What's Baking: Cranberry Orange Pecan Bread

Holiday brunch on your calendar? This flavorful Cranberry Orange Pecan Bread is a real crowd-pleaser.

Cranberries are not just for Thanksgiving. Or adorning Christmas trees. (Popcorn and cranberry garland anyone?) Fresh cranberries also make for a delicious quick bread. But you probably already knew that.

I was at the grocery store the other day and was instantly enamored by a bin of locally-grown organic cranberries. I couldn't help but scoop some into a bag. Perhaps a few too many. But that's why there's always a quick bread recipe up my sleeve!

This recipe features the classic flavor combination of cranberry and orange; a tart and sweet pairing that can't be beat. I added pecans, but you could sub in walnuts if you'd prefer. All of the recipes I looked at were sugar bombs, which really isn't my jam. I decreased the sugar to just a half-cup–which is still quite a bit, I do realize. But when most recipes call for at least a cup, I feel pretty good about the change. And it's still plenty sweet!

This bread would be perfect for a holiday brunch. I also love bringing a freshly-baked loaf of bread to a party as a gift for the host/hostess to enjoy the following morning for breakfast. Wrap it in parchment paper and tie with string, and you've got an easy impromptu present to give to anyone.

Cranberry Orange Pecan Bread (printer-friendly version)
makes 1 large loaf

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup fresh cranberries, roughly chopped
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange zest

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 8"x4" loaf pan and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and sea salt. Stir in the chopped cranberries and chopped pecans.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the orange juice, sugar, buttermilk, melted butter, and egg. Stir in the vanilla and orange zest.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepped loaf pan. Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove the loaf from the pan and let cool completely.

What's For Dinner: Thanksgiving Leftovers

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! D and I had a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner shared with my parents. Instead of the traditional Thanksgiving turkey, we had roast chicken -- a chicken raised on our own land over the summer. It doesn't get much more local than that!

This year we raised 36 chickens, all of which were heirloom breeds. These breeds included Jersey Giants, Barred Rocks, and Buckeyes. In September, D was in charge of dispatching the majority of the birds, though we kept 12 laying hens and 1 rooster (affectionately named Dirty Randy, a name that fans of The League will recognize). A few weeks ago our hens started laying eggs, and we're getting about 3-4 eggs per day, which is pretty fantastic considering the cold temperatures and low-light conditions as we barrel ever closer to the shortest day of the year as the Winter Solstice approaches.

The roasted chicken was a delicious centerpiece for our Thanksgiving meal, which also included my favorite stuffing, mashed potatoes, whole-berry cranberry sauce, and homemade rolls. Dessert was an apple pie made from scratch by D, which featured a super-flaky crust courtesy of a small jar of lard gifted to us from our friends who had a hog share from a local farm this year.

Long story short, we had plenty of food and now we have plenty of leftovers. Thus far I've enjoyed several roast chicken, cranberry sauce, and brie sandwiches (see below for the simple recipe), but I think it's about time I upped my leftover game. I do believe there may be a chicken pot pie or two in our future!

What is your favorite way to use up Thanksgiving leftovers?

Leftover Thanksgiving Dinner Sandwich (printer-friendly version)
makes one sandwich

1-2 tablespoons cranberry sauce
3 small (or 1 large) slice(s) of brie
leftover roasted turkey (or chicken) breast, warmed
2 slices bread

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Layer one slice of bread with the brie slice(s), warmed chicken, and cranberry sauce. Top with the remaining slice of bread.
3. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Turn the oven to broil, and broil the sandwich until the bread has browned. Serve immediately.

And here are a few more ideas for what to do with your Thanksgiving leftovers:

Clockwise from right: Savory hand pies // Turkey pot pie // Thanksgiving shepherd's pie

