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November
Bright Island:
¤ Thanksgiving 1937 - 2017- 2097 ¤
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Cranberries in port wine
Mashed winter squash
Bright Island turnips
Onions clean stripped
Cranberry apple pie
Pumpkin pie
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¤ Cranberries in port wine ¤
(so good you may want to double the recipe)
5 or 6 navel oranges (need 4 or 5 to use, 1 to nibble)
1 750 ml. bottle (Sandeman) Ruby Port
1 cup (Woodstock organic pure cane) sugar
3 12-ounce-bags + 1 8-ounce-bag (organic) Cape Cod cranberries (about 8 cups)
generous 1 teaspoon cinnamon
§ Peel the oranges well and use a sharp serrated knife to cut each section into pieces about the size of the cranberries. Set them aside.
§ Pour the whole bottle of port into a large cooking pot and add 1 cup of sugar. Stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved, then remove the pot from the heat.
§ Wash and dry the cranberries and discard any stems and any berries that are wrinkled. Add the cranberries to the pot and put the pot back on the heat again.
§ Cook and stir the cranberries until the mixture comes to a full boil and the cranberries are popping, then reduce the heat and cook and stir them for 1 minute longer.
§ Remove the pot from the heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Fold in the orange pieces.
§ Cool the cranberries and then ladle them into several serving bowls. Cover the bowls. Refrigerate some until Thanksgiving Day and freeze one or two for Christmas.
Cranberries in port wine (November) -Maia's recipe, adapted from Mabel Robinson 1937,
https://www.amazon.com/Bright-Island-Mabel-L-Robinson/dp/037597136X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1480253587&sr=1-1&keywords=Bright+Island, and Adelle Davis 1962,
https://www.amazon.com/Lets-Cook-Right-Adelle-Davis/dp/0151501661/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417005364&sr=1-4&keywords=Adelle+Davis.
https://decemberleaf.livejournal.com/334234.html.
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¤ Mashed winter squash ¤
10 pounds (8 to 10 large) acorn squash
1 stick (8 tablespoons) (Earth Balance) vegan buttery sticks
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
frozen-food saw
deep stock-pot with a steamer insert
dough blender
kitchen tongs
slow cookers:
1 short large 4-quart crock pot (for Thanksgiving)
1 tall thin 3-1/2-quart crock pot (for Christmas)
1 rubbermaid container (for Christmas, to go, or for the week after Christmas)
extension cord
§ Prepare and freeze the squash several days or weeks before Thanksgiving.
§ Wash and dry the squash and cut them in half with a frozen-food saw. Use a large serving spoon to remove the seeds and stringy parts, then cut them into halves again and rinse them clean of flecks of green peel.
§ Pour several cups of water into a deep stock-pot and place about 10 of the squash wedges, peel-side-up, in the steamer insert. Cover the pot and steam the squash for about 20 minutes, then test the wedges with a cake tester. Probably steam them for about 5 minutes more, until the squash is tender.
§ Remove the squash quarters with tongs and put them to cool, peel-side-up, on large plates. Repeat until all of them have been steamed.
§ Slowly melt 1 stick (8 tablespoons) of (Earth Balance) vegan buttery sticks in a small saucepan. Add to it:
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
§ Set the saucepan aside.
§ When the squash has cooled, scrape out the pulp with a large serving spoon and put it into a very large cooking pot. Pour the melted butter over it. Use a dough blender to mash the squash (but not too finely) into a golden pulp.
§ Spoon a large portion of it into a short large 4-quart-crock-pot bowl and cover it. (For Thanksgiving.)
§ Spoon some of the remaining squash into a tall thin 3-1/2-quart-crock-pot bowl. (For Christmas.)
§ Spoon the remaining squash into a rubbermaid container. (For Christmas or for the week after Christmas.) Cover and freeze them.
§ Move the short large crock-pot bowl from the freezer to the fridge on Wednesday evening. On Thanksgiving morning, rig up an extension cord next to the dining-room table. Put the squash crock-pot bowl into the 4-quart slow cooker and turn the slow cooker on to High, then eventually to Low.
