Thanksgiving Music--Wednesday through Sunday

Philip Stopford directing my favorite Thanksgiving anthem.


        It is of course possible to dance a prayer. 
                                                                         ~Terri Guillemets


CDs or MP3:   VocalEssence, Garrison Keillor, and the Hopeful Gospel Quartet

                        Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action.  
                                                    ~W.J. Cameron
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Welcome to a little playlist of Thanksgiving music.  Have additions?  Leave them in the comments!

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Wednesday:  Baking, Cleaning, Setting the Table, Cooking Ahead, Traveling............

Over the River and Through the Woods

Garrison Keillor's Thanksgiving Song--Prairie Home Companion  "Where ya goin' for Thanksgiving??"

Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Chattanooga Choo Choo

Somewhere Out There (Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram --"American Tail")

Ain't No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell)


Grace isn't a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It's a way to live.
         ~Attributed to Jacqueline Winspear.

Thursday Cooking and Prep:

The Muppets: Popcorn

Bolero (Ravel--Wiener Philharmonic)

Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash)

Memphis Women and Chicken    (She's got biscuits in the oven---cornbread in the pan...)

Traveling Wilburys:  End of the Line

Red, Red Wine

In the Mood (Andrews Sisters)

A Case of You (Diana Krall cover of the  famous Joni Mitchell tune)

Turkey in the Straw

Thursday-- Before Dinner:

A grace could be very simply giving thanks for the hands that made the meal, for the workers in the stores, on the trucks, in the gardens. on the farms and ranches, and  the vineyards.  Even a toast to all who made it possible would work.  Mark the moment.

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Mumford and Sons)

Now Thank We All Our God  (organ-Giovanni Danda)

All Good Gifts (Godspell     We plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land....

Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Iz)

Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow  (instrumental)

Thanksgiving Song (Mary Chapin Carpenter)

Thursday--Dinner

America by Simon and Garfunkel              We've all come-------to look for America.

Four Seasons (Antonio Vivaldi)

Coming to America (Neil Diamond)

I Like to Be in America (West Side Story--Bernstein)

Autumn Leaves (Miles Davis)

Thanksgiving Theme (Vince Guaraldi Trio/Charlie Brown)

Thursday  Dessert/ After Dinner

Take it Easy (Eagles)

American Pie (Don McLean)

Lollypop (Chordettes)

I Love Coffee, I Love Tea -- Java Jive (Manhattan Transfer)

Pie! Me-oh My; I love Pie   (sung  by Andie McDowell in "Michael" after Michael says he invented pie--
"Just kidding! ... Sing, Dorothy.  Now.")   This tune is not on the soundtrack for some inexplicable reason.

Pie, pie, me oh my,
Nothing tastes better, wet, salty and dry,
all at once – oh, well it’s pie.
Apple and pumpkin and mince and black bottom,
I’ll come to your place every day if you’ve got ‘em.
Pie, me oh my, I love piiiiieeeeeee

Sleigh Ride (Ella Fitzgerald)    Ok-it bridges the seasons."...when they pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie."


Thursday:  Clean-up

Lean on Me (Michael Bolton version)

Let's Stay Together (Al Green)

Barney: The Clean up Song

Washing Dishes (Jack  Johnson)

Stay--Just a  Little Bit Longer (Temptations)

Walkin' in Memphis (Marc Cohn)


Friday/Saturday/Sunday:  Leftovers, Tired of Turkey, Goin' Home

A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich, and You  (Ukelele Ukester Brown)

Lady and the Tramp Spaghetti Scene (Bella Notte)

Cheeseburger in Paradise (Jimmy Buffett)

The Last Time I Felt Like This   (Johnny Mathis and Jane Oliver)  from "Same Time Next Year"

One for my Baby and One More for the Road  (Sinatra)

Go Now (Moody Blues)

Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone (Bill Withers)

Going Home (Paul Robeson's version)

Time to Say Goodbye (Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman)

River (Joni Mitchell)

Happy Thanksgiving,
Alyce

38 Power Foods, Week 29 -- Pecans -- Light Winter Vegetable Gratin with Savory Granola

Each Friday, a wonderful group of women reaches across cyberspace and joins culinary hands to salute one very healthy food, one single beautiful ingredient from Power Foods : 150 Delicious Recipes with the 38 Healthiest Ingredients.  (Scroll down for the list of blogs.)
 