Turkey enchiladas // Chicken and wild rice soup

Weekend Shenanigans: Tgives Edition

 {turkey and some counter clutter}

This Turkey Day, D and I made the 12ish-hour drive down to Ohio to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Somehow, after tense negotiations, I found myself in charge of roasting the bird. In years' past, D has taken control of turkey duty, but he opted out this year. For my first turkey-roasting experience, I followed Ina Garten's recipe for "perfect roast turkey," and dare I say, it actually did turn out perfectly. Perfectly browned, perfectly moist, perfectly flavorful. Score one for my team! In addition to the turkey, I also made savory dressing (aka stuffing that is cooked separately from the bird), including one "normal" version and one gluten-free version for Ashley, my sister-in-law. My Dad was in charge of his wonderfully-lumpy mashed potatoes, my brother Chris made a delectable sweet potato dish, and we also had homemade cranberry sauce (recipe later this week), yeast rolls, green beans amandine, a raspberry jelly salad I dubbed "raz-matazz" from Dorothy Lane Market (where our locally-grown free-range turkey also came from), and our entire meal started off with a fresh fruit salad courtesy of my Mom. Whew! Oh, and then for dessert we had a delicious gluten-free pumpkin spice cake that Chrashley baked as well as slices of apple pie from Costco. Yeah, I should definitely find my way to the gym this week ...

{filling up our plates while D carves the turkey in the kitchen}

I'm not one for Black Friday sales (I'd much rather sleep in). But later on Friday afternoon D and I headed out to check out a few local furniture stores (just to get a feel for what's out there; one of these days our home will be fully furnished) as well as a trip to Ikea to grab a few essentials.

{ikea!}

On Friday night we headed out to dinner and then back home to celebrate my brother's birthday, which was on Sunday.

{happy birthday!}

Though D and I originally planned to leave Saturday morning, we ended up staying an extra day, since it is such a rare occasion when we are all together as a family. In the afternoon, my Mom, Ashley, and I hit up a few local craft shops. If you're in the Fairfield, Ohio area, I highly recommend a trip to Art On Symmes -- there you can find room upon room of great handmade items for sale.

In the afternoon, D, Chris, Ashley, and I went out for a little sibling/in-law bonding at the Wise Owl Wine Bar in West Chester. Their extensive wine list, along with a few nibbles (cheese, meats, fruit, and crostini), perfectly complemented our conversation.

Back at home, we all gathered for dinner and a movie -- in our case Tgives leftovers and The Heat.

Following breakfast on Sunday morning, it was officially time to hit the road for the long drive home. Which included a lot of cornfields. Like, a lot a lot. We opted to take the southern Illinois route via Champaign-Urbana and Bloomington to avoid the mayhem of Chicago traffic, and both our drive to Ohio and back were characterized by free-flowing traffic and no back-ups. Yay!

{endless cornfields}

And now, back to the Real World! I hope you had a good Thanksgiving -- did any new dishes make it to your Thanksgiving table this year? 

What I'm Helping With: Last Minute Thanksgiving Food Ideas

'Twas the day before Thanksgiving, and all through the house, people were chopping, and prepping, and scurrying around like a mouse. 

The Thanksgiving feast is no joke, am I right? Hopefully by now you have made your trip(s) to the grocery store and have all your ingredients on hand, and are ready to roll on Thursday. (Or perhaps you've made reservations for Thanksgiving dinner at your favorite restaurant ... no judgement here!) However, if you are still in search of some last-minute Thanksgiving food ideas, be it appetizers, sides, or desserts, I've got you covered. 

Some small bites before the main event:

Curried Tofu and Avocado Dip

Roasted Butternut Squash Phyllo Cups

Puff Pastry Tarts

Side dishes that shine:

Cranberry Sauce

Classic Stuffing

Wild Rice with Sausage and Dried Cranberries

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Garlic and Pine Nuts

Maple-Bourbon Glazed Carrots

Don't forget to leave room for dessert:

Apple Pie

Butternut Squash Pie

Salted Caramel Cheesecake Bites

What's On the Side: Mashed Potatoes

Whenever roast chicken is on the menu, you can be assured that mashed potatoes will also be on the table at my house. For our Thanksgiving meal, I opted to follow a recipe to make "Two-Toned Mashed Potatoes." This recipe called for both Yukon Gold and Sweet Potatoes. I used Wisconsin-grown organic Creamy Gold potatoes and organic jewel sweet potatoes. However, my mashed potatoes lacked the two-tone coloration as my sweet potatoes were decidedly not orange on the inside. Regardless of their lack of orange pigmentation, they still added plenty of sweet potato flavor to the dish. I think the real highlight of this recipe is the addition of buttermilk, a smidgen of Greek yogurt, and a smattering of onion powder. I think this will be my go-to mashed potato recipe from here on out -- and I can assure you that they are just as good when just one type of potato is used, too.