§ Stir the squash several times during the morning.
§ Before dinner, spoon the squash into a heated serving bowl.
Mashed winter squash (November) -Adapted from Mabel Robinson 1937, page 160, and Adelle Davis 1962,
https://www.amazon.com/Lets-Cook-Right-Adelle-Davis/dp/0151501661/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417005364&sr=1-4keywords=Adelle+Davis.
https://decemberleaf.livejournal.com/334234.html.
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¤ Bright Island turnips ¤
4 late white turnips
4 cups or so (Pacific) hazelnut milk or oat milk-enough to cover the turnips
4 tablespoons (Earth Balance Buttery Spread) vegan butter
salt
pepper
nutmeg
dough blender or potato masher
1-quart crock pot (optional)
§ Wash 4 white turnips and wipe them dry. Cut the unpeeled turnips into eight wedges each.
§ Simmer them in hazelnut milk or oat milk until they are tender, about 15 minutes.
§ Mash them well, using a dough blender.
§ Season them with 4 tablespoons or so of Earth Balance buttery spread and with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and some of the hazelnut milk left over from cooking them.
§ Spoon them into a small crock-pot serving bowl and cover and refrigerate them.
(Or spoon them into a serving bowl, cover them with aluminum foil, and freeze them. Move them from freezer to fridge on Wednesday evening.)
§ On Thanksgiving morning, place the crock pot in the slow-cooker and turn the slow-cooker on to Low. Stir the turnips several times during the morning and once again before serving.
(Or place the covered serving bowl in the oven @ 350°F 1 hour before dinner. Stir well before serving.)
Bright Island turnips (November) -Adapted from Ellen Bernstein, "Creamed turnips, November," Generation-to-Generation Recipes in commemoration of Anya's Women's Weekend, June 11 and June 12, 1994.
https://decemberleaf.livejournal.com/334234.html.
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¤ Onions clean stripped ¤
48 to 64 very small white onions (8 per person)
deep stock pot with a steamer-insert
oven-proof serving bowl
2 tablespoons (Earth Balance) vegan butter
sprinkling of sea salt
§ Cut the tops and bottoms off the onions with a serrated knife, then peel them (allow 20 minutes) and put them in a steamer-insert in a deep stock pot. Pour 1 to 2 inches of water in the bottom of the pot. Cover the pot and set it aside.
§ 30 minutes before dinner, put an ovenproof serving bowl into the oven and heat it to 170°F.
§ 30 minutes before dinner, bring the stock pot to a boil over medium heat, then steam the onions for 8 minutes (or 12 to 20 minutes for medium or larger ones).
§ Drain them and put them into the warmed serving bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of vegan butter and turn the onions until they are well coated. Sprinkle them lightly with salt.
§ Put the serving bowl back in the oven to keep warm.
Onions clean stripped (November) -Adapted from Mabel Robinson 1937, page 160, and Adelle Davis 1962,
https://www.amazon.com/Lets-Cook-Right-Adelle-Davis/dp/0151501661/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417005364&sr=1-4&keywords=Adelle+Davis.
https://decemberleaf.livejournal.com/334234.html.
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¤ Cranberry apple pie ¤
4 heaping cups (peeled and) thinly sliced apples
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup maple syrup
9-inch prepared wholewheat vegan pie crust, or Mrs. Smith's frozen pie crust
1/3 cup oats or granola, for sprinkling over
§ Preheat the oven to 350°F.
§ Thinly cut 4 heaping cups of apples and put them in a medium mixing bowl. Add 1 cup of fresh or frozen cranberries. Sprinkle over them 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Add and stir in 1/4 cup of maple syrup.
§ Spoon the apple-cranberry mixture into a prepared pie crust and bake the pie for about 40 minutes.
§ Sprinkle over it 1/3 cup of oats or granola and leave the pie to cool to room temperature.
Cranberry apple pie (November, December, January, February, March, April!) -Adapted from Nava Atlas,
http://www.vegkitchen.com/recipes/apple-cranberry-pie.
https://decemberleaf.livejournal.com/334234.html.
