Thursday, November 25, 2010

The Turkey Day Comfort Zone . . . Happy Thanksgiving!


Thanksgiving, aside from being a hopefully-heart-warming family holiday, as well as a dietary cautionary tale, is also a fairly rigorous exercise in domestic decision making, wouldn't you agree? So much to contemplate in preparing for the whole shebang. Almost invariably, it requires a bushy flock of post-it notes sticking out of cookbooks, at least three trips to the market in close succession due to overlooked ingredients, and one protracted search for that huge roasting pan that you know you saw on a shelf in the basement last Easter. Well, anyway, you think you saw it down there. 

Despite the little stresses, we have enduring affection for this holiday all the same. It annually reminds us of how lucky we are, how gratitude uplifts us, and of how much we value everyone we love. It also reminds us of how much satisfaction and joy we get out of baking!




This year, as far as baking went, I opted for tradition. That decision allowed me to linger, one might say, in the wide and expansive Turkey Day comfort zone. Yesterday I bustled around in the kitchen for hours. The end result was a full-flavored pumpkin pie made with heavy cream and enhanced with a tiny bit of dark rum in the filling; a replay of the best apple-cranberry pie recipe I've ever used (and which can be found in loving detail in my blog, right here); and, three-dozen buttery dinner rolls, formed in three 9" cake pans--the kind of rolls that snuggle more closely together as they rise.

Though I don't have a new recipe to share with you today, I just wanted to tell you that I'm so grateful for the friends and acquaintances I've made through my interest in baking--both online and in person. I sincerely hope you have a festive and blessed Thanksgiving!

:)  Warmly,
Jane

7 comments:

  1. june in ireland who loves to bakeNovember 25, 2010 at 12:26 PM

    Thank you, Jane, for all the wonderful recipes you've shared, as well as your eloquently written 'food for thought' accompanying every blog entry. I wish for you and your family a very happy, family-filled, love-filled, fun-filled and food-filled Thanksgiving.

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  2. Thanks so much, June. You're one of the new friends I was thinking of when I mentioned being grateful!
    Warmly,
    Jane :)

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  3. Lovely pictures. Wishing you and yours a blessed Thanksgiving.

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  4. Great photos! Happy Thanksgiving!

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  5. What a lovely post. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family. I certainly did (if you don't count the pumpkin cheesecake I dropped on the kitchen floor at 11pm the night before, but I managed to "save" it, kinda, sorta... let's just say there was lots of pumpkin mousse involved to cover up the craters/flaws). It's a great recipe, btw, from Tish Boyle's "The Cake Book". It has a nut/ginger shortbread crust which is super awesome compared to a regular graham cracker crust.

    PS: I'm still very thankful I found your blog!! :o)

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  6. It look really great and wonderfull pictures! I really like the mood of this blog. And his weekend i will try some of yours recipes :)

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