Mashed Potatoes (printer-friendly version)
makes about six servings

1/2 tablespoon organic low-fat cultured buttermilk
1 tablespoon nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 pounds (about 3 medium-size) Wisconsin Cream Gold (or Yukon Gold) potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
3/4 pounds (about 2 large) sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 small leek, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced (white and light green parts only)
2/3 cup organic low-fat cultured buttermilk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

pinch ground black pepper

pinch salt
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives

1. In a small container, stir together 1/2 tablespoon buttermilk, 1 tablespoon Greek yogurt, and onion powder. Cover and refrigerate the sauce until ready to use.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the chopped potatoes and leeks and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the potatoes are fork tender, about 12-15 minutes.
3. Drain and return the vegetables to the pot.
4. Add in 2/3 cup buttermilk, butter, and the prepared sauce. Mash with a potato masher. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Garnish with the chopped chives and serve immediately.

(adapted from this Eating Well recipe)

What's For Dessert: Butternut Squash Pie

Though I made several new-to-me side dishes for yesterday's Thanksgiving meal, my only real goal for the day was to make a pumpkin pie from scratch (including making my own pumpkin purée). However, in looking for recipes, I found a video posted by the New York Times last week that named butternut squash as the best option for a homemade pie. Given that I already had two butternut squashes  sitting on my countertop, this was welcome news. This pie is best made over a few days; on day one I made my butternut squash purée and on day two I made the crust (I meant to do this the day before but didn't quite get that far) and baked the pie. Be aware that the pie dough requires at least an hour and a half of chilling, so make sure you account time for that.

Wonky (but ridiculously flaky) crust aside, the resulting pie was delicious. Given the recipe I followed, it's definitely a bit richer than your standard from-the-can pumpkin pie. However, I think the butternut squash lends a deeper flavor to the pie and I think from here on out, my "pumpkin" pies will be made from butternut squashes instead.

Butternut Squash Pie (printer-friendly version)
makes eight servings

For the butternut squash purée:
2-3 lbs butternut squash
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and browned

For the crust:
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
2 to 5 tablespoons ice water

For the pie:
1 3/4 cups butternut squash purée
3 large eggs
1 cup half-and-half
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons bourbon [optional]
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch ground clove

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.
2. Peel the butternut squash and cut in half. Remove the seeds with a spoon. Cut the squash into 1" cubes.
3. Place the squash cubes into a shallow bowl. Add in the browned butter and toss to combine.
4. Spread the squash cubes onto the prepped baking sheet.
5. Roast in the oven for 30-45 minutes or until tender, flipping the cubes once or twice while cooking.
6. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
7. Once cooled, purée the squash in a food processor. Refrigerate any leftover squash in an airtight container.
8. Reduce the oven to 375 degrees.
9. Add the flour and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse for a few seconds to combine. Add in the cold butter cubes and pulse until the dough is in pea-sized crumbles. Add the ice water, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough just holds together.
10. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and form it into a disk. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for one hour.
11. Roll out the chilled dough into a 12" round. Spread into a 9" pie pan. Scallop the edges and cut off any excess dough. I added cut-out leaves from the excess dough and lined them along the edge of the crust. Prick the bottom and sides of the pie shell with a fork. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
12. Cover the pie shell with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights (or dried beans). Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and weights and bake for an additional 5-7 minutes, or until the crust is light golden.
13. Remove the pie shell from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack until ready to use. Reduce the oven to 325 degrees.
14. In a large bowl, whisk together the butternut squash purée, eggs, half-and-half, brown sugar, bourbon, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
15. Pour the pie filling into the cooled pie shell and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the filling has set and just jiggles slightly in the center. Cool on a wire rack until ready to serve.

(adapted from this New York Times recipe)

Bourbon Whipped Cream

makes about one cup

2/3 cups organic heavy cream

2 tablespoons powdered (confectioner's) sugar

1 teaspoon bourbon

1. Chill your electric mixer bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.

2. Add the heavy cream to the mixer and whip at high speed until soft peaks form, about 4-6 minutes.

3. Add in the powdered sugar and bourbon and continue whipping at medium-high speed until soft peaks form again, about 2-3 minutes. Use immediately. 

