Locavore Thanksgiving, the recap

My first Thanksgiving dinner was a smashing success! The food was delicious, and all hot on the table at once. With 7 dishes, that's not an easy feat! I didn't have any meltdowns, even in the last minute hectic get-it-on-the-table rush. Everyone raved about the meal and seemed interested in hearing where everything came from, which made for fun dinner conversation.

I loved the turkey method from The New Best Cookbook - it was juicy, cooked through but not overcooked, well seasoned, and the skin was nicely crisp. The drippings made the most amazing gravy. Deeelicious. I ran out of butter before we got to the apple crisp (yes, a whole pound of butter was used in the meal before dessert!!) so we had baked cinnamon apples (without crisp) and ice cream. Still delicious. After dinner, we all played with play dough and sang kid songs like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Old MacDonald - weird, I know, but there were two toddlers to keep entertained, and we all had a good time. I am so fortunate to have a warm home, plenty to eat, and a loving family who will happily sing Row, Row, Row your boat in rounds.

I hope your Thanksgiving was full of good food, friends, family, and fun, and that you've had the opportunity to reflect on the things that you're grateful for in your life.

Locavore Thanksgiving, Part 1

I'm hosting Thanksgiving for the first time this year, and my menu is almost entirely local. I know you've been waiting with bated breath to see what I'll be cooking (haha), so here's the menu:

Turkey with pan gravy (turkey from Harmony Farms in La Crescenta, 350 miles away)
Quince-strawberry-rhubarb jelly with pomegranate (no local cranberries, so this is our sweet-tart substitute, and it's tasty!)

Bread dressing with bacon, apples, sage, and caramelized onion (Bread from Campbell bakery, bacon from TLC ranch, apples, sage, and onion from the Palo Alto farmer's market)

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes (Garlic and potatoes from Palo Alto farmer's market, cream from Strauss Dairy)

Blackberry-ginger balsamic glazed beets (Beets from Palo Alto farmer's market, balsamic from Hare Hollow)

Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Orange and Honey (Sweet potatoes from Palo Alto farmer's market, orange from a neighborhood tree, honey from Meeks Honey in Soquel, and smoked paprika from Happy Quail Farm in East Palo Alto)

Roast Lemon and Pepper Brussels Sprouts with Old World Portuguese cheese (Brussels Sprouts from Cabrillo Farm in Half Moon Bay, lemon from a neighborhood tree, and cheese from Spring Hill Cheese in Petaluma)

Apple crumble with vanilla ice cream (Fuji apples from San Jose farmer's market in Japantown, flour from Full Belly Farm, butter from Clover Stornetta, honey from Meeks Honey, ice cream from Strauss Dairy)

Our turkey is from 350 miles away, farther than my standard 250 radius for local food, but hormone free, free range, and purchased fresh from our local natural foods store, Country Sun. Everything else (except spices and sugar) are from within 200 miles of our home, and purchased from the farmer's market or the farmer.

So far, the pomegranate jelly, bread dressing, and beets are done; the turkey is brining, stock for the gravy is simmering on the stove and I'm about to peel potatoes to make up the mashed potatoes. I'm trying to do as much ahead as possible so I'm not stressed out and stuck in the kitchen all day tomorrow. The house smells fantastic - celery and sage are the quintessential Thanksgiving smells and they're strong, strong, strong in here!

A full freezer makes a locavore happy!

I picked up the pork yesterday (thanks, Jen!) and am ridiculously happy about the nitrate-free bacon, ham, chops, ribs, and sausage in the freezer. We ordered from TLC Ranch and picked up the butchered, smoked meats at Los Gatos Meats. This place smells SO GOOD - my mouth watered just waiting in line! We got smoked ham and bacon, and next time I think we'll have them make more sausages like keilbasa, chorizo, and Italian links - we didn't get any links this time.

I made a delicious meal with the first 1 lb. pork sausage last night. It makes enough to serve 10-12 hungry people, so you could cut the recipe in half and still serve an average hungry family with just half a pound of meat.

Pasta with sausage and greens

1 t. canola oil
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
1 lb. pork sausage
3 bunches of greens (I used kale, swiss chard, and turnip greens, but any sturdy greens would work)
1/2 t. fennel seeds
1 t. basil
1 t. thyme
2 t. oregano
about 1/4 t. red pepper flakes, more to taste
1 quart crushed tomatoes
(NO salt needed)
1 lb. noodles like rigatoni or fusilli

Cook noodles according to package directions, pulling out at just before al dente.

Saute the onion and garlic in oil. Once translucent, add the pork sausage and spices, breaking up into small pieces as it browns. Once it is all browned, add greens in batches, stirring as they wilt. Add tomatoes and stir thoroughly to combine. Add not-quite-al dente pasta. Simmer for 5 minutes for the flavors to combine. Enjoy!

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This week's CSA box includes the following:

Broccoli
Strawberry Daikon
Cauliflower
Karinata Kale (purple and pretty!)
Spinach
Leeks
Lettuce
Pomegranates

I'll be using the cauliflower and pomegranates in my Thanksgiving dinner. Since cranberries aren't grown locally, we'll be having a jelly made from quince, rhubarb, and strawberry with pomegranate juice mixed in. It is sufficiently tart and sweet for the cranberry lover in my house - Mr. M - and has that gorgeous red color that one expects to accompany their turkey. It does not, however, come from a can in jellied form, so there aren't any of the "can lines" that Mr. M likes so much. Maybe he can have "can lines" next year, haha.

At the farmer's market yesterday, I also bought sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts on the stalk (pretty!), the biggest bunch of celery I've ever seen, eggs, Old World Portuguese cheese (as a Parmesan substitute), a few apples, more of the Hare Hollow Blackberry-ginger balsamic, and the Scarborough Faire herbs - parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Today, I'm getting beets, Yukon Gold potatoes, sugar pumpkins, and onions at the Mountain View market. All that's left will be to pick up the turkey, already on order, and butter and cream.

This is the first year that I'm cooking Thanksgiving dinner and my menu is set, my fridge is full, and I spent much of the day cleaning my kitchen yesterday. Today, we're cleaning the dining room and livingroom to accomodate our guests (we'll have a full house with 10 diners, ourselves included.)