I won't say it's not a challenge to come up to that gorgeous plate each week.  If I'm busy learning music for church or have my daughter home, or am busy with the soup book, I sometimes can't give the opportunity the intelligent focus and attention it deserves.  I used one great recipe for more than one blog recently....life can get ahead of me sometimes.  Hopefully I'm forgiven!

Helen's Cherry Pie- Constructed, Deconstructed and Reconstructed -- Pie 101

"Can she bake a cherry pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?  Can she bake a cherry pie, charming Billy?"

She's a young thing and cannot leave her mother....  is poor Billy's lament.  She can, however, bake a cherry pie quick as a cat can blink an eye!  (Click on above link to hear the song; guitar chords included.)


 I was just minding my own business.  I had stuck the hot cherry pie on a rack on an empty shelf in a kitchen cupboard.  A good place to cool pie if you have two golden retrievers. (I made four different pies for Thanksgiving; everyone deserves their favorite once a year.  I'm convinced.  Cherry is my sister Helen's favorite.   Hence "Helen's Cherry Pie."  Also my loved "niece," Kathy's.)

Tucker up front in the kitchen, Gabby retreating into the dining room.

Turkey Noodle Soup--Carcass and All

Make this soup on Friday and curl up on the couch to watch the first Christmas Movies!

If you kept or froze your turkey carcass from Thanksgiving and aren't quite sure what to do with it, this is your method for soup. While it looks like a recipe, it's merely a method and you must yourself judge which ingredients you have or want to add; it's all about flexible. Note the options of using your leftover vegetables, gravy, stock, or just adding all purchased low-sodium chicken stock and so on. In about an hour an a half, you'll have just about the best turkey noodle soup you ever ate. If you are skipping noodles this week, leave them out and, instead, add extra fresh or frozen vegetables. (Brown rice, wild rice, or barley are other possibilities.)

Turkey Noodle Soup from Thanksgiving Leftovers...Including that gravy if you like.

This soup is made in two stages: one to create a quick stock and the other to make the soup.
Please read all the way through before beginning.  

Cook's Note:  The Turkey Soup police are not out today.  You can make this with lots of changes and substitutions, but you have my idea to start.  Blessings on your soup pot!  Be brave!

A Cranberry Thanksgiving Day or How To Get the Kids Involved in Thanksgiving!

"Get Mother to help."

 As my family well knows, there comes a day in November (December is just too late) when I do nothing but bake cranberry bread.  We have it for Thanksgiving morning breakfast, take a loaf or two to friends, and then have one squirreled away in the freezer for Christmas morning as well.   I make a fun production out of the day (no other activities, favorite music on, microwaved lunch) and have nearly an assembly line in the kitchen so that loaf after loaf is mixed individually and baked on the center rack.  It does require a number of pans, but I'm good at finding extras at Good Will or splurging on a great pan with a Williams-Sonoma gift card.  I also bake this bread in coffee cups
for large size muffins or in tiny pans as little gifts for special folks.

Apilco (French porcelain)--all their tableware is oven-safe.

Thanksgiving, 2012

                     "It's not what's on the table that's important.  It's who's in the chairs."

                       
This post includes:

• Guide to cooking and baking hotlines
• Links to great Thanksgiving sites for tips, food, decoration, kids' activities
• My own favorite Thanksgiving photos, recipes, music, wine, and even a blessing or two  ... 

Enjoy!

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  I can't preach about giving thanks.  I'll just say I think it's healthy.  It's lovely in that it's a discipline folks of any religion or country can take part.  But of course, our fair "Rabbie" had it best:

Some Hae Meat

 Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.

~Robert Burns

 Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  You could have guessed.
My worlds all come together on that day.
Giving thanks-- being grateful--is a practice or discipline of many religions and cultures, including mine.
I need it.  I need that discipline. And:
Creating a meal to honor that...is my idea of a great day!
I wish you a day of totally beautiful, grateful life.


A grace could be very simply giving thanks for the hands that made the meal, for the workers in the stores, on the trucks, in the gardens and  the vineyards.  Even a toast to all who made it possible would work.  Mark the moment.

Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action.  
                                                    ~W.J. Cameron
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Awareness.   Awakeness. Appreciation.  Peaceful breath.
A table that includes something you love.
Someone you love.

Some of the best new scripture these days is found on paper napkins.
I have some that say, "It's not what's on the table that's important.  It's who's in the chairs."
Ah, that we have to print that somewhere.

Deep breaths and a sense of warm wonder to you as you prepare to give thanks this year.


          If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. 