What I'm Wishing You: A Happy Thanksgiving

{last year's turkey}

Happy Thanksgiving! Best wishes for a family-, friend-, and food-filled holiday. I have wild rice cooking in the rice cooker, pie dough chilling in the refrigerator, potatoes ready to be peeled, and my husband and dog by my side. Life is good. 

What's On the Side: Spiced Cranberry Sauce

I totally have a soft spot for canned cranberry sauce. Growing up, that's the kind that graced our Thanksgiving table every year. I was typically tasked with the job of opening the can and delicately "splorting" it out onto the serving dish. Who doesn't love that little farting sound as the sauce finally makes its way out of the can after a few gentle shakes (and sometimes a couple encouraging taps)? However, a few years back, I discovered how easy it is to make cranberry sauce from scratch, and I haven't looked back since. This year I tried a new recipe which features hints of star anise and citrus flavors. Now, if only I could re-create those delightful can ridges. Oh wait, someone has already figured that one out -- looks like I know what I'll be trying next year!

Spiced Cranberry Sauce (printer-friendly version)
makes 2 cups

5 whole star anise
12 oz fresh organic cranberries, rinsed
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/3 cup filtered water
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/3 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice

1. Place the whole star anise spices in the center of a small square of cheesecloth. Fold up the edges and use a short length of kitchen twine to enclose the spices in a pouch. Trim off any excess. Set aside.
2. Add the cranberries, sugar, water, orange zest, and freshly-squeezed orange juice to a medium sauce pot. Top with the star anise spice pouch.
3. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once it begins to boil, cover the pot with a splatter guard and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until most of the cranberries have burst and the sauce has thickened slightly. Carefully remove and discard the spice pouch.
4. Pour the sauce into a glass serving dish (preferably with a lid) and allow to cool slightly on the counter top. Serve warm, or chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

(adapted from this Eating Well recipe)

What's On the Side: Quick Warm Citrusy Cranberry Sauce

I couldn't have roast chicken without some cranberry sauce on the side. As is usually the case, I didn't think to make cranberry sauce until about 20 minutes before it was time for dinner, so a warm sauce it would be. I think I actually prefer warm cranberry sauce. It's a nice change from the typical chilled-in-the-fridge kind. I started making my own cranberry sauce a few years ago -- it's super-simple, and you can control the amount of sugar in the sauce. I added a fair amount of orange zest to this cranberry sauce; if you'd prefer the cranberry flavor to shine, reduce the amount of orange zest added, or omit it completely.

Quick Warm Citrusy Cranberry Sauce (printer-friendly version)
makes 2-4 servings

1 cup filtered water
1 cup raw sugar
2 cups organic fresh cranberries

1 teaspoon orange zest

1. In a medium sauce pot, stir together the water and sugar. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Continue boiling for 5 minutes, or until the mixture begins to thicken slightly.
3. Add the cranberries, and bring the mixture back to a boil.
4. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 5-10 minutes, without stirring.
5. Once the sauce has thickened, stir in the orange zest.
6. Serve warm, or pour into a small bowl and chill in the fridge until firm.

(adapted from this recipe)

Holiday Weekend Shenanigans: Thanksgiving Edition

The best part of the Thanksgiving holiday? Spending time with family and eating lots of good food. The downside? Having to return to work Monday morning. The Christmas break (aka, the week of vacation I'm taking between Christmas and New Years) can't come soon enough.

After a filling Thanksgiving dinner and dessert on Thursday, I woke up early Friday morning to meet a few of my friends from high school for breakfast at First Watch. As this was the first holiday in a while where D and I have made it back to my hometown, it was fun catching up with friends whom I hadn't seen in awhile. It's nice to know that we can still easily pick up conversations where we left them, regardless of the time apart.

