for dessert.
After an afternoon of feasting, we will most likely retire to the living room for an old favorite holiday movie like we always do. So content and comatose we will be from our meal no one will care what is on the television. It will be the gathering together, the anticipated conversation we will have, and the thankfulness of the restful day that will keep us together.
Vegetarian Stuffing
6 cups diced bread
2 tbsp butter or olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 stalks celery, sliced
2 large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
¼ tsp. rosemary
¼ tsp. thyme
¼ tsp. sage
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
3 tbsp. raisins
½ cup walnuts
½ tsp. salt, or to taste
1 ½ cups vegetable stock
½ of a large apple, diced
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place diced bread in a 9×13 baking pan and place in oven for about 15 minutes, until the bread is well toasted. Meanwhile, warm the butter or olive oil in a saucepan and saute the onion, celery, and carrots over medium heat until onion is translucent.
Remove bread from oven and add onion mixture, herbs, parsley, raisins, apple, nuts and salt. Mix well. Carefully drizzle the stuffing with vegetable stock and toss gently.
Bake, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes. Season with black pepper if desired. Serves 6-8
Winter Squash Pancakes – great for the morning of or after Thanksgiving!
1 cup pancake mix
1 cup white flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup baked winter squash such as kabocha or red kuri
3 tbsp. oil
2 cups milk
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. allspice
½ tsp. five spice
½ tsp. cloves
Mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients (including the squash) separately; then fold them together. Let sit for 15 minutes so the flour could re-hydrate from the liquid ingredients (they don’t spread so much that way) and brush the non-stick frying pan with olive oil.
Serve with all-natural maple syrup.