                                                                                                              ~Meister Eckhart
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Before the fun begins,  thanks for reading and responding:

           Bloggers Without Borders Post on Helping Victims of Sandy 

 

Pear-Grilled Fig Salad with Goat Cheese

 There are moments when I'm aware enough of the blessed goodness in my life.  Maybe.  I know not everyone has a counter full of butternut squash, apples, onions, shallots, garlic, hundreds (literally) of tiny green and red tomatoes, and Bosc pears.  I know not everyone has a warm snug lying next to them come the cold, dark morning.  Or a reason to get up and do something with the bounty in the kitchen downstairs.  I probably don't truly understand it, but I get it.  My life hasn't been all rose teacups and long walks along the river with the dogs.

This morning I read a post on a blog I follow (there's a link in my blogroll at right, too).

leave it where jesus flang it

Margaret writes daily there.   It's a prayer journal of sorts.  She's an Episcopal priest on an Indian reservation in South Dakota and life's hard there.  The loss and the poorness and the hurt are hardscabble painful and it's her job to keep showing up for the difficult moments and beyond.  Today she writes about people nearby whose babies have just died...  And (having had babies who died) I understand where this is and where it goes.  What I am drawn to these many years later is twofold:

1. why...if we need each other so very badly through the crazy, hilarious, dipping, winding, bottoming-out life trek, and if church is meant to provide that for us...why are so many of us no longer part of that community?   Or, if we are a part, are those communities truly sustaining us? and 2.  a bursting grateful noise for all I have and all those who have loved me through the nearly killing losses.   I come back to the idea that to begin with thanksgiving is a perfect way to pray/live and I have to learn it all over again, all over again, all over again.   Even if God isn't a welcomed presence in your life, I think the settling of near-constant thanksgiving in our bodies is a positive way to breathe on earth.

38 Power Foods, Week 7 -- Brussels Sprouts --Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with New Potatoes and Parmesan

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When brussels sprouts (note spelling) first came back in vogue (they were vegetable non grata for a long time, right?), I put off making them.  It seemed everything was being thrown into the oven with olive oil, salt and pepper. Was there anything you couldn't cook that way? Brussels sprouts joined in the olive oil-oven fun all over the food world.  I waited. 

(above) This is one of Madeline L Pots' award winning songs from her CD "Gonna Plant A Garden".

Pie 101 - Derby Pie

"Derby" Pie or  Pecan-Chocolate-Bourbon Pie.  Can you say decadent?

When someone needs something baked, I do it if I can.  If I have the time.  Not everyone bakes.  I love to bake and need an excuse now that there are only two of us in the house.  If I bake for an event, I somehow always manage to make enough so that we can share a sample or even have a tiny sweetness for ourselves.  (If it's pie, it's usually for Dave; I eat a bite, that's it.  He loves pie too much for me to eat much.)

(Aside:  After I saw how many people read my basic Pie 101 post, I thought I'd begin a series (quite intermittent) on pies.  I hope  you like them.  Anywho, read on.)

Turkey Pot Pie or Last Ditch and Best Effort for Thanksgiving Leftovers

Turkey Pot Pie

You might have lived when pot pies were a regular feature of your mom's menus.  Maybe you had them instead of TV Dinners.  I have a sketchy memory of frozen pies from the grocery @10 for $1. This undoubtedly dates me in an unkind way.  I did not have a mother who refused to cook; she cooked a lot.   That didn't mean we never had a frozen pot pie.  I remember liking them, though I maybe haven't tasted one in fifty years.

If you go out to eat at any number of restaurants these days, you'll find homemade pot pies are on lots of menus and people order them over and over.  Definitely comfort food.  Certainly fattening.  But oh so filling and often luscious.  They're full of all kinds of things--poultry, vegetables, roast beef, sea food, etc.

Kathy's Apple Pie

Kathy's pie

My hairdresser works about a half-a-block from my house.  Her name is Kathy.  I chose her because... she works about a half-a-block from my house.  When we moved here, I cried at leaving Jen, my hairdresser of 13 years in Colorado.  So I didn't even look for anyone special; I just chose the closest "girl" and tried her.  I mean, you've seen my hair.  What could go wrong?  And, if it did, how much time would it take to grow a bit?  Luckily, everything has worked out fine.  My hair's just right.
When Kathy did it the first time, I sent Jen a pic on my cell phone.  "She's got the color spot-on, but it's a wee bit short," said Jen.