On Friday afternoon, I took Leroy up to Harbin Park for a nice long walk. He's always a fan of running around in the grass (a rare occurrence in the city) and this was no exception. In general, Leroy was an okay visitor at my parent's house. He was quite standoffish with my parents and Chris and Ashley. My Mom and Dad were able to give him a few pets on our last day there, though Leroy wasn't entirely sure letting them pet him was a good idea. On Saturday, D and I took Leroy to Wiggly Field Dog Park at the Voice of America MetroPark in West Chester. This park was awesome and Leroy had a ball running around with a few greyhounds and chasing after a football. The only downside was that the park was quite muddy due to recent rainstorms. Luckily, Leroy didn't make too much of a mess of himself.

On Saturday night, my parents took D and I out to dinner at Vincenzo's Ristorante Italiano in Sharonville. The restaurant was new to me and I had a great meal of cheese ravioli with a tomato cream sauce and mushrooms. D and I shared a heavenly tiramisu dessert, which I knocked back with a shot of espresso, per usual.

D and I headed back on the road on Sunday morning after a filling breakfast of eggs and hashbrowns made by my father. Though the rainy weather was no fun to drive in, we were making good time until we came to stopped traffic outside the first tunnel going eastbound on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Traffic was pretty much stop and go after that point (we figure we were stopped outside the tunnel to prevent people from getting stuck inside the tunnel due to the bad traffic). The problems finally cleared up once the I-70 Baltimore/D.C. traffic veered off and we continued on I-76 to Philly. When we left at 9a, our GPS estimated that we'd arrive in Philly around 6:30p; instead, we arrived around 8:15p. Upon our arrival back to the city, we unloaded the car, ordered a pizza from Lazaro's, and soon after called it a night.

Our trip to Ohio was definitely a bit of a whirlwind, but it was great to catch up with both family and friends while we were there. And now that Thanksgiving is past us, I think we can officially start embracing the Christmas season. (I may have made D listen to way-too-many Christmas songs during the drive back home. And also, how have I never heard this song before? Jiggity-jig!) I think this weekend we may trek out somewhere to find an apartment-sized Christmas tree for our place in lieu of setting up my sad fake tree from Meijer circa 1998. Though it has been unseasonably warm around these parts (today temps were in the upper 60s), I am ready for candy canes, twinkling lights, snowflakes, and bucketloads of Christmas cookies. Bring on the holiday season!

What I'm Thankful For: Friends and Family

Here are just a few views from today's Thanksgiving feast. Many dishes were completed from the menu I proposed last week, though the appetizers didn't get made (we noshed on other stuff instead) and we skipped the green salad in favor of a simple fruit salad. D cooked up an awesome turkey and I made all of the sides I had said I would, including whole-berry cranberry sauce, wild rice with dried cherries and toasted pecans, and haricots verts with hazelnuts. In addition, my Dad made an awesome batch of mashed potatoes (delightfully lumpy, my fave!), my Mom made her traditional cranberry-apple jello salad, and my brother made a crazy-delicious maple-and-pecan-crumble-covered sweet potato dish.

I started the day by making two batches of stuffing. For inside the bird, I made a gluten-free stuffing using this Whole Foods recipe. For outside the bird, I made my traditional stuffing recipe with toasted whole-wheat bread. We had dessert a few hours after our belly-busting feast. My apple pie was a no-show, and instead I baked a pumpkin pie in the wee morning hours upon our arrival into town last night around midnight. We also enjoyed slices of a gluten-free pecan pie, which my brother Chris and his wife Ashley picked up at Jungle Jim's. The pecan pie totally kicked my pumpkin pie's butt. And rumor has it I am still in charge of making the promised apple pie before the weekend is over. Guess I'll be purchasing some apples in the near future!

In the meantime, I'm off to bed to dream and digest. Happy Thanksgiving!

Where I'm At: On the Road Again!

 

Last night I made two side dishes for our Thanksgiving dinner -- wild rice with dried cherries and toasted pecans and homemade whole-berry cranberry sauce.

Currently, we are still on the road, having not left Philly until just past 1p. Only three and a half hours to go! And upon our arrival, I do believe I've said I'll bake up a pumpkin pie (I was a little worried about how a pie would fare on a 10+ hour road trip!) I think there's a good chance I might have a long night ahead of me!