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¤ Pumpkin pie ¤
(Double the recipe if you want to make 2 pies)
1 cup raw cashews (need 1-1/4 cups soaked cashews): start soaking them Monday or Tuesday evening before Thanksgiving, in
2-1/2 cups water, with
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 16-ounce can organic pumpkin purée
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup (Hennessy) cognac (optional, but a really good addition if you can get it)
1-3/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, or (better this way:)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 standard frozen (Oronoke Orchards' Mrs. Smith's) pie crusts, from the Big Y,
or Marcia Hauser's pie crust, veganized (try
https://food52.com/recipes/19559-perfect-vegan-pie-crust)
-1 shell for baking the pie, 1 shell for maple leaf and oak leaf cutouts
maple leaf and oak leaf cookie cutters
§ Measure 1 cup of raw cashews into a large mixing bowl. Add 2-1/2 cups of water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Mix to dissolve. (The salt allows the water to absorb more efficiently into the cashews and also adds some salt for the recipe.) Start soaking the cashew bowl in the fridge on Monday or Tuesday evening; soak the cashews from 8 hours to 18 hours or even 24 hours hours (but no longer).
§ (This pie looks and tastes traditional; it's even better when baked, cooled, then kept in the refrigerator for 1 or 2 days before Thanksgiving.)
§ Preheat the oven to 400°F.
§ Drain the water from the cashews. They should be very soft to bite and a slight purplish dark hue. (This is normal.)
§ Add 1-1/4 cups of cashews (only 1-1/4 cups) to the bowl of a small blender.
§ Add 1 can of pumpkin purée to the blender.
§ Add 3/4 cup of maple syrup.
§ Add 1/4 cup of cognac.
§ Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of ginger, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, and 1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves; or 1-3/4 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.
§ Purée for about 4 minutes, until the mixture is completely creamy. (Add a few teaspoons of water or nondairy milk if you need to: you probably won't.)
§ Toast 1 raw partly defrosted pie shell in the 400° oven for about 8 minutes, then pour the pumpkin mixture into the par-baked pie shell and use the second pie shell to make maple leaf and oak leaf cutouts.
§ Bake the pie for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350° and bake the pie for an additional 30 to 40 minutes. (The pie will firm up significantly upon cooling and and then chilling in the fridge.)
§ Remove the pie from oven. Cool it on the counter for at least 30 minutes. Then place it in the fridge for as long as 1 or 2 days, until Thanksgiving Day. Cover it loosely with tinfoil once it has cooled completely.
Pumpkin pie (November) -Adapted from Trey & Julia, Four Ingredient Vegan Pumpkin Pie,
https://www.gatheredtable.com/recipes/four-ingredient-vegan-pumpkin-pie-759388, from The James Beard Cookbook,
https://www.amazon.com/James-Beard-Cookbook/dp/1569245347/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504642674&sr=1-4&keywords=The+James+Beard+Cookbook, page 75), and from Elizabeth Bleecker Meigs, The White Winter (1948),
https://www.amazon.com/white-winter-story-Scarlet-Hill/dp/B007T2BZF6/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504640318&sr=1-2&keywords=Elizabeth+Bleecker+Meigs+The+White+Winter, page 89.
https://decemberleaf.livejournal.com/334234.html.
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Bright Island Thanksgiving -
https://decemberleaf.livejournal.com/334234.html____________
-Mary McDougall
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"Her own herbs, thyme, savory, sage, seasoned the stuffing. Her own cranberries gathered from the lower bog furnished the sweet tart sauce. Winter squash steamed soft and mashed into golden pulp with homemade butter. The late white turnips beaten into mildness with fresh cream. Onions clean stripped and full flavored with only butter and salt to keep their racy taste. No flour sauces here to dilute good food, Mary Curtis always said. And never had she offered them a more appetizing dinner." Mabel L. Robinson, Bright Island (1937), page 160.
"The crisp cold air helped flagging appetites; apple, pumpkin and mince pie disappeared as if by magic; and everyone drank coffee gratefully before the fire afterward." Elizabeth Bleecker Meigs, The White Winter (1948), p.89.
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