Curried Pumpkin Soup or Julie Used to Live Here

I adore pumpkin in nearly any form.  I think I love pumpkins because they appear during my birthday month.  Maybe not, though.  Because, truly:  I love to eat them.  Almost any way.  While I'm sure pumpkin soup has been around a long time (A quick peek at my historical cookbooks, however makes no mention of it.  American Cookery 1796 has a recipe for Pumpkin Pudding.  Fanny Farmer, 1896, lists only pumpkin pie.  The  Household Searchlight Recipe Book, 1931, has listings for canning pumpkin, making pumpkin custard, jam, and pie with cheese crust--but no soup,) I had never tasted it until 1985 when we went to live in Spokane, Washington, and my God's gift of a neighbor, Joyce Smith, made pumpkin soup in the pumpkins for a holiday meal.  Ten years later, I traveled right here to St. Paul, and good cook Lani Jordan whipped up a pumpkin-peanut butter soup for Sue's birthday lunch.  

My own soup was years later coming.  Late 90's maybe.  By now, it comes in several guises.  I sometimes blend cooked, ripe pears and apples into the mix.. or other batches contain a touch of vanilla and a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds on top.  One memorable pot was ladled into bowls with my sweet-crunch  "Go Nuts" as garnish.  I've also been known to use a mix of squashes and vegetables (also cooked dried beans) with the soup and up the heat factor, as well.

While, according to an old Craig Claiborne book, you can steam unpeeled pieces of pumpkin and later peel and mash them, I'm by now definitely attached to opening a can.  As are many women.  And...
Pumpkin anything is pretty simple if you're willing to used canned pumpkin.  I also adore butternut squash soup, but if you want to make butternut squash anything,  you have to peel and cook the rock-hard thing.  Which takes a lot of effort.  I buy a new peeler every year because the winter squash wreaks havoc with them.  Even Paula Deen gets one of her boys to peel her squash.   (My children don't seem to be waiting in the wings to peel my squash.  Where are you?)   Your other option is to pay through the nose for already cut-up butternut squash.  I'm not doing that.   But pumpkin!  Well, that's why God made Libby's, right?  (Or go ahead and roast or microwave a whole one if you have to, but after trying it once,  you'll head to the grocery store canned aisle.)  I seem to be on a pumpkin jag lately--both in this blog and in Dinner Place.    So!  Go ahead and make pumpkin soup.  Did I say it's quick?

Pumpkin Soup--Making up for Thanksgiving Weekend or Moving from Thanksgiving to Advent

There's a happy feeling nothing in the world can buy

When they pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie...

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Unless, of course, they passed around the coffee and the pumpkin pie once too often. I still have some pumpkin and pecan pie left in my refrigerator. Also one slice of the Italian Chocolate-Hazelnut torte; I promised the last slice to my son... Luckily, the rest of the leftovers are gone, G-O-N-E. Except for the extra pan of Cauliflower Gratinee that's in the freezer. (Somewhat like gold in Ft. Knox in our house.)...and the two or three homemade crescent rolls that I couldn't throw away. Could you?

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This week marks the week half the people in the United States say, "The diet starts today; I don't care about the holidays." Maybe you won't stick to that after all, even if you are still full. But perhaps you'd like something light, delicious, healthy and capable of using up a bit more of the canned pumpkin you stockpiled because you heard (here) there'd be a shortage. You're in luck.

I've got a scrumptious, somewhat unusual pumpkin soup that will serve for a super week-after-Thanksgiving dinner or as a first course for some December meal. You can double it and use it for both; it freezes beautifully. It's done in under a half an hour, but can simmer longer if you want to smell that incredible aroma a bit longer. You certainly could throw it in the crock-pot and have it wafting all day long while you decorate, clean (I clean now, not in the spring) or go off to work or the stores. It's great if you've decided, against all odds, to switch three rooms in your house right now, as I have.... What was I thinking???? What possesses us to totally create havoc in our lives during Advent? Answers welcome.

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( Cook's Note: If you choose the crock-pot route, add the milk right before serving and let heat a bit longer.)

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I know, I know. You almost made pumpkin soup for Thanksgiving and it's in a lot of restaurants. I'm guessing chances are you DIDN'T make the soup for Thanksgiving and, if you had it in a restaurant, why not try this recipe? I think you might like it better if you make it yourself. I did. Leave out the peanut butter if doesn't sound good to you.