What I'm Planning: Thanksgiving Dinner

One week to go until the big Thanksgiving Day feast at my parent's house! Here is what I'm currently thinking our meal will look like for the six of us. D is in charge of the turkey and I think I will be in charge of most everything else, except for a couple of sides that my Dad, brother, and Mom will make.  Luckily I think the appies and sides should be fairly easy to make, and I'll plan to make at least one dessert (if not both) beforehand. Since my sister-in-law is gluten-free, I need to make sure that at least one dessert is gluten-free. I've never baked GF before, so I think this might be the weekend to give a few recipes a try! This is kind of a gigantic menu, but I love all the sides and definitely won't mind packing a few leftovers to eat back at home here in Philly.

Appetizers

Ricotta and Fig Butter Crostini 

Brie with Cranberry Chutney and Crackers

Salad

Mixed Greens with Dried Cranberries, Goat Cheese, Roasted Walnuts, and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Main Course

{via}

Martha Stewart's Perfect Roast Turkey

Sides

Un-stuffed Stuffing (likely with GF bread and without the

 Pepperidge Farm herb stuffing mix, or a GF alternative)

{via}

Wild Rice with Dried Cherries and Toasted Pecans

{via} 

Haricots Verts with Hazelnuts

My Dad's Mashed Potatoes

My Brother's Sweet Potato Dish

Homemade Whole-Berry Cranberry Sauce

My Mom's Cranberry-Apple Jello Salad


Dessert

Apple Pie Covered with Leaves

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Roll

What I'm Searching For: Thanksgiving Inspiration

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it's about time I took a little wander through ye olde Interwebs for some Thanksgiving dinner inspiration. Though our Turkey Day dinners typically include the standard sides such as mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and green bean casserole, this just might be the year to branch out and try something new. Here are just a few of the options that have caught my eye thus far: 

1. Farro Salad with Oven-Roasted Grapes and Autumn Greens 2. Wild Rice with Dried Fruit and Nuts 3. Mushroom and Walnut Stuffing 4. Crispy Cornmeal-Gruyère Muffins 5. Butternut Squash and Macaroni Casserole 6. Haricots Verts with Hazelnuts 7. Pomegranate-Orange Relish With Walnuts 8. Chocolate-Swirled Pumpkin Pie (I've been dying to try this recipe since last year!)

What's On My Mind: Turkeys

{via}

It's November! Which means that Thanksgiving (or Turkey Day, if you prefer) is just right around the corner. Last year we skipped the turkey dinner since not long after Thanksgiving we headed out of the country for an extended trip to Nepal, not to mention that most of our kitchen goodies were already packed up due to our impending move from Laramie to Philadelphia. Prior to last year we've sourced our turkeys from Whole Foods or from local farmers that pasture-raise their turkeys. Over five years ago, my Thanksgiving dinners were turkey-less and I enjoyed a plate full of fruit (cranberry sauce!) and veggies (mashed potatoes!) and other vegetarian side dishes. This year D and I are planning to head to Ohio to spend Thanksgiving with my family. I think this year's turkey will be a free-range Bowman & Landes turkey sourced from Dorothy Lane Market. If you live in the Philadelphia area, here's a great list of places where you can source a local, free-range turkey for your Thanksgiving dinner.  

As I've mentioned in previous posts, how food animals are raised is extremely important to me -- for me, if I must consume meat, I would much rather that it came from a small, pasture-raised (or not confined) farm operation, as opposed to a large-scale, factory-farm operation. For me, purchasing meat produced by a large-scale factory farm is just not an option. In my mind, animals should not be treated as commodities, where the bottom line is more important than their welfare before and at the time of their deaths.

As part of my day job, I am editor of the BioZine, an online companion to the Holt McDougal high school biology textbook. This month's feature article is about the comeback of the heritage turkey. Though heritage or heirloom turkeys are exponentially more expensive than the standard turkey you can buy at your local supermarket, I don't think it's a stretch to say that these turkeys have a much better life than the standard broad-breasted white turkeys that spend their days confined together in huge barns. I would much rather pay a higher cost for a turkey that has had the chance to actually be a turkey than one that, due to breeding for specific characteristics, has trouble walking, standing, and requires human intervention to reproduce. 

What do you think? Where does your Thanksgiving turkey come from? Does a turkey even grace your Thanksgiving dinner table? What fills your plate on Thanksgiving?