Thanksgiving Super-Blog Part 4

B Weezy the Brilliant has been a big part of my last two Thanksgivings. She's around and brilliant the rest of the year, of course, but the Weezy Signal gets flashed a lot in the end of November. She played a big role as cook and host during Interstate Thanksgiving in '06, and last year she both cooked and sat at the hospital with me while they sewed my thumb back on.

She got some kind of rush out of watching. Whatever, I needed HELP, I'm glad she could be entertained.

So this year I insisted she write up a couple of the dishes. B is from proper Midwestern stock and can't be topped when it comes to the All American fare that Thanksgiving requires. She's so good at some of this stuff, I don't even attempt it anymore. All three of these dishes are on the 'better left to B' list.

Homemade Thanksgiving Stuffing

In her own words:

Homemade Stuffing

(All measurements are approximate)
2 loaves white sandwich bread
3/4 c. chopped celery
3/4 c. chopped white onion
6 eggs
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1 T. Poultry seasoning (no salt, sage stylee)
1/4 c. butter
4 cans turkey or chicken broth

Preheat oven to 350. Toast bread and tear into 1/2 inch pieces, place in large bowl. Put chopped onion and celery in a microwave safe bowl and cook until translucent. Add butter to hot veggies and stir until butter melts. Dump veggie mixture into bowl with bread pieces and add eggs, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Pour in 2 cans of broth and mix together. Keep adding broth until you end up with a texture similar to raw meatloaf (moist, no visible liquid, but if you squished it in your fist it would wring a little liquid out like a sponge). Once mixed, press into a greased 9 x 13 glass pan and cover with foil. Bake for 45 minutes, remove foil and bake for additional 15 minutes to brown the top.

This dish is one of those family traditions only made by my momma, because her sisters have tried and failed more than once. It runs the gamut: too dry, too runny, won't stay together, won't come out of the pan. This is a recipe for bread glue, if made correctly it should be able to be sliced and come out of the pan like a piece of cake literally. This recipe will not allow you to short-cut it. Packaged bread crumbs won't work, if you don't precook your veggies they will be crunchy, omit the eggs and it will fall apart. This dish is a simple labor of love, not hard just a long process (my job as a kid, was the official toast tear-er). When you're done though, you will never want Stove Top again. If made with veggie stock this dish is vegetarian friendly. Next time I may experiment with different breads (as long as they are the squishy sandwich type). You could also change the entire flavor by utilizing a different liquid and seasoning combo, vanilla nutmeg bread pudding, throw a little cooked sausage in and you have breakfast, some chickpeas veggie stock garlic Mediterranean delight. Sky's the limit people.

Listen to that! With the flick of a wrist it's a recipe for 'vanilla nutmeg bread pudding'. You need a Weezy in your life, trust me.

This is the stuffing. I can't really say much about it. Look at it. It was dense, moist, a little spicy, with veggie bits. It was everything you want stuffing to be. I had two servings.

Weezy's Magic Pecan Pie

If there's one thing B's known for, it's her pecan pie. She parcels it out like fine art, with only a few pie baking sessions a year, so when pecan pie time comes around the phone calls go out. My friend Shiloh is especially crazy for them. He asks for one every time he sees B.

Pecan Pie

1 c. sugar
1 c. dark syrup
1 T. flour
1/2 c. butter
1/4 t. salt
1 t. vanilla extract
3 eggs
1-1/4 c. pecan halves unsalted

Preheat oven to 425. Combine sugar, syrup, flour, butter and salt in a sauce pan and heat to a boil. Remove pan from heat and let mixture cool. Slowly add the beaten eggs and vanilla, whisking into the pan mixture. Once it is all incorporated stir in the pecans. Pour mixture into an unbaked pie shell and bake at 425 for 10 minutes and then turn oven temp down to 325 and bake for another 45-55 minutes. Pie is done when the crust is golden brown and the pie has risen around the outside edges.

My best advice for a successful pecan pie is apprenticeship. There is a lot of "boil it until it looks like this" and "it's not cool enough to add the eggs just yet" and "pull it out of the oven when it looks like this". Pecan pie to me is one of those things that is better to pass down than to make for the first time. My sister and I had seen my Granny and Momma make these pies our whole lives, but the first time she and I attempted them on our own we set her oven on fire from an over filled pie. So anyone who wants to be my soux on pie day, feel free. Shiloh will be more than happy to "clean up" any leftovers. It has also been dabbled to omit pecans for cashews (use salted, it needs it) and creating mini handheld pies in muffin tins (don't add nuts to caramel mixture, put nuts in the mini pie shells then cover with the filling). Best observation from Mr. Hull, "Hey, nuts float!"

They do, and it's weird. We had pie day a couple days ago, it was neat. I have a bunch of hand-sized pecan and cashew pies in my kitchen now. People look at them like they don't believe what they're seeing.

I'm not that crazy about pecans, so I never jumped at the pecan pie. But after making them, I can see what a nice little caramel pie it is under the bitter nuts, and I'm intrigued. I think I'm going to make one with crushed roasted hazelnuts. We'll see.

In the meantime, these things are flying out of my apartment. I'm thinking I oughta charge a fee.

Your Mom's Pumpkin Pie Recipe

THIS is my Thanksgiving pie. I could eat one myself, in two sittings at most.

Pumpkin Pie

2 eggs
1 - 15oz. can of Pumpkin
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ginger
1/4 t. cloves
1 - 12 oz. can Evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 425. Mix together all ingredients thoroughly and pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes and then turn oven temp down to 350 and bake for another 45 minutes. Pie is done when crust is golden brown and filling has a firm jello consistency (jiggle the pan). Let cool to room temperature than refrigerate.

When I brought over these pies to Mr. Hull's house I told him it was his mother's recipe. After which he got excited and nostalgic, and who wouldn't, after all what's Thanksgiving without a piece of your mom's pumpkin pie. The truth is, this recipe is every body's mother's pumpkin pie. Classic as it is, and only made annually, this is the recipe on the back of every pumpkin can label and most evaporated milk labels as well. There is something to be said for tradition . . . yummy tradition. My only beef is that I think it could be a little spicier. Societal flavors have changed a little since this country's puritan roots, and I think we could stand a little more flavor from our pumpkin pies. Next time I think I will make those measuring spoons a little more rounded and throw in a 1/4 t. of nutmeg. Worst case scenario . . . the pie is richer, the pieces get smaller and there is more pie for everyone.

I couldn't agree more on the subject of nutmeg, and I would throw allspice on the list too.

I did get all confused and flushed when she said it was my mom's recipe, but on reflection I remembered watching Mom read the label. I may have gotten my fascination with the cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, allspice combo from my spice-loving Mother, who definitely would have altered the printed suggestions. Either way, it's a flawless slice of holiday family love and it makes me warm inside.

I don't have a picture the pumpkin pie itself, but you can see it in the middle of the table in this picture.

The fold-out table of dessert madness featuring pecan, pumpkin, chocolate, lemon meringue and a couple things I don't remember eating but almost certainly did.

See my slice of pumpkin? Mmmmmmmm...