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Sides: Cranberry Muffins, of course

Wine: Off-dry or halb-trocken Riesling

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PUMPKIN SOUP

serves 6 for a 1 c first course; served 3-4 for main course

1/2 large onion, halved again

2 stalks of celery, cut into thirds

2 large carrots, unpeeled, cut into large chunks

2 cloves of garlic, smashed

1/2 c fresh parsley

1 apple, peeled and cut into 1/4's (reserve peel)

6 sage leaves (1/2 t dry)

2 sprigs thyme (or 1 t dry)

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1T olive oil

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15 oz can pumpkin

2 t peanut butter

1 qt chicken broth, low sodium

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1/2 c evaporated non-fat milk

1 t salt; 1/2 t pepper

3-4 drops Tabasco, to taste

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Garnish: 4T freshly grated parmesan

2T chopped peanuts

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Pulverize first eight ingredients (onions-thyme) in food processor until almost pureed. In stockpot, pour olive oil; heat over medium heat. Add pureed vegetable mixture and apple peel; saute 7-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add pumpkin, broth and peanut butter. Bring to boil, stirring. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 10 minutes. Remove apple peel. Add evaporated milk and season to taste with salt, pepper and Tabasco. Heat through and serve in warmed bowls. Top with either parmesan or chopped peanuts or both.

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Our hearts are light as we travel from giving thanks to preparing to welcome a much-needed savior into our hearts...

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Starting the walk to the stable and singing a new song,

Alyce

Thanksgiving-An Intimate View

Thanksgiving by Walt Waldo Emerson

For each morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food,

For love and friends,

For everything thy goodness sends.

Visiting my friend Sue last month, we talked a little about Thanksgiving.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I don't know; I haven't decided. I would so like something really simple," said she.

"I know exactly what you should make," said I.

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Well, of course, I had the idea and, truthfully, had done something like it before, but I had to flesh out the menu and, naturally, try it all out. And, while I adore Thanksgiving, I know it can get out of hand. You don't know it's gotten out of hand until you start the dishes and are still washing glasses the next day. Mostly, it's worth it. Occasionally, though, you want a holiday to BE a holiday for everyone, including you. Well, you and one other person, a special one.

This menu is for that Thanksgiving. I include directions for a Thanksgiving for two, which is delectable. To be two, I mean--and, yes, the food, is, too. I'd say it's more for two with plenty of leftovers, so perhaps I'd say there's enough for four people. The whole thing easily doubles to serve eight and so on. I began cooking this meal at 6pm and we sat down (after taking boocoo pics) at 8:15. I had time in there to have a glass of wine and a couple of teensy starters, though I did have to set the table earlier in the day. I think it could have been done more quickly if I had had the recipes worked out ahead; I was improvising and writing as I went. If you try it, let me know the time!

I had so much fun doing this meal. Isn't that what it's about? Hope you do, too.

MENU

• Starters:Olives and Pistachios--set out in small bowls with wine
• First course: Pumpkin or Butternut Squash Soup (bought from deli)
• Main course: Turkey Roulade, stuffed W/ Proscuitto/Sage/Onions/Garlic
• Sides: Oven-Roasted Root Vegetables with Fresh Rosemary
• Brussel Sprouts (pan-roasted) w/ Parmesan & Pumpkin Seeds
• Home-made Spicy Cranberry Sauce w/ Apples and Lemon
• Bread: Corn Muffins from the bakery
• Dessert: Pumpkin Ice Cream, purchased from grocery OR Pumpkin Custards baked the day before and refrigerated (Use any pumpkin pie filling recipe and bake custards in pammed ramekins about 30 min. at 350---No crust)
• Drinks: Wine: A to Z Riesling and Sineann Pinot Noir- Have both! Coffee: French Roast, laced with Cognac and Whipped Cream

Cook's Hint: Get the turkey and root vegetables in the oven and then make the brussel sprouts and cranberry sauce. Set the coffee up to be ready to push the button as soon as the meal is done. If you had no time to set the table, get your friend to do it while you cook! He or she is in charge of the wine, too. Why not?

RECIPES------

OVEN-ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES W/ ROSEMARY

2 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces

1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1" pieces

1 medium onion, cut into eighths

2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1" pieces

1 turnip, peeled and cut into 1" pieces

5 new potatoes, cut into fourths (don't peel)

2T olive oil

1t Kosher salt

1/2 t freshly-ground pepper

3T fresh rosemary, minced

Place all vegetables on a large, rimmed baking sheet, mixing them well. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and rosemary. Using your hands, toss. Bake about 40 minutes until tender. You can cook these at the same time you roast the turkey; times are similar. Put these in the top oven rack and put the turkey in the bottom of the oven.

