Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook–so glad you’re here!
“We all eat. It is one of the most basic of human needs. We must eat to survive, but it is the bonding that happens when we share a meal that makes the world a better place: it is the relationships built by sharing that simple, joyous and ancient ritual of coming together to break bread that provides the spice of life. This blog embraces and celebrates the central place that food has in all of our lives.”
Those are the words I wrote several years ago for my Thanksgiving post.
Well, it’s November again. And not just November, but we’re almost halfway through November and only a little more than two weeks from the big day. OK. Only one word:
Yikes. And a few more: where. did. this. year. go?
Oh well. I suppose that’s a conversation for a therapist’s couch.
However, the words I wrote several years ago still hold true, and each year, I look forward to cooking up my favorites: turkey, dressing, sweet potato casserole, spinach casserole, pecan and pumpkin pie; and each year, I think: “I should try something new.” But because I only make most of those things once a year, I almost never stray from my tried and true recipes.
This year, while I intend to provide the recipes for my holiday favorites, I thought I would focus on an area that I’ve never felt was my forte: desserts. In addition to my favorite Thanksgiving pie recipes, I will provide a couple of new ones and tackle a particularly thorny holiday conundrum: to add chocolate to pecan pie or not to add chocolate to pecan pie. I am a purist: I love pecan pie and I find that adding chocolate overpowers the delicate elegance of the pecans floating in a satiny blend of caramel cream, brown sugar and vanilla. But, this year, I am going to attempt to find a way to add chocolate to pecan pie that does not destroy the essence of the pie and turn it into simply eating a chocolate bar, which is what most chocolate-pecan pies end up being. So stay tuned–I will be sharing findings and recipes as I experiment throughout this week!
My Thanksgiving memories are deeply rooted in my southern food traditions, but also sprinkled with the traditional foods of my German grandmother, especially her baked goods that were always plentiful during the holidays. She particularly enjoyed making cookies, pies and tarts, frequently using available fruit.
Today, I’m kicking off Thanksgiving season with a recipe for apple strudel using puff pastry. My Memaw would not have had puff pastry available, but trust me: it makes for a great dessert that comes together in minutes and is elegant enough for your Thanksgiving table. Serve it warm “mit schlag” or ice cream for Thanksgiving dessert or with coffee in the afternoon. It’s not overly sweet or rich, so it’s a nice break from the rest of the traditional flavors of the meal.
I hope you will join me tomorrow when I share my recipe for apple crumble, which embraces all the traditional flavors and tantalizing smells of a crisp fall day!
Until then,
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