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TURKEY ROULADE, STUFFED WITH PROSCUITTO/SAGE/ONIONS

1 boneless turkey breast 3-4 pounds

6 slices proscuitto

3T olive oil, divided

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 T fresh sage leaves, sliced very finely

Kosher Salt

Freshly-ground Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F.

In a small skillet, cook onion for five minutes in 1T olive oil. Add garlic and sage and saute until onion is limp. Set aside.

Lay turkey breast out flat and roll with a rolling pin until breast flattens out a little. You might need to pound it lightly. Salt and pepper the turkey well. Lay the proscuitto on breast, one piece at a time to cover, and top with the onion-sage-garlic mix. Using both hands, roll breast up gently to form a roll @5 " thick, placing seam at bottom. Cut four 15" pieces of kitchen twine. Slip each piece of twine under the turkey roll and tie roll together gently in four places, spacing the ties out evenly. Salt and pepper well.

Place other 2T olive oil in roasting pan and warm over medium heat on stovetop. Gently remove turkey roll to the pan and brown for 4-5 minutes, searing meat. Turn over and salt and pepper that side as well. Brown again for 4-5 minutes.

Place in bottom third of 400F oven and bake another 35-40 minutes until thermometer registers 160. (Your root vegetables are in the top of this oven) Remove from oven and let rest five minutes or so. Slice into about eight slices or as you desire.

If vegetables are done, you can still leave them in to keep very warm while the turkey rests.

PAN-ROASTED BRUSSEL SPROUTS WITH PARMESAN AND PUMPKIN SEEDS

12 fresh brussel sprouts, cleaned and trimmed (Take l layer of leaves off and

cut off bottom tiny core) and cut in half

2T olive oil

1/4 c Parmesan cheese, "grated" in long pieces with a potato peeler

1/4 c pumpkin seeds

Kosher Salt and freshly-ground pepper

In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat and add brussel sprouts. Stirring frequently to avoid burning, but still to brown nicely, cook brussel sprouts for about 10 minutes. Add parmesan and pumpkin seeds. Turn down heat to medium-low and cook until sprouts are fairly well-done, but still somewhat crispy. Take care to not burn the parmesan; it should be quite brown. Salt and pepper well.

Homemade Spicy Cranberry Sauce with Lemon and Apple

1 package fresh cranberries

Water

1/2 c brown sugar

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 lemon, cut into fourths

1/2 large apple, diced, leaving peel on

1/8-1/4 t red pepper flakes to taste

In large, deep skillet, place cranberries. Add water to cover well only. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Let boil 2-3 minutes and lower heat to simmer. Cover and simmer until fruit is tender and liquid is syrupy, about 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room-temperature. Also good cold.

--Cook's Note:

Easy to serve the meat and all the vegetables on one big platter:

Very easy!!! Here are my pumpkin custards.... Pie without crust.

"There's a happy feeling nothing in the world can buy:

When they pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie."

(well, almost!)

Some Thanksgiving Books You Might Enjoy (in no order):

CRANBERRY THANKSGIVING, by Wende and Harry Devlin. (New York:

Simon and Schuster, 1971; also Aladdin Paperbacks, 1990)

This book contains a great cranberry bread recipe....

GIVING THANKS: THANKSGIVING RECIPES AND HISTORY, FROM PILGRIMS TO PUMPKIN PIE, by Kathleen Curtin, Sandra L. Oliver and Plimoth Plantation. (New York: Clarkson Potter, 2005)

THANKSGIVING 101, by Rick Rodgers. (New York: William Morrow, 2007; also in 1998 by Broadway Books)

HAPPILY GRATEFUL, compiled by Dan Zedra and Kristel Wills (Seattle: Compendium, 2009)

THE FIRST THANKSGIVING by Jean Craighead George; illus. by Thomas Locker. (New York, Putnam, 1993)

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Some random thoughts about Thanksgiving------

Thanksgiving as a spiritual discipline or as a way of life is something quite interesting and lovely on which to meditate. Try it; I'd love to know what comes up.

Here are a couple of my thoughts:

I think thanksgiving is a way of living responsibly...

As a faithful person, I know I am healthier when I have a grateful heart. To not be grateful in all circumstances introduces the possibility of becoming a victim-- to which there is no solution or cure.

When I live thankfully, I then live in a better place in all ways.

We all just keep working on it!

Thanksgiving, it's not just for dinner anymore.

Sing a new song as you give thanks,

